Abortion and International Adoption in Post-Ceausescu Romania

Bibliographic Data

ID4739261
AuthorsGail Kligman (corresponding author)
Year1992
Volume18
Issue2
Pages405
Publication date1992-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0046-3663 • E-ISSN: 2153-3873
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3178237
OpenAlexW2490847816
LanguageEN
Citations received16

The situation of abortion an international adoption in post-Ceausescu Romania are reviewed. The legacy of that regime has been social fragmentation and dehumanization. Womens role was relegated to obligatory childbearing denial of rights policing by physicians of womens reproduction and fines for childlessness. Fertility control belonged to the states. Abortion was allowed under Ceausescu after 1966 only after having given birth to 4 live children and in 1985 to 5 children. Abortion became legal on December 26 1989 and July 16 1991 a new adoption law provided for institutionalization of orphaned children in order to curb the sale of infants and children in the adoption market. Between 1966 and 1989 9452 women died form illegal abortion. Many unwanted children were also born and abandoned. Legal abortion was a welcome relief so welcome that there were reports of 70-100 abortions/day performed in hospitals in 1990. By 1991 the ratio of abortions to live births was 3:1. Maternal mortality and the birth rate meanwhile declined. The need for family planning and health education was recognized by the government and nongovernmental organizations. Obstacles were the state control of mass media the propaganda that had been generated about the use of contraceptives and the lack of support from the Ministry of Education. AIDS is similarly ignored. Condoms are more easily available form tobacco shops; condoms pills and IUDs are less available from pharmacies and hospital clinics which are viewed with suspicion as places of illness. The cost of abortions was increased as a disincentive. The practice of international adoption was begun late under the Ceausescu regime in exchange for hard currency. Publicity about the humanitarian rescue of children and the village systemization plans led to adoption by the French and Belgians and later the international community. Adoptions increased from 480 in 1990 to 1451 in mid-1991. In July 1991 legislation was passed to stop private adoptions but requiring adoptions through institutional channels. Many children were Gypsies unwanted by the Romanians and coercion was sometimes employed in private adoptions which the patriarchal authority structure encouraged. The 1991 law will help to alleviate the abuse of children and women

Political science · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research

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