Comments on: Selling Babies

By: ourania

ourania — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:58:51 +0000

I am not surprised by the baby selling/illegal adoptions in Greece that are still going on. As an illegally adopted child from the 1950’s, I see the Greeks haven’t changed one bit! They cover their heads in sand by allowing this to continue. The selling of babies in the 1950’s & 1960’s was sactioned by the orphanages, Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek government, all in the name of the almight drachma.

Is anyone out there who is an adoptee as myself and would be interested in filing a class action suit for what we Greek children have lost?

By: Despina

Despina — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:00:31 +0000

terrible to hear this.

By: Panayote Dimitras

Panayote Dimitras — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:14:18 +0000

well in fact the story is so crazy and it seems that the Guardian may have done a beautification job

here it looks as if she were doing suhc things before:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/articl.....85,00.html

yest another version:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pag.....ge_id=1879

and another:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/n.....01,00.html

and another:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_.....197329.stm

By: Panayote Dimitras

Panayote Dimitras — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 08:01:40 +0000

Here is another side of the story, the alleged abductor’s - it is incredible:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_n.....mp;feed=11

By: sylviasrevenge

sylviasrevenge — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 06:24:59 +0000

Hi, I came across your blog via Bint Alshamsa’s; she mentioned you in one of her posts.

I’m in shock about these events. Seriously, what is wrong with people? And these poor children — what kind of environment has fostered such a thing as illegal adoption?

I’m sorry; I’m too disgusted to say something insightful. :S

By: Nice Guy

Nice Guy — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 20:02:50 +0000

Sorry Diva. I should have clarified. Mr. Petros is right about a certain population of America using drugs while pregnant, but I wasn’t talking about the criminal underbelly and riffraff of America, I was talking about the decent, middle to upper middle class folks.

In Greece unfortunately, it is not only the lower-class riffraff that smoke while pregnant but apparently the upper-class and educated ones as well. That is the sad thing I should have clarified.

But, yes you are right, the issue is illegal adoption and I should not have deviated from the main post.

By: deviousdiva

deviousdiva — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 16:48:38 +0000

Goodness me, people! I am quite stunned by the shallowness of these last three (one that was so hideous, even I couldn’t believe what was written) responses. We are talking about babies being bought and sold here! The issues are more complex than whether the mother smoked. Yes, I agree, there are health issues to do with pregnancy but this post is not about that. Adoption, especially illegal adoption, is a very complex area without reducing it to some tabloid headlines. Please take care in your commenting here.

By: Petros Houhoulis

Petros Houhoulis — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 16:27:17 +0000

I’ve seen in some T.V. serials coming from the U.S.A. (Judging Amy or something like that) of mothers who actually use drugs while pregnant, not to mention stories of mothers who used Metamphetamine, and their babies have problems with their hemorrhoids right now, as I have read somewhere else. You are right, you should stick to the North American babies…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 09:54:56 +0000

COMMENT DELETED BY DD

By: Nice Guy

Nice Guy — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 12:22:23 +0000

I don’t know if I’d want to adopt a Greek baby since the mothers here smoke and don’t seem to know the dangers of smoking while pregnant.

I’d probably stick with the more savy north-American continent if I ever wanted to adopt.

By: Petros Houhoulis

Petros Houhoulis — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 02:47:10 +0000

All f this reminds me of the mayor of a Greek village who got elected by promising to arrange a travel for all of its’ bachelor male citizens who wished to marry but could not find brides in their village nor women from other places willing to marry a villager.

So the bus made the trip, arrived in Ukraine, the folks found brides and almost venerated their mayor as a local hero. The story was so successful that it got repeated.

So if the Greek authorities wish to combat phenomena like human trafficing, they can simply organize them to work under their aegis instead of combating them. Either we like it or not, lots of people have arrived in Greece during the last two decades, mostly in an illegal fashion. There is no way of stopping it, but a lot of awful situations would be solved if there was an attempt to regulate all that.

If the mayors’ experiment was to be repeated for the whle of Greece, for both men and women, several impoverished Balkan, Ukrainian, e.t.c. girls would not sell their babies or prostitute themselves, but could find a permanent home and forge a strong family within Greece, and solve the root of their misery: Their own poverty.

Of course, you can always make a phone call to a bureaucrat somewhere in the U.N., and I am certain that he would pay some seconds’ attention to it before looking at the massacres in Darfur and after trying to solve problems arising from the bombardment of Lebanon and the war in Iraq…

By: Panayote Dimitras

Panayote Dimitras — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:02:22 +0000

I just thought it was redundant but thanks for the promotion!

The story IS horrible on BOTH sides of this trafficking as well as for all THREE countries involved.

I will recall once more the UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children report on Greece:

http://daccess-ods.un.org/acce.....amp;Lang=E

By: deviousdiva

deviousdiva — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:56:23 +0000

Panayote, I don’t think it’s necessary to delete your post because it’s good if people can click on your name (link) to read the Balkan pages regularly. But if you would prefer it, I can delete it ? Let me know…

Melusina, Exactly. I didn’t have time today (and won’t for a while) to write anything comprehensive on this, but that was exactly my thought…

By: melusina

melusina — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:36:34 +0000

This story is just so wrong on so many levels. Very, very sad.

By: Panayote Dimitras

Panayote Dimitras — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:05:41 +0000

well then delete my post