My good friend was adopted from Romania in the early 1990’s.

He does not know of any family history, or know who is mother is or was, but he has a letter that he received from her.

Can anyone please translate? It would mean so much to him.

38 comments

  1. Cum dracu’, frate? Cum dau mărire, cum vad “prețurile sunt pe zi ce trece mai mari” :))

    Its very hard to do it right now as im on my phone, but will do it later if no one does it in the mean time.

  2. Daca ma intrebati pe mine e o scrisoare trista. Mai exact , grija lor cea mare nu e ce face copilul etc ci cum ar mai putea ei sa smulga niste banuti drept ajutor pentru ei de la cel care a infiat copilul, domnul Paul…

    Oricum, saracii astia au scris de 10 ori mai citet si corect gramatical decat VIP-urile din ziua de azi de pe Youtube si Tiktok sau chiar parlament (asta daca nu a scris vreo vecina scrisoarea )…

  3. 2nd February 1992
    Cimpulung (Moldovenesc? Muscel? – there are multiple Cumpulungs; anyway, it’s a city)

    Mister Paul,

    Allow me to write you this letter in Romanian because I don’t know your official language, but if I recall correctly, you said you have there a Romanian priest who can help you translate my letters.

    I got your photos, we were really happy when we saw Alexandru, we’re really happy that he’s well and that ms. Tammy (?) takes good care of him. We haven’t received anything from you for at least a year, not even an invitation to see Alexandru. (if someone can correct me here, n-au primit chemare aka invitatie ca sa mearga sa-l vada pe baiat?)

    Our life is very hard, salaries are very low, prices are increasing by the day. My husband (Gaby) has been jobless for a year now and I don’t have a job as you well know and we’re doing very hard.

    Mister Paul, you are our only hope, please think about us as well in God’s name. (God’s sake? it sounds meaner to say sake, but I’m not sure which one they meant – but for me the whole tone of the letter sounds more desperate than mean)

    Finally, we wish you great health, happiness to your whole family and especially Alexandru.

    Magda and Gaby

    We can’t wait for an answer from you!

    Gabriel Enea
    Magdalena Enea

    Then it’s just the address.

  4. Mr. Paul,

    I’m writing this letter in Romanian because I don’t know your official language, but as I recall, you said you have a Romanian priest there who can translate you the letters.

    We received the photos from you which made us very happy when we saw Alexandru, we are very happy for him that he is well and that Mrs. Tammy takes very good care of him. We have not received anything from you for a year, not even the call you promised us so that we could see Alexandru.

    Our situation is very difficult, salaries are very low, prices are higher every day, my husband (Gaby) has been unemployed for a year now, I have no job as you know and we are having a hard time.

    Mr Paul, you are our only hope, please think of us for God’s sake.

    Finally we wish you good health, happiness to your whole family and especially to Alexandru. Magda and Gaby

    We can’t wait to hear from you!

    Gabriel Enea

    Magdalena Enea

    Address

  5. Mister Paul,
    I dare to write this letter to you in Romanian since I don’t know your language, but from what I remember, you’ve mentioned that you have where you are a Romanian priest who can translate your letters.
    I received the photographs from you, and it brought us great joy to see Alexandru, we are very glad to see him well, and that Mrs. Tammy takes such great care of him. For a whole year, we’ve received nothing from you, not even the visa invitation you’ve promised to us so that we can see Alexandru again.
    Here, life is very hard, salaries are very small, prices increase every day, my husband Gaby has been out of work for a year, I don’t have a job as you well know, and it’s very hard to make ends meet.
    Mr Paul, you’re our only hope, we beg you, please think of us as well for God’s sake.
    We wish good health, happiness and luck to you and your whole family, and especially Alexandru.
    Magda and Gaby
    We anxiously await your answer,
    Gabriel & Magdalena Enea, street I. C. Frimu nr 55, apartment block C12, stairwell B, first floor, apartment 8, Campulung, Arges county, Romania

  7. Mr. Paul,

    I allow myself to write this letter in Romanian because I do not know your official language, but as I remember, you said you have a Romanian priest there who can translate letters for you.

    I have received the photos from you, which makes me very happy. When I saw Alexandru, we were very pleased for him that he is doing well and that Ms. Tammy takes very good care of him.

    For a year now, we haven’t received anything from you, not even the promised invitation so that we can also see Alexandru.

    The situation with us is very difficult, salaries are very low, prices are increasing day by day, my husband (Gaby) has been unemployed for a year, I don’t have a job as you know, and we are struggling a lot. Mr. Paul, you are our only hope, please think of us for God’s sake. Finally, we wish you and your family good health, happiness, and luck, especially for Alexandru. Signed, Magda and Gabby. We are eagerly waiting for a response from you.

  10. Sincer să fiu, mi se pare o scrisoare care arată ce tupeu au ăia care au scriso. Copilul a fost adoptat, drept urmare părinții biologici au căzut din drepturi. Înțeleg să ceară niște fotografii, că totuși ei l-au conceput, dar să ceară bani de la părinții adoptivi mi se pare o nesimțire uriașă. Ce obligație au ei să îți dea bani?

  11. This letter makes my blood boil. They gave you up for adoption ( wording makes it seem they received money too), then trying to guilt trip Paul ( who I assume is someone from your adoptive family) into giving them more money. Their first priority was not you but money unfortunately

  15. De ce ne enervăm in 2023 din cauza unei scrisori din 1992? Câți dintre voi ați trăit in perioada aia? Nu, nu-i deloc ok că a încercat să scoată bani de la familia adoptivă, dar nu știm in ce situație era/u. Pare a fi un act de disperare. În 1992 mulți români ar fi scris o scrisoare de genul, poate ca o ultimă speranță. Numa’ zic.

  16. Nu înțeleg de ce lumea insistă asupra faptului că oamenii voiau bani. Mie mi se pare că vorbesc despre copil în egală măsură în care vorbesc despre lipsa lor de bani. Și cumva foarte bine că au reușit să îl dea spre adopție la niște persoane ok, care au avut grijă de el, altfel rămânea alături de ei, redus poate la o condiție care nu i-ar fi permis să-și construiască un viitor (mai) frumos. De ce trebuie să vedem partea rea a lucrurilor? De ce nu empatizăm? Păreau a fi niște oameni ok (voiau să-și vadă copilul totuși, plus că nu au scris negru pe alb „dați-ne bani, că și noi v-am dat copil”)

  17. The other translations are pretty much right but the subtext is wrong. My gut feeling is that Paul and Tammy took Alexander from his parents promising the moon and the stars (that he will have a better life, that they will get regular updates, that Romanian priest will translate, that they will get a invitation to US/Canada?) and then ghosted them. For many of the parents who gave their children for adoption that was the only way (that they could see) to keep their (other) children from starving to death.

    To better understand you need to know the context. In 1990 Romania had huge unemployment rating as communist economy was collapsing and companies ware closing. The inflation was so bad that a month pay would loose much of the value by the end of same month. Peoples ware literally starving.

    Preying on the poor and because of lack of legislation a adoption industry emerged. They ware organized, they entire crew (see videos/articles of our president Klaus Iohannis brokering child adoptions) that took most of the money. According to articles a child would cost $20000, equivalent of probably 4 apartments but I doubt parents would see much or any of that.

    There ware rumors about children being slaughtered and their organs used for transplants, Paul must have sent some initial status to alleviate those fears.

    So in summary: Paul went to Romania and bought Alexander, brokers took the money and left parents with empty promises. After getting back home Paul sent a status update that Alexander is good and Tammy takes good care of him then ghosted the parents and considered the deal done.

  21. Now, you already have two good translations of your letter, so I won’t give you another one.

    But I wanted to point out something: the text certainly sound like she is asking form money or an invitation letter to go to your adopted country. It may sound callous or unloving for her to ask of that. However, I was a child in the 90s. My family was very poor, but there where a lot of people much poorer than that.

    I still remember those years. The desperation that that type of poverty brings. Everyone was desperately trying to do something to get out of that poverty. I sometimes have nightmares about it. I am no longer poor, I have a good income, a house and car fully paid and money to spare. I could relax. But I can’t. Because that bloody poverty is still in my head. I’m always scared that I’ll lose everything and I’ll have no one to turn to, because everyone else is just as poor.

    You might be tempted to judge your friend’s mother, I already see people judging her. But please don’t. You have not been in the position of seeing your children starve and not seeing any light of hope that you might somehow be able to get out of this poverty.

    Your friend somehow got lucky. Adoption was easier in the 90s, which helped some kids get out, but also made some children victims of human trafficking. Your friend can try to get in contact with your family. It might be a good experience, but it might also be a shitty one. Honestly, if her life continued to be so miserable, she might have some trauma and her personality might not be bright and shiny.

    But, in my opinion, your friend’s mom did the best she could for your friend, with the incredibly resources she had.

    I hope your friend has a wonderful life.

  22. I took the liberty of calling the town hall and asking them for the new address (since the street name changed since the 90’s) and I got it. I’ve sent you the current address in a DM.

  23. Besides the translations from our colleagues, here’s a bit of further information for your friend:

    * the street name used to be I.C. Frimu, but now seems to have been changed to Cpt. Ion Becleanu
    * [this](https://goo.gl/maps/QyFM55WJWKTNRwb48) is the exact building mentioned in that letter

    Edit: The numbers don’t match. However, the street name does seem to have changed to that; also, it seems unlikely for there to be another C12 building (there’s a “C12 bis” but that probably existed back in the ’90s too). I’d assume that the most likely explanation is that things also got renumbered at some point. It’s still a long shot, no guarantees.

  24. Depending on how much this interests your friend, the biological parents could be tracked down. I had a quick look at the map and there is no I.C. Frimu street today in Campulung, Arges. Likely because the street was named after a socialist and we changed the street names of pretty much all of those named after Russian or communist/socialist people.

    This having been said, number 55 and bloc C12 (bloc = building, apartament complex) are likely the same.

    If someone from Campulung knows what the current name is, it would not be too hard to then go check if the parents still live at this address. Most of the names are written outside on the intercom list (if there is one).

  25. Is your friend ok, to begin with? Was he treated nicely by his adoptive parents? This saddens me so much to see – there’s an address there if he really wants to, but I doubt they may be there still. So so sad

  26. The lack of empathy in this thread is shocking given the situation.

    The ones calling the woman “opportunistic” or calling for OP’s friend to burn the letter because those are sh*t parents have clearly learned nothing in their history lectures.
    Those years in Romania were brutal, people who gave their children up for adoption did so either to help them get a better life, or to help themselves and the rest of their children live a better life. Its heartbreaking but we have no idea how these people lived in those years, Neither one of you in this thread have the right to call this woman anything. She did what she had to do in order to survive (it doesn’t matter if she is asking for money, or if she is asking to get out of Romania, the fact is she was promised something from Paul which she never received). When you are on the verge of dying of hunger, you don’t know what you’re willing to do.

    OP, please let your friend know, if he is living a good life, then he was one of the luckiest few. His biological parents might have lived a very, very difficult life, but I think they cared for him the best they could know how, and they did what they had to do in order to survive. Its very probable he would never learn the true story of his adoption, and it might be better he never does learn it, but thats for him to decide. But he should always keep in mind the context of those years in Romania and what conditions his biological parents might have lived in.

  27. Looks like they may have been promised that they would be invited to the states by the adoptive family and probs they were hoping to be able to make a life there.

  28. It’s sad, I wouldn’t judge them too harsh. Life in Romania after 1990 was very hard for everyone. I was lucky to have parents that still had jobs, extremely underpaid. A lot of people used to borrow money just for the day-by-day living or sell their properties at a price of nothing.

  29. Is just just me that i don’t feel the mother is asking for money? And why does everybody assume that the baby was taken to the US?

  30. Vai, mi se rupe sufletul cand citesc asta… Si pt baiat ca nu a aflat pana acum ce scrie is n scrisoare, si pt parintii biologici.

  31. Too many people here don’t understand she was asking for an invitation to immigrate easily, not necessarily money, and this is also right after the revolution, very desperate times.

  32. Hi! I am from this town. I can check for your friend the area and the intercom if he wants this. I can tell him it is a poor area indeed.

  34. Unele dintre raspunsurile voastre…Iisus din ceruri! Ne-am robotizat complet, fratilor. Efectiv, ne-am ucis si ultimul gram de empatie.

  35. I don’t think you need another translation, but a comparison of the situation would be helpful, imagine if someone adopted a child today from Venezuela, Syria or Yemen, countries that are/were in civil wars or devastating inflation, where foreign money was the only thing stable.

    In the case of Romania, around that time period a fridge costed as much as an appartement, look we cannot be sure that your biological parents really only sold you for money, but what we can be sure, is that if your choices were starving together or talking to/being convinced by a broker to send your child abroad to get adopted, with the broker only paying them once, as in this kinds of deals, you gotta pay a bit of money to adopt a kid from a foreign country,but your biological parents might have been promised by thw broker more from your adopted ones, meanwhile they had no clue about it.

    And this is just another thing, in the mid 90′, when the situation was slightly better, I know from my dad, that even if you wanted to shovel on the roads, be a security guard, be a garbage collector, etc. the jobs with no coalification needed, you still couldn’t find a job.

    Although with all that out of the way, look if you are trying to connect with your biological parents, Romania today is more like a centralized Mexico without cartels, or like Portugal with a bit of a slavic flavour and less seaside culture. Also you can come here visa-free(you need your passport) for up to 90 days in a year, if you are from the US/Canada,also most importantly befriending some that speaks both Romanian and English, will be you best bet if you want to track down your parents.

    Before you try any of this, just remember to also talk with the parents that raised you for all these years, about everything they know about this and if they still have the contact info, track the broker, you might connect be able to connect with your biological parents without even leaving the house.

  37. Human translator here.
    I make mistakes so please be calm and don’t get all agitated. I try to help op with 30 minutes of my life.

    Mister Paul,

    I allow myself to write this letter in Romanian as I don’t know/speak your (official) language.
    But from what I remember, you said that you have there a Romanian priest who can translate the letter for you.

    I have received the pictures from you (formal).
    This made us very happy (spelling mistake) when we saw Alexandru. We are very happy for him – to see that he is ok and that Madam Tammy takes very good care of him. (Spelling mistake)

    For one year I/we haven’t received anything from you. Not even the invitation (for visa I guess) that you have promised us so we can see Alexandru (they wanted to come and see the baby).

    Here (for us) the situation is very hard (1992 I bet).

    Salaries are small and prices are increasing day-by-day.

    My husband Gaby (Nickname, Gabriel I guess)
    was fired from work and is jobless for 1 year.
    I don’t have a job(work) as you know and we are having a hard time to survive / manage things.

    Mister (Sir) Paul, you are our last hope. Please think about us to, for (the love of) God.

    Finally, we wish you and your family and especially to ALEXANDRU to have good (lots of) health, happyness and luck (noroc).

    MAGDA and GABY (they wrote their name under ALEXANDRU as a way to still be close even if only on a pice of paper from a letter).

    We are looking forward to receive an answer from you. (excited and looking forward)

    GABRIEL ENGA

    MAGDALENA ENGA

    Street i.c. Frimu, number 55 (nr. 55),

    BL. C12, (as in Bloc or Block / building not sure)

    Sc B, (Scara B, Entrance B)

    ET 1, (Etaj 1 – Floor 1)

    AP. 8, (Apartment 8)

    Loc. Campulung, (Town Campulung / Localitatea Campulung)

    Jud. ARGES, (Judet Arges, District Arges)

    Cod 0425, (Post code 0424)

    ROMANIA

    A bit sad to read and they were probably asking for material help but mostly to see their baby really. Especially how they wrote their names and Alexandru close to each-other.

    They love/loved Alexandru I believe.

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    All typed on a phone so keep calm if I made spelling mistakes.

    I say only nasty jokes instead of one answer so here, take it.

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