The Center for Social Work in Croatia gave two families for adoption children whose health condition was silent on them

The fact that they knew that their children’s biological family members had severe mental and physical illnesses, they decided to simply keep silent about it.. Although, as both mothers from Croatia who adopted the boys say, they never regretted it, and they only wonder why they didn’t tell them the truth.

“When the doctors confirmed that the child really has a developmental problem, I called the Center for Social Protection in Varaždin and informed them about it, and they told me that they could return the child. Understand after 20 years that the team of people who worked in the adoption process from the Center for Social Protection knew everything before our children were born,” Vlatka Ozimec, whose son Marko is 21 today, told “Provjereno” numerous physical and psychological difficulties.

Another mother, who wished to remain anonymous, stated in front of the cameras that after five months, problems began to appear with her adopted son.

“The forecasts were terribly bad”

“We ended up in the hospital. The prognosis was terribly bad. They said he wouldn’t walk, talk, he’d be a plant. I wasn’t so much angry as I was miserable. Poor because they could keep such a thing quiet,” says the mother of the adopted boy.

Vlatka Ozimec took Mark for the first time when he was one month old. The Varaždin Center for Social Protection informed them that they have a newborn baby that the biological mother gave up.

“The medical documentation we received during the adoption indicated that the child was completely healthy, which was also our condition for adoption, it said that the Apgar scores were 10/10. The child came to us when he was a month and a half old, and when we placed him in our space, I realized very quickly that something was not going to be right with that child,” says Vlatka Ozimec for Provjereno.

Shocking answer from the Center

Doctors soon confirmed her suspicions.

“Then I called the CZS and informed them about it, and they said that they could return the child. I couldn’t believe what I heard with my earsa. I was terribly surprised, as if I had bought rotten salami in a store, so now we will return something. I, of course, became attached to that child, that being, in those months or two.

No matter how hard it is and not knowing what the future holds for me with him, I said – if it was supposed to be like that, then it will be like that. I will accept that task and that mission of life and I will fight for that child because I believe that we can do a lot together,” says the mother.

Marko met his own brother, who will remain anonymous, as well as his mother, less than a year ago. Their connection happened quite by chance.

“I accidentally turned on the TV and I see a child similar to my child on the television. Not similar, but the same. I can’t believe it either and I’m listening to what the woman is saying,” says the anonymous mother, who waited two years after her son turned 18 so she could call the mother of the child she saw on television.

“My God, there are four other children before him.”

At the Center, another mother was told, when she came to sign the adoption papers, that she could only find out if her adopted son had brothers or sisters when he turned 18. Big health problems started already at the age of five months.

“When we first came to the hospital, Rebro sent an official note to Center Varaždin and Varaždin sent all the papers. However, those papers ended up in my hands. I didn’t know what was in the envelope, I thought it was all the findings they made in the hospital. When, after three months, the child ended up in the hospital again, I went to see those papers and only then did I realize what kind of papers were in that envelope.”says the mother.

The documents belonging to the Center for Social Protection, which were given to her with the envelope containing the findings from the hospital, revealed the truth to her. The biological mother of these young men was examined shortly before the fifth birth in 2005.

The biological mother is not aware of her actions

“Doctors determined that the woman has mild mental retardation, that she has a split personality, social workers also gave their opinion. We also have their papers in which they state that the woman is a wanderer, has no roof over her head, is not aware of her actions. It was a shock for us, a big shock. The movie came back to me, my God, there are four more children before him, how many more are there after him now?! I can’t describe it to you,” says the mother.

The documents that accidentally ended up in the hands of those moms show that the information that was withheld from them was known to the expert team.

“You feel cheated, discriminated, sad, regardless of the fact that you have accepted the life as you have, knowing after so many years the hardships of life that I and my child, my family, grandparents, friends have gone through. It’s not just the weight of me and my child,” says Vlatka Ozimec.

They gave all the documentation they have to the lawyer.

“There is a moral and legal obligation to inform someone about the state of health, especially in cases like this, when you have relevant medical documentation that there are serious difficulties and health problems”, explains lawyer Nino Ćosić and adds that it is a big mistake of the CZS Varaždin.

The Ministry of Resources announced

They requested explanations and compensation from the Croatian Institute for Social Work and the relevant Ministry. About this case, Verified addressed the mentioned institutions, as well as the regional office of the Center for Social Work Varaždin.

“In the adoption procedure, potential adopters are selected in relation to the characteristics of the child, during which professional workers are obliged to meet the potential adopters who are most suitable for the adoption of an individual child with all the data on the family history, health condition and medical history of the child, health condition and medical history of the parents and other characteristics, specific features and needs of the child, which they have at that time and of which they have knowledge.”

The Croatian Institute for Social Work did not want to talk about the specific case, but the Ministry revealed that they wrote in their statement that these adoptions were carried out in accordance with the regulations in force at the time. Despite the lawyer’s warning about documentation to the contrary.

(Checked/Index)