Closed adoption should no longer exist! That is the demand of some 1,500 people, who have signed till now an online petition. However, the number of men and women, deprived from their right to know their origin and biological roots is much bigger. According to the now acting legislation the adopted person hardly receives access to information. That can happen only after a court permit, but important circumstances are necessary for the purpose, necessitating the revealing of the secret of adoption. “Few people’s claims get their answers. One should be seriously ill, in need of transplantation, in order for the adoption file to be open,” Svetlana says. She has submitted her request as well and has been waiting for the court to schedule a session for 9 months now. Why is it important for these people to discover their origin?

“We want to see whether we have any genetic disorder. These are basic human rights. Besides that we fear incest. We are also concerned about our children coming upon a relative – it’s a small world out there…” Svetlana says.

National ombudsman Konstantin Penchev has supported the demand for dropping of closed adoption. He has also sent his recommendation to parliament for a change of the law. However, for the moment it is a voice in the wilderness. What is the situation in the other European countries?

“Most European countries provide access to the roots,” says Svetlana. “Romania is a good example that we compete with. They have an adoption law, which obliges parents to inform their adopted children at the earliest age possible, with the help of an expert. This is also a part of the things we insist on. There should be no more lies and secrets. Adopted persons in Romania, who have turned 18, have the right to full access to information and the respective institution in charge must provide it. The law can be amended, so that all three parties involved can be properly protected.”

Due to the numerous legislative obstacles many people turn into detectives, trying to trace their roots. More than two years ago three people, Svetlana among them, created the Tursim Se /We Look For Each Other/ Facebook page with some 14,000 followers now. A special website was created as well: www.tursimse.com, which is the register of more than 2,000 stories of people, looking for their biological relatives.

“People write to us with hope, giving information on themselves,” Svetlana says. “If an adopted person looks for our help, he provides the birth details he knows – date and place of birth, the name, given by the biological parent. Sometimes they add their photo, hoping to find similar features to the person they try to find. Our Facebook and www.tursimse.com publication is based on all this info and we hope that the greater number of shares could reach someone concerned. It was all a desert at the beginning, no reaction at all. However, adopted people have begun to find their parents over the past year, and vice versa. We are glad, because this happens with the help of the reacting people.”

Unfortunately the search proves to be unsuccessful to many people because of the lack of enough information. Even brothers and sisters of children adopted in the past turn into detectives. Still, the adopted persons themselves are the most active ones. “I’m sure there are lots of moms out there, fearing the reaction of their new families and keeping the secret due to this fear,” Svetlana comments.

Vaska Bratanova spent a few days in hospital several years ago and she needed blood transfusion. She was shocked to discover that her blood type matched none of her parents’. In January last year she decided to join the above mentioned website. Her request, sent to the court was rejected. After 5 months of online search and with the help of the Facebook community she succeeded in tracing her biological parents. Her mother had passed away in 2005, but she had an older brother and a younger sister. “When I wrote online to my sister she got scared and thought I was crazy. But then she was really happy – it turned out she had always wanted an older sister,” Veska says. Now the three are in a constant touch over the phone and online and they pay visits to each other on holidays.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev