Romanian children pray before lunch at Concordia, a shelter for
abandoned children built by an Austrian charity foundation in Ploiesti,
60 km north of Bucharest. Foreign families have adopted tens of
thousands of Romanians since 1989, when harrowing TV footage of babies
chained to beds in decrepit orphanages shocked the world. But a ban on
international adoptions to curb child trafficking has hit up to 3,500
families who were in the process of adopting a Romanian child. Picture
taken February 12, 2002. FOR RELEASE WITH STORY BC-ROMANIA-ADOPTIONS
REUTERS/Radu Sigheti

RS/CLH/