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5 Emory Int'L Rev. 571 (1991)
Who Are the Orphans?: Defining Orphan Status and the Need for an International Convention on Intercountry Adoption

handle is hein.journals/emint5 and id is 589 raw text is: Comments WHO ARE THE ORPHANS?: DEFINING ORPHAN STATUS AND THE NEED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION Every time a child is born It brings with it the hope That God is not yet Disappointed with man.1 The days of children are but days of woe.'2 For the tens of thousands of Romanian children living in or- phanages, the days of woe are upon them. The conditions in which they live are deplorable, while their chance of escape is limited by bureaucratic red tape and nationalistic beliefs. The 379 orphan- ages3 are often over one hundred years old and lack hot water, proper sewage facilities, and heat.4 The children spend aimless hours in the dirt yard of their fenced institution, or roaming the peeling corridors of a dormitory that reeks of sewage and mold.5 The young children experience bleeding sores from wearing un- changed, urine soaked rags for diapers.6 The babies do not cry, however, because they have learned that no one will respond and care for them.7 The older children, if capable of amassing the 1 Images, Tm, Jan. 7, 1991, at 46 (quoting Rabindranath Tagore). ' Southey, The Retrospect, St. 9, quoted in THE Hom BOOK OF QuoTATions 251 (B. Stevenson 6th ed. 1949). 3 Bohlen, Bucharest Journal- The Hurdles Are Many But the Reward Is a Child, N.Y. Times, Nov. 15, 1990, at A4, col. 3. Thirty-two of the facilities are devoted solely to handi- capped children and not one is considered fit for human use. Id. Williams, The Unwanted Children: Casualties Left by a Tyrant, L.A. Times, Dec. 10, 1990, at Al, col. 5. In at least a dozen facilities, as many as one-half of the children died from the winter elements in 1989. Id. 'Id. For a further description of Romanian orphanages, see, e.g., Newman, Romania's Orphans Finding a Home in the USA, USA Today, July 12, 1990, at A1, col. 1; Christian, Romania's Child: 100,000 Are Orphans; Americans Long to Adopt Some, L.A. Times, Aug. 16, 1990, at El, coL 2. 0 Harder & Schneider, From Bucharest, With Love, Tiun, Sept. 24, 1990, at 34. lMcGrath, Happy Couple Adopts Two Romanian Infants, Toronto Star, Nov. 8, 1990,

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