814-Lancast*r Fmrtnfl, Saturday, Hay 30,1992
Father Labors Thro
GAIL STROCK
Mifflin Co. Correspondent
LEWISTOWN (Bedford Co.)
When Tom and Lisa Heckman
of Lewistown decided to bring a
baby boy into their world, they
went through the usual expectant
parent process, but with a couple
of differences.
First, they decided to adopt.
From there they planned and
waited and waited as most parents
do. As time drew near to choose a
child, one thing became very clear
only one of them could travel
to Romania for their son. After
much thought, Tom boarded a
plane, along with Rev. Doug Hol
der, another father-to-be, for what
he thought would be a three-week
trip. But, as sometimes happens,
the process took longer than
expected and Tom’s stay lasted
4'/j weeks. As Tom labored
through the slow-paced legal pro
cess to adopt their son, an anxious
Lisa paced the halls back home.
Tom Heckman told his story to
100 women attending Spring
Homemakers Day at Hartman
Center, Mifflin County. It was
through many miracles that we got
our son, he began. “God has
helped us.” We give all the glory
to Him.”
When Tom left for Romania on
April 21, 1991, little did he know
that the son he would be bringing
home was bom the day before. “I
saw him when he was eight days
old,” Tom reflects.
Tom and Lisa, along with their
daughters Courtney, 13, and
Brooke, 11, first began searching
for a child through U.S. adoption
agencies. “In the U.S., if you have
children of your own, it’s practi
cally impossible to adopt.”
Through contacts with doctors
and lawyers, the Heckmans then
searched a five-county area. Find
ing little hope, Tom and Lisa, by
chance, tuned in to the television
program “20/20” which described
the problems facing children in
Romania. Boarded by Bulgaria,
Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and
Hungary, Romania remains a
country with one of the lowest
standards of living in Europe.
“I had heard of cultural shock
and thought I was prepared for it,
Never lacking for love or attention, Lance Heckman
spends some time with Dad. Tom says it is hard to believe
that one year ago this month, he was In Romania.
but I didn’t prepare myself
enough,” Tom explained.
“Under the communist system,
all females had to have at least
four children, or they were taxed
heavily. They wanted to build the
population for Romania to
become a main power. But most
people cannot afford to keep the
children. So they would have the
children at the hospital and then
leave.”
That’s what happened to a nine
month-old child Tom saw first.
But because the parents couldn’t
be located, adoption was not
possible.
“Thank God there was a woman
who had a child at home, brought
him into the hospital to have him
examined and the doctor knew our
attorney and told her that this baby
will probably be left here because
she had three prior children and
had left them.
“You have to realize,” Tom
went on. “these are not terrible
people. They’re great people,
proud people, but if you have no
home and absolutely no way to
keep a child alive, what would you
do? When you know they have at
least a 50% chance of surviving in
a hospital. Now what I’m saying is
that even in the hospital, half of
them will die.”
When Tom arrived in Tirgu
Mures, a city in the center of the
country, he and Doug stayed with
an upper-middle class family who
offered them couches to sleep on,
a gas-fired hot water heater beside
the tub, and a pull-string toilet
Within a week, Tom saw his
8-day-old son. But he soon
learned that each paper to be
notarized, each office to be vis
ited, each step of the process took
several days. After a while, Tom
and Doug learned their system. “A
pack of cigarettes and a pen can
get you in in half an hour. That’s
the way you do things there. You
give them something for what
they’re doing and it’ll get done a
whole lot faster.”
After seeing the baby, Tom
turned doctor and examined it
The Heckman pediatrician in the
U.S. gave Tom a short course in
doctoring and a stethoscope. He
checked the baby’s heart, sto
Thankful to be together again as a family, Tom and Lisa Heckman stand with their
three children, Courtney, 13, Brooke, 11, and Lance, 1. Last year, Tom spent five
weeks In Romania to adopt a child. He saw eight-day-old Lance a week after arriving
In Romania, then spent 4 weeks working through the adoption process.
mach, glands and liver. As one of
the adoption requirements, the
baby was tested for AIDS. “When
a child became malnourished
there, they gave them blood trans
fusions. That’s how AIDS
spreads,” Tom explained.
Tom and Doug’s court proce
dure followed. “Women are
second-class citizens there. When
we went through court, the two
mothers stood along the wall and
we were seated comfortably.
Unfortunately they (the women)
couldn’t help their situation.
These two women didn’t have
jobs or husbands.
“After we went through the
court and had legally adopted the
children in Romania, we took
them to Bucharest and there was a
whole page full of requirements
that we had to fulfill.
“One was that we had to have
that adoption translated from
Romanian into English and notor
ized. We hadlo have the children
examined again. We had to have
blood tests. We had to have all
these things done before we ever
had an appointment at the U.S.
Embassy for our visa interview.”
During that time the-men and
children lived in a two-room
apartment. Doug adopted a
14-month-old cousin of Tom’s
baby. Because of the black market
for babies Tom and Doug were
told not to talk to or trust anyone.
In spite of that, the landlord called
the police, complete with machine
guns, and they needed to present
their legal adoption papers as
proof.
For the next 2'A weeks, Doug
and Tom cared for the children
with food, formula and diapers
they brought from the U.S. Then
came another surprise. Doug was
needed at home! “So I was keep
ing two children alone in an apart
ment in Bucharest for S days,”
Tom laughed.
During that time, even the most
competent parent deserved to wor
ry. “I worried that they would get
sick. I saw the drug stores there,
the long lines, the 'A hour wait
They mix their own drugs. Thank
God neither boy got sick ”
Tom arrived back in the U.S. on
May 24, 1991. “I know why peo
ple kiss the ground when they get
home. If I wouldn’t have had a
suitcase and a baby in my arms, I
would have too!” Tom laughed.
Eight days later, on June 1.
Romania closed down adoptions.
Ad
Lance Heckman, once Szolt
(Joseph), is now a healthy one
year-old.
To celebrate his birthday, Tom
reread the journal he kept while in
Romania and remembers the
My husband and I both like to
go fishing. But for months some
thing always gets in the way of our
taking a day off. Last week we
finally set aside one day to go to
Opossum Lake in Cumberland
Co. The Pennsylvania Fish Com
mission maintains the area.
As Allen wanted to leave home
at 4 a.m. and I thought 6 a.m. was
early enough, we compromised
and left at 5 a.m. The weather was
beautiful and we easily found the
lake. Several people were there
ahead of us. This time we did not
take our boat and so we fished
from the shore. It was interesting
to watch a loon as it dived for fish.
I was amazed at the length of time
that it could slay under the water.
There were many bright green
bullfrogs nearby who entertained
us with their deep voices. Even a
Don’t Toss Your
Old Sewing Machine
CREAMERY (Montgomery
Co.) — Are you in the market for a
new sewing machine? If so, don’t
toss your old machine, if it’s in
good woiking condition. Especial
ly needed arc machines with zig
zag and button hole capabilities.
The Montgomery County 4-H
Program is looking for used port
able machines that need little or no
repairs for 4-H members to use at
their sewing club meetings. A new
4-H club in Potts town is especial-
ion Process
expectant parent process.
Tom laughs and says “My wife
sent me to another country and put
me through the labor for our third
child. So I’m going to celebrate
Mother’s Day too!”
Ida’s
Notebook
Ida Risser
water snake went swimming by as
we caught one pan fish after
another and put the smaller ones
back. We lost track of the number
caught, but we did bring seven
home including two catfish that
Allen skinned. We hope to go
again if we get all of our many
gardens in good shape.
I was thoroughly surprised by
the Bible Study group that met in
our home. As I came into the liv
ing room from the kitchen, I found
a big basket of gifts setting in front
of my chair. They decided to give
me a kitchen shower. The gifts
included many gadgets that I’d
never think to buy for myself plus
hand towels, place mats, and a
cookbook. TTiey told me they’d
done it because I share my garden
produce with them in the fall.
ly in need. Your donation is tax
deductible, of course, and you can
be sure that it will be used with
much pleasure.
If you would like to donate a
portable sewing machine (not one
in a cabinet) to 4-H, call Helaine
Brown. 4-H Agent, at (215)
489-4315. Or drop it off at the
Montgomery County 4-H Center,
located on Route 113, between
Routes 73 and 29, near Sldppack.