One would have never come across any individual who says that they hate kids. Almost all of us love children. Their sparkling eyes, chubby cheeks, those little fingers, and their adorable smiles. Everything about a baby steals our heart. So much so that we want to own one such little baby. Someone has rightly said, " A Baby's little feet leave the biggest footprints in our hearts".
This is a tale of a couple who goes through a tough phase when they could not conceive a child naturally. When they sought to adopt a child, they have to face certain bitter realities in life. On adopting a Romanian child, the couple was surrounded by many questions about the child's past that demanded an answer before they could adopt her. Would the past affect the child's future? What were those questions that clouded around this adoption? Will the couple adopt her?
Ron and Natalie Trecroce were a perfect couple in every sense. They both were independent, had goals to achieve and most importantly were waiting for love to knock in their lives. Ron came across Natalie at one of his office events and he knew that she was the one for him. He did not take long to extend a proposal to the love of his life.
Natalie too was feeling something different about Ron. She knew that he wasn't just any other colleague but someone special. Ron went on his knees and presented her with an engagement ring. Natalie reciprocated with the same excitement and happiness. Soon only, they both tied the knot in the year 1996.
It is every couple's dream to have their own family. While marriage is the mere union of two individuals, stepping into parenthood is what marks the beginning of a family. Ron and Natalie were doing pretty good in life. Life was just as usual and now they wanted to make it nothing but ordinary by planning a family.
Ron and Natalie never knew that conceiving a baby would be a tough thing. But even after trying for several times the couple could not have one. They were badly disheartened. Yet, they did not give hope and tried for another time. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good news this time either. Probably, it wasn't in their destiny to turn into parents. Or was it?
To figure out the problem, Ron and Natalie visited a gynecologist. The doctor performed certain medical tests on the couple in order to know the possibilities of the couple turn into parents. The couple had their fingers crossed and hoped for a miracle.
The couple was not prepared for what was coming their way. They had no clues that the chances of them conceiving were extremely thin. When the doctor broke the news to this couple, their hopes and dreams shattered. Their smiles were all gone and all they had were tears and disappointed face.
However, this didn't turn them hopeless rather there was some hope still...
Obviously, the couple was in immense pain and grief. Their dream of starting a family was next to impossible. Natalie had no control over her emotions and all she did was cry the entire day. Even Ron couldn't concentrate on his work. He was worried about Natalie's health and at the same time was himself desperate for having a child.
Only a childless couple can understand the pain Ron and Natalie were facing. The pain that came from the place they created in their hearts for a baby that never came. But as they say, time heals every wound and as time flew Ron and Natalie got over this pain. While a door closed, another one opened.
The couple knew that all they wanted was to be parents. What if they can't give birth to their own baby, this minute obstacle could not deprive them of the ultimate joy of parenthood. They started looking for other options for fertility. They thought of adoption, IVF treatments, foster child and whatnot and made up their minds for the best.
Amongst all the available option, adoption seemed the most viable one to the couple. Ron and Natalie wanted to be parents and nothing could have been better than giving an orphan the love of parents, something that every child deserves. They were sure that they would care and nurture the adopted child in the same manner they else would have done for their biological child.
While surfing through various adoption houses, Ron and Natalie decided that they would travel all the way to Romania to adopt a child. After weighing all the pros and cons of the adoption house there, the couple was all set to embark upon their journey towards parenthood unaware of what was waiting for them there.
Ron and Natalie took the next flight to Romania and stepped into Eastern Europe. Their determination to have a baby took them to the city of Arad which was situated in western Romania. They were very close to their destination where eventually they will be adopting a child. But wait, will they be able to adopt a baby?
Amongst the entire globe, what made Ron and Natalie travel to Romania was a question all had. If they wanted, they could have adopted a child from an orphanage near their place then why did they choose to wait and fly overseas for that? Adoption was a tiresome and complicated legal procedure especially internationally back in the 90's. Still Romania, why?
For a reasonably long time, Romanian part of the world was under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceauşescu. He for some unknown reason strictly banned the contraception in the country. And conclusively a large number of babies were handed over to the orphanage. This history made Ron and Natalie even more sensitive towards the orphan babies in this part of the world.
Nothing worthy comes easy and something similar was happening with the couple. They walked from door to door of different orphanages in search of the baby they desired. While some orphanages denied their proposal due to international adoption policies, there were others who did not feel like offering them theirs. At last, they reached the orphanage which would turn their lives upside down.
After searching almost a dozen orphanages, Ron and Natalie were distressed on not being able to find a baby. Their last hope was the orphanage that was situated by the side of the river Mures in Arad. When they reached that place, their initial reaction was of dissatisfaction. The appearance of the orphanage was displeasing. Finding a baby there was now questionable.
Before even stepping into the orphanage the couple made up their minds that this place won't serve them anything and thus did not expect much of it. And when they entered the space, they were truly mesmerized by the sight of a baby. The couple had an encounter with an adorable little girl. Her eyes spoke what her heart couldn't. This made the couple sure of their next step.
The girl who caught their eyes was a one-year-old Rodica Lavinia Farcas. Her sparkling eyes and little hands melted their heart. Just then, Ron and Natalie decided that they would adopt this child and would give her their name. The moment, this couple was all set to sign the adoption papers an alarming incident took place.
Before adopting this Romanian girl, the couple inquired more about her. They were told that she was left here as an infant and since then had been under the care of the orphanage. Though Rodica always had a smiling face and show no signs of illness, she was in a poor state. Her health was a major concern that would compel the couple to rethink their decision.
Rodica was a severely weak child. She was malnourished to extremes. She even showed signs and symptoms of Rickets. She had bowed legs and extremely fragile bones. Her bone health was far from healthy. The only thing which made the couple rethink about adopting her was from where did the baby girl make her way to this orphanage. What was the place of her birth and who were the parents?
After giving the adoption a second thought, the couple realized that giving an unfortunate being a happy and healthy life was all that they wanted, and Rodica was the one who genuinely needed help. They adopted the girl but started digging into her past background in order to provide her with the correct medical help. However, Trecroce could have never prepared themselves enough for what was going to be unfolded.
Ron and Natalie signed the adoption papers and were now legally the parents of Rodica. Initially, they thought that knowing about the whereabouts of this little girl and her past won't be a tough thing but soon only their illusion was broken. Rather, linking the girl's present to her past was the most difficult thing they came across.
Back in the 90's adoption was no cakewalk and then with this orphanage, in particular, it was even tougher. They had no past records of this girl and in Romania finding old papers and medical history including birthplace and certificates was no less than a bureaucracy. Nevertheless, when the couple found a link from Rodica's past they were taken aback.
While searching the old books of the orphanage, Trecroce came across an old album in which they found a family tree. Luckily, that family tree belonged to Rodica. On closely inspecting the image, Ron and Natalie could not believe their eyes. They never expected that an orphan Romanian girl had so much more to her.
The family tree branched out Rodica and another girl as well. After much search, the couple realized that Rodica wasn't the only child of her parents but also had an elder sister. But what happened to her sister? Where was she? How did the two sisters part ways? These all questions occupied the couple's mind and were a mystery.
Ron and Natalie began with an all-new search. While a majority of us would have given up on finding more about the little girl's sibling, this couple was keen to locate her. Though it took them really long to find the missing sibling, they were told that the siblings were living alone since their infant days. Both the sisters were admitted in different orphanages. This made the couple take a decision which changed everything forever.
After an extensive search, Trecroce found Rodica's elder sibling. It was no less than a miracle. The elder girl named Gianina Farcas and was born in the year 1995 and was a year elder to Rodica. Also, both the sisters shared a resemblance. No doubts they were siblings. The couple knew what were they supposed to do now.
Till now the couple was planning to adopt Rodica, but after knowing about her lost sibling, the couple decided to adopt Gianina as well. However, the couple could not find the exact reason as to why was the sisters separated in such early age, the couple decided to reunite the little girls.
Though the sisters had never seen each other before this, the moment they started living together, they mingled quite well. Surely, the relations by blood stay constant at heart. On seeing the sisters happy together, the couple knew that adopting both the girls was the best decision they could have ever made. Who knew their happiness will once again be questioned when more layers from the girls past would be disclosed.
The couple was very happy that the family they always wanted was now complete. They were parents and not only to one but to two beautiful daughters. Nothing else could have made them this pleased and satisfied in life. At last, they were cherishing parenthood. The family flew back to Canada, and soon the unexpected came.
The couple was still intrigued by their daughter's past. And it was then that they discovered that what they were assuming to be a family of two girls, was actually a family of EIGHT. The girls were two siblings out of the total eight one in number. This news came shocking to the couple. What would they do now? Adopt all the eight?
Despite knowing that it won't be easy to feed these many children, the couple wanted to adopt a brother sibling of the daughters. They often traveled to Romania to know and find out those missing siblings but unfortunately, even the native country couldn't feed them the information they badly wanted.
Even after trying their best the couple could not find any clues about the missing babies. Who were the babies? Where were they, what happened to them, how were they living, everything was a question mark. The couple left the mystery and just hoped that where ever they were, they are in safe hands. Wondering, what happned next?
Tercorce were now concentrating on their daughters. They were providing them with all the love and care and the much-needed nourishment. Ron and Natalie even renamed their daughters to Sophie and Daniel. Ron wanted his daughters to stay connected to their roots and thus comes up with a brilliant idea.
Ron always wanted that Rodica and Gianina stay connected to their roots. He wanted to instill that essence of Romanian culture in them. To make sure that his daughters don't leave behind their native land, he made them use their Romanian names as their middle names. Hence they were called as Sophie Rodica Trecrorce and Daniel Gianina Trecrorce.
The girls stayed with their new parents and were cherishing the best of the life the couple could offer them. Some six years later, a documentary filmmaker showed a keen interest in making a documentary film over the mystical past and life of the Romanian girls. And surprisingly, after growing up the girls had more to say to the world.
When Rodica was fourteen years in age, she was searching for some papers in her parents' wardrobe and then she came across her adoption papers. She then also saw the documentary and edited it into a short film, adding certain experiences and feelings she went through, not knowing that it will mark a significant impact in her future.
The young sisters have grown into beautiful women. They are in their twenties. Sophie Rodica is pursuing her career in photography. Her editing the movie when she was young was the incident which made her firm about doing something in this field. And her sister is no different and has different ambitions in life.
Danielle is also all-grown-up and was pursuing her bachelor's degree. Due to different field of study, the sisters had their own personal lives but still stayed in touch. They were always grateful to Ron and Natalie for providing them with such a life. However, the girls too were curious about their past.
Though the girls had no reason to travel back to Romania as Ron and Natalie had given them a life which was far from there. But even today the sisters, travel to that country in order to find about their past life and in hopes of getting any clue about their remaining six siblings who they knew exists but where they didn't know...