American woman reunited with family 25 years after she was trafficked as an infant

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A woman who was kidnapped as a newborn from a Romanian hospital has been reunited with her family 25 years later.

Shortly after Belle Barbu was born, her biological parents were informed that she had a heart condition that required medical attention.

When Barbu’s parents returned to the hospital a few days later to pick up their newborn daughter, they were told that their daughter had died.

However, Barbu, who was born premature but healthy at birth, was actually kidnapped from the hospital and taken to a human trafficking orphanage, where she was eventually sold to a family in America.

According to the 25-year-old, who was raised in Wisconsin by her adoptive family but always knew she was adopted, she eventually uncovered the truth with the help of her friends, a DNA test, and a Facebook group that helps adopted Romanian children find family members.

After using the DNA test to trace her heritage back to India, Israel, Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean, Barbu, a Latter-Day Saint, told DeseretNews that she was pointed to the Facebook group that had “more than 500 success stories”.

Less than 48 hours after reaching out to the group, Barbu says they’d found her family, who were living in Italy.

According to Barbu, she eventually learned that her parents, lower-class farmers who still live without running water, had been told the truth about their daughter’s fate by a worker at the hospital.

Despite knowing their daughter was alive, they were not able to find her.

“For a year they looked for me but couldn’t find me because I was adopted out to the US,” Barbu said.

Barbu’s case eventually captured the attention of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), a nonprofit organisation that aims to bring an end to child trafficking and child slavery.

“They use the legitimate orphanage system, falsify the birth certificate, send the child to an orphanage, adopt it out and make a ton of money - around $15,000 to $20,000 a kid,” the organisation’s founder Tim Ballard told the outlet. “A newborn is very valuable.”

Upon hearing Barbu’s story, and about her intent to travel to Italy, the organisation decided to help by contributing the funds for the trip.

OUR also ensured that Barbu’s sister, who was living in Germany but could not afford to travel to Italy for the reunion, would also be there.

“We couldn’t stand the thought of these sisters not being able to reunite after a 25-year-long nightmare because of money,” Ballard explained. “At OUR, this is what we aim to do. First and foremost, we aim to reunite kidnapping victims, trafficked victims, with their lost families. So we volunteer to cover these costs.”

On 14 November 2019, the family was finally reunited - an emotional moment captured on camera that Barbu described as “such a blessing”.

Explaining that she can’t imagine the pain her mother went through, Barbu said: “My mom thought I was dead multiple times in her life and yet I’m alive giving her a hug.

“It was such a blessing and to know they were excited to see me. I was so happy.”

OUR hopes that Barbu’s success story teaches others about the “power of genealogy study” and the importance of asking for help.

Since the reunion with her biological family, the 25-year-old has decided to write a book about her life’s journey. She is also volunteering with OUR so that she can help other trafficking victims.

According to the Polaris Project, which works to stop human trafficking, 10,949 cases of human trafficking in the US involving 23,078 individual survivors were reported in 2018.