Doctors Told Parents Their Daughter Was Dead–Turns Out She Was Kidnapped and Sold Overseas

Twenty-six years after Belle Barbu was born, she found out that she was taken from her biological parents and sold in America. Getting in touch with a Facebook page to find her roots later changed her life.

Human trafficking is an issue that has destroyed innocent lives and ripped families apart. Sadly, it is still an ongoing underground activity people do for a living.

Although aware of the issue, Belle Barbu didn’t think she would ever be involved in such a scheme. Until one day, she found out that she had been a victim of human trafficking for years.

Barbu was only eight when her blonde parents told her that she was adopted as a toddler. Although she was shocked, she knew she didn’t look anything like them.

Her parents revealed her family name, Barbu, and that she was born to Romanian parents who refused to keep her. In 2013, Barbu’s relationship with her adoptive parents began to crumble until they ended up completely estranged.

Despite the circumstances, her curiosity about her real family never subsided. Six years later, Barbu found herself looking at a Facebook group that helped Romanians find their families.

The page, dedicated to adopted children, became the bridge that connected Barbu and her siblings, Moise, Simona, and Florian.

Barbu was able to verify that they were family, and in November 2019, she flew to Rome to meet her parents.

She also discovered that her biological parents, Margari and Zambila, resided near Rome. When the day came that she spoke to her mom through a translator, Barbu ended up in tears.

It turned out that Barbu’s parents were suffering from poverty when she was born in October 1994. The doctors informed them that Barbu was sick and needed to stay at the hospital. She shared:

“A few days later, when they came back, they were told that I had died. Devastated, my parents broke down. As they left, a nurse ran after them to tell them the truth -- that I’d been taken and sold.”

Desperate to find their daughter, Margari and Zambila exhausted all their resources to bring her back. “My parents used the last bit of money they had for petrol and drove to every orphanage they could to find me,” she shared.

But when their money ran out, all hope was lost. Margari prayed every day to find her daughter, and only 26 years later was it answered.

Through a charity called Operation Underground Railroad, Barbu was able to verify that they were family, and in November 2019, she flew to Rome to meet her parents. She shared:

“As I stepped inside the courtyard and fell into my mother’s arms, it was the most euphoric feeling. I knew I was home.”

Barbu has since become an advocate against human trafficking. While working with Operation Underground Railroad, she learned that newborns are worth a lot and are sold to adoption agencies.

Barbu isn’t the only adoptive daughter who recently had a happy ending. Previously, Gina Crotts found the daughter she gave up for adoption 17 years ago at the mall and got to bond with her.

Such stories give inspiration to those in similar situations. There is always hope, and what is meant to be will always find a way.