Few black markets are as shady as international baby trafficking. Last week, in an attempt to quell a burgeoning underground trade in children, Romania announced a temporary halt to adoptions by foreigners until tighter rules are enacted.
Ever since the warehousing of 140,000 unwanted or sick children in squalid state orphanages was uncovered after the downfall of the Ceausescu regime in late 1989, Westerners have flocked to Romania to adopt thousands of abandoned babies. A growing number of unscrupulous prospective parents have reached beyond the orphanages, however, and scoured rural villages with the help of local "fixers," searching for children to...
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