Couple Adopt An Orphaned Baby, But Then Receive Life Changing News

For some couples, while having a baby may seem like a basic stepping stone in life’s common path, the natural way of having a child isn’t always a valid option. This was the case for Ron and Natalie Trecroce.

The year was 1997, and the Trecroces were a loving, caring Canadian couple who desperately sought out to broaden their family. However, having some issues while trying to conceive burst their bubble of having a family they could call their own.

Although it took time to recover from the saddening announcement that conceiving is just not in the books for the two, the Trecroces decided not to give up hope just yet. Their desire to have children and grant them a life filled with love and care far exceeded the instinct to become pregnant and provide for their biological children, the Trecroces needed to seek out different ways to do just that, and they were inclined to do so.

Adoption was quickly brought up as a legitimate option, yet back in 1997, going through the procedure was not as easy and straight forward as it is today. Ron and Natalie were willing to give it their all, go through whatever it takes and through extreme measures – and as fate would have it, the Canadian couple somehow found themselves cruising along Romania, looking for the child who would be a lifelong and undeniable part of their family.

Luck pulled the two in the direction of the city of Arad, which is located on the Mures River in the western part of the country of Romania. In Arad, the Trecroces were introduced to the unbelievably sweet Rodica Lavinia Farcas. When their eyes met, it was almost instantly that Natalie and Ron knew it would only be a matter of time until this little girl would be their daughter, as it just felt so right.

Although the three clicked at the speed of light, Natalie and Ron soon became away of a tragic discovery, but the news had to be broken to them. Unfortunately, Rodica’s health was in a very bad shape. The same girl with a constant smile spread across her face was malnourished. Sadly, this issue had resulted in plenty of other health matters and made her even more prone to disease than the normal child – and at the extremely young age of 1, too.

Young Rodica was left at the orphanage in Arad, Romania right after she was born. Once uncovering Rodica’s deteriorating health, it was brought up that one of the reasons she was probably abandoned at the orphanage is probably because her mother could not afford to care for her ill child. In addition to being malnourished, Rodica was suffering from rickets, and her bones were very weak due to the serious lack of vitamin D in her body.

Ron and Natalie decided nothing will stand in the way of their love towards the girl, but needed to know more about her background and history in order to get her the proper treatment that she needed. The two had to make sure that any type of physical or mental problem was revealed from the start, so that she could be taken care of accurately and thus have a chance at a normal, healthy life.

After this, the real hard work began. Not the city nor the country in which Rodica was found had a reputation for being organized or standardized, meaning the search for Rodica’s health history and biological roots would be even harder than Ron and Natalie had initially thought. The journey of unravelling Rodica’s past began, gathering every single bit of paper and registered information available, but what her new adoptive parents found out was beyond their wildest guesses.

The Trecroces decided a good place to start looking for clues would be in Rodica’s family tree. To their great disappointment, the couple quickly understood they would have to deal with limited to no paper work at all. Still, somehow, some information was collected and as it turned out, apparently Rodica was not the only child her mother had given birth to. Additionally, Rodica was not the only child her mother had given away, either.

Yes, Rodica had another sibling – an older sister, in fact – who was also given away and handed to a local orphanage, just like her younger sister. Much to their surprise, Ron and Natalie learned that while the two were definitely sisters, they were each fostered in different orphanages, meaning that they have been split up at excruciatingly young ages. This inevitably meant that the two Farcas sisters had absolutely no idea of the other’s existence.

It remained unclear why both sisters where given away, and finding Rodica’s elder sister was not an easy task. But Ron and Natalie were completely determined and set in their minds to start a family, and though plenty of people would be alarmed by this uneasy situation, for the Trecroces this simply meant there was more love to pass around, more children to grant a warm home to, more happiness that was about to enter their lives.

Finally, Rodica’s sister was found – and was immediately adopted along with her younger sister. The elder sister’s name was Gianina Farcas, and the two new parents were shocked to see how much the Farcas sisters resembled each other. In fact, it was odd how natural the connection between the four felt. Just as Ron and Natalie found one another and decided to join their lives together by getting married, the same happened with the two sisters. But that wasn’t all…

As it turned out, Gianina and Rodica were not the only children birthed by their mother. Shockingly after the four moved back to Canada, a further dig into the family tree uncovered the fact that the two had six different siblings! However, due to the lack of organization and coherent paperwork, the rest of the siblings were not found despite a great deal of effort and costly use of resources. As a matter of fact, those 6 other siblings remain unknown of their location or state to this day.

Considering how the Trecroces became a family of four instead of a family of two in a matter of only a few days, one may claim that it is probably for the best that the rest of siblings were not discovered, as it would have been unbelievably hard to take care of eight children. The Trecroces had the best possible intentions, but there are only so many kids a couple can learn to handle simultaneously.

As an effort to make Gianina and Rodica feel more at home and a genuine feeling that they belong, both girls were renamed by they new adoptive parents. Gianina was renamed Sophie, Rodica was referred to as Danielle. It was as though their geographical move to a new country and home had to represent an emotional change as well, and the names suited the girls very much. Still, Ron and Natalie felt as though something was missing…

Their two beautiful daughters indeed seemed to fit in perfectly in every sense, but it was important for the Trecroce parents to maintain the girls’ history and heritage. That is why there agreed that in addition to their daughters’ new first names, they would keep their previous ones as middle names. This way, they could keep a piece of where they came from no matter where they went. Sometimes a small gesture goes a long way.

Sophie and Danielle might have been unique in the eyes of Ron and Natalie, but the sad reality is that Romania’s 1990s was brimming with countless children who were left by their parents. The reasoning behind this is that the country was, at the time, under the control of a dictator named Nicolae Ceauşescu. Ceaeuşescu was highly religious Romanian politician from the Communist Party, and therefore completely opposed and forbade any form of contraception within the land.

Since many of the parents were unable to care for their numerous children, they were forced to give them up. Some of the kids were lucky enough to end up in orphanages, hoping to be adopted later on. The lesser fortunate were either abandoned alone in various locations, or died of malnutrition and other health complications. Sophie and Danielle were definitely the lucky ones, especially considering how their new parents fought so hard to reunite them.

The sisters’ story created quite a buzz, and it is easy to understand why. It is not everyday you hear of such a miraculous story of soles from around the globe joining through the sole guidance of fate and love. One documentary filmmaker thought just that, and decided to request Ron and Natalie’s permission to make a film telling their interesting story. The parents considered this request and decided to go along with it, as it could encourage others to adopt and save lives, too.

Several years later, Sophie had watched the film and had made the decision to edit the full documentary into a short film. Happy with her result, she uploaded the video to YouTube. By doing so, Sophie and Danielle’s story came to life and successfully raised awareness – not just of their specific situation, but also allowed a number of people with similar backgrounds to feel as though they were not alone in the world. That video reached so many people, Sophie had decided two things…

The first decision that Sophie made had more to do with her own self-discovery. After editing the documentary that was made about her and her sister’s past, Sophie realized she had a deep passion for photography. That is why when it was her time to go to college, she decided to pursue her love and study it in a more professional manner. We can just tell great things are going to come from this talented artist!

The second decision Sophie made was to learn more about where she originally came from, to discover her past and get to know the biological family and relatives she has abroad. Her sister Danielle was also on board, and so they began their research and fully intend on flying to Romania soon to continue their journey. Still, gathering the information is easier said than done, as the availability of poor documentation significantly influences the process.

As for Danielle, she hopes to return to her home country, hopefully sometime in 2018 – “I would love to go back to explore the country!” she said during one of the many interviews she has had since her story rose to fame. Currently, Danielle is a college student on her way to receiving her Bachelor degree. The two sisters are closer than ever, still living close to one another, which definitely aids in maintaining their special relationship.

It’s funny how some things just have a tendency to work out, and it’s safe to say the Trecroces and Farcas sisters have definitely had luck on their side. Although sometimes things do not go exactly the way we plan, just as Ron and Natalie thought they would maybe leave Romania with one adopted child and ended up with two. Just imagine what would have happened if the four never united… We wouldn’t have this happy ending, that’s for sure!