Negligent Parents In Romania Should Have Parental Rights Terminated Sooner–State Secretary

Savu told MEDAIAFAX that the law cannot stipulate terms by which parents should lose their parental rights or for declaring a child eligible for adoption, as such time frames differ from one case to another.

Savu said rules should be set to reduce these terms, adding that the procedure declaring a child ready for adoption is very complicated and extends the adoption process.

“If we don’t find the mother, the child will never be adopted. It is very hard to take away the rights of a mother who abandons her child. We should be stricter and terminate the rights of the parents faster if they never took interest in their child,” Savu said.

Mothers who are counseled not to leave their children ought to be determined after counseling is finished to decide whether they want to raise their child “in reasonable conditions” or not.

Stricter rules ought to be introduced for parents who send their children to beg, in order to terminate their parental rights sooner.

“The law needs to be amended to have a child taken for a while into foster care if there is proof of abuse by the child’s parents. If parents change their attitude, they can take the child back, if not, their parental rights should be terminated. I am not aware of any parents who lost their rights because they’ve made their children beg,” Savu said.

On Tuesday, the Romanian adoption authority said Law no. 273/2005 on the legal regime of adoptions will be amended and will include a new chapter enabling sanctions to be applied when procedures are breached.

Bogdan Panait, state secretary within the authority, said the new adoptions law will keep the existent elements, but will clarify certain aspects and will find solutions to lower the period by which a child becomes eligible for adoption.

He said he wants the new law to no longer enable influential persons to adopt a child although they haven’t passed through all the stages stipulated by law.

“Neither money nor professional status make up the moral guarantee that one is ready for adoption,” Panait said.

The future amendments to Law 273 aim to ensure the access to adoption for all Romanian citizens and will open international adoption for those who no longer live in Romania. 

The draft normative act amending Law 273 might be put up for public debate in September.