Shame of a nation

This was the name of the 20/20 program that inspired me and my friend, Judy, to go to Romania to adopt our wonderful son Tommy. The program had videos of hundreds of babies who had been abandoned to institutions because the dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, demanded all child-rearing women have a minimum of five children or go to jail.

They could not afford to take care of those babies so he said, “Give them to me. I will take care of them.” He put them in institutions by the hundreds to be cared for by three nurses which meant most were neglected, unfed, not changed and many developed an attachment deficit disorder.

When caring people adopted those babies (after Ceausescu had been executed) the babies would not respond to the love and affection given them. That is why I am appalled that there is a “No touching” rule involving these young children separated from their parents at the border. They must be touched. They must be held, hugged, comforted and loved or they will have emotional disabilities that could follow them throughout their lives. These children must be touched.

Christine Assad