In January 2005, concerned about baby trafficking in Romania, the Romanian government passed a law permanently banning the adoption of Romanian children by foreigners. The law essentially says that Romanian families get priority in adoptions, and international adoptions will be considered only as a last resort and when those adoptions are done by close relatives of the child.

Over 200 pending requests to adopt Romanian children by Americans living in more than 40 states have been declared ineligible. Jeb Bradley, a New Hampshire congressman, says that there aren’t enough families in Romania to adopt children, and is lobbying members of the European Parliament to take action in processing more than 1,100 international adoption applications that were filed before the law took effect.

The U.S. House of Representatives is also pressuring Romania to reinstate international adoptions, stressing that there are close to 37,000 orphaned or abandoned children in Romania and that the poverty, corruption and mismanagement of adoptions will hinder reform efforts.

On April 6, the House unanimously passed HR 578, which calls for Romania to “amend its child welfare and adoption laws to decrease barriers to adoption, both domestically and intercountry, including by allowing intercountry adoption by persons other than biological grandparents.”

Sources:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/702940
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/04/17/congressman_to_press_for_answers_on_romanian_adoption_cases/
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=April&x=200604111238591CJsamohT0.1212274&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html