Magaard returns from emotional Romanian trip

Alex Magaard of Nevis returned to his home country of Romania for a reunion with his birth family, televised for all to see. He’d meet his tearful birth mother, Maria Muscan, learning the intricacies of his adoption. She would explain before a television audience how the adoption fee allowed her to buy a home and clothing for her children, 3, 5 and 7 years old at the time. “I’m so sorry,” she told her son through an interpreter. “I regret it every day.” Alex met his birth father Manea for the first time, “a gypsy,” who was in jail when he was born and during the subsequent adoption process. The television station had portrayed him as “callous,” Alex said. “But I could see the sorrow in his eyes.” He was introduced to his siblings, bonding immediately with his brothers, who’d traveled from France, a 48-hour cross-country journey, to surprise him. He’d meet his sister Alexandra, the mother of three girls, who his parents, Dick and Wanda Magaard, had also tried to adopt. Maria was pregnant with Alexandra when Alex emigrated. And he would realize, “I’m thankful to God I was adopted.”  
  Parents now spectators Alex, 24, arrived in the United States at 10 months old, parents Dick and Wanda Magaard enduring an 11-week adoption process riddled with inflexible bureaucrats, language and cultural barriers and a fear their efforts would prove fruitless. He’d come to understand he’d been adopted at about age 7. As he grew older, he began searching for his birth family, without results. In March, he was contacted by Romanian television stations Observatory, a news station, and Antennae 1, “the equivalent of Ellen DeGeneres.” The newscasters were following up on Romania’s “Lost Generation.” After the Romanian TV interview in Minnesota, Alex was invited to travel to Bucharest, Romania at the news stations’ expense, where he would learn the series of events leading up to his adoption. Dick and Wanda Magaard accompanied their son. The Magaards left Nov. 21 and returned a week later. “It was a great trip,” Dick said. “Wonderful, friendly, cordial people. This time, Wanda and I sat back and watched.”   Mother’s guilt dissipates Alex was born in eastern Romania in the town of Tulcea. Because Maria, his mother, a gypsy, had no money, she was not allowed to take Alex home from the hospital.  The equivalent of Child Protection Services placed Alex in an orphanage. Maria subsequently traveled across the country to her home in Pancota, where for the next several months she attempted to retrieve Alex. But the authorities refused to release him. At this point, the Magaards had begun the adoption process and a woman from the agency contacted Maria, asking if she would consider this.  She boarded a train for the journey to Tulcea. Maria engaged the assistance of a friend with a house that would be deemed suitable living quarters for her son. Authorities presumed she owned it and granted his release from the orphanage. Maria boarded the train and headed for Arad and Pancota. An hour after disembarking, Alexander was to meet his parents-to-be. Coincidentally, Alexander was the name the Magaards had chosen. The Magaards assumed the adoption process was about to begin. But Maria, through sign language, insisted they take the baby, hungry and in urine soaked rags, that night. Alex would learn his mother and her three young sons were evicted from his fraternal grandfather’s house because she’d put her son up for adoption. “People were proud,” Alex said of his grandfather’s decision to expel. “It was the old style of thinking.” In the course of Alex’s recent Romanian stay, Maria’s outlook would shift from guilt and sadness to contentment. “She’s seeing the life I’ve had and she’s okay with it. She’s happy with it,” Alex said.   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351811","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]   ‘Very emotional’ Alex’s “schedule” was orchestrated to engage the Romanian television stations’ audience. Day one, the Magaards were taken on a tour of Bucharest, visiting a Peasant Museum and parliament. An interpreter accompanied but many people spoke English. Monday, the first night of the show, Alexandra and her three children walked on stage, as did Maria. “It was very emotional,” he said of reuniting with birth family members, Maria apologizing. “It was strange, but a good strange.” The conversation centered on what led to his adoption. Alex was questioned about growing up in the U.S., what he thought about adoption. He told them about his hunting and fishing exploits. “They were amazed by that.” Romania, he would learn, has a tremendous grizzly bear population, but only the very wealthy hunt. Tuesday, he would meet his younger brother Alexandru, who was “very emotional, he could barely come to words.” “I can’t believe this is actually happening,” his younger brother told the audience. Then his father walked on stage. “I just rolled with the punches,” Alex said of what unfolded. “We were born in the same place,” he reflected, “but I was raised with an education.” Several of his eight siblings - six brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 31 – completed only two grades of schooling. His brothers work in France, “making do with what they can.” Most have children. An average home, about 600 square feet, has no indoor plumbing. Wood is the heating fuel source.    Wednesday, they traveled via a “crazy fast” van through the “absolutely gorgeous mountains” to his family’s hometown of Pancota to meet relatives. The celebrity was greeted with applause, the crowd then splitting and an announcement, “We have a surprise for you.” “I knew then,” he said of his brothers’ appearance, the television station learning of their impending arrival just an hour before. “Everyone in Pancota knew,” he said of their serendipitous arrival. His brothers had originally declined, cost and work the factors in the decision. “We sat down,” he recalled. “No one knew what to do. My brothers were exhausted” after the two-day bus ride. But the timorousness was short lived. “We touched cheeks. There were hugs and kisses. We talked,” at times, without an interpreter, “and got the gist of it.” (Alex had downloaded a Romanian translator on his phone.) “Let’s go to the bar,” they decided, 70 people following them in, cameras rolling, “little girls crowding around” for a view of the celebrity.” By 9 p.m., people began to depart and Alex and his family bid a faux farewell for the cameras. But the evening had just begun for Alex and his brothers, who downed some ale and “shared stories of meeting wives and girlfriends.” When the time came to leave, Alex had developed “a connection with his brothers,” well beyond the Facebook association. “Alexandra should be here,” Alex said of his sister, upon returning home.  When Dick and Wanda attempted to adopt her, Alex’s father was out of jail; Maria precluded the procedure. “I have hard feelings,” Alex said. “She could have had a better life. She had her first child at 14.  It saddens me.” Alexandra looked at him wistfully a few times, he said, with an “I could have been there” expression. “She should have been here,” he agrees.   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351813","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]   ‘America good place’ “The food was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever had,” Alex said, noting obesity is nearly nonexistent in Romania. “They eat to savor the taste,” he said of Romania’s moderate consumption. He donned a tuxedo for the cameras, “to see what I’ll look like when I get married.” He and his fiancee Abbie Grossman plan to wed in his native country. ”And I felt like I fit in,” he said of hair and skin color. “It was sad to leave. It was something I’d looked forward to all these years. There was not enough time,” he said of the five-day window. “But I’m glad for the experience,” the “overnight celebrity” said of people stopping him, shaking his hand, asking for a photo with him. The reality of his homeland struck him when he saw people climbing out of the sewers. And he’s concerned with possible Russian encroachment. When Alex was ready to depart with his parents, a woman at the airport told him, “Stay in America. America good place.” “It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I hope to go back next year.”   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351815","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"292","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Alex Magaard of Nevis returned to his home country of Romania for a reunion with his birth family, televised for all to see. He’d meet his tearful birth mother, Maria Muscan, learning the intricacies of his adoption. She would explain before a television audience how the adoption fee allowed her to buy a home and clothing for her children, 3, 5 and 7 years old at the time. “I’m so sorry,” she told her son through an interpreter. “I regret it every day.” Alex met his birth father Manea for the first time, “a gypsy,” who was in jail when he was born and during the subsequent adoption process. The television station had portrayed him as “callous,” Alex said. “But I could see the sorrow in his eyes.” He was introduced to his siblings, bonding immediately with his brothers, who’d traveled from France, a 48-hour cross-country journey, to surprise him. He’d meet his sister Alexandra, the mother of three girls, who his parents, Dick and Wanda Magaard, had also tried to adopt. Maria was pregnant with Alexandra when Alex emigrated. And he would realize, “I’m thankful to God I was adopted.”   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351809","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"270"}}]]   Parents now spectators Alex, 24, arrived in the United States at 10 months old, parents Dick and Wanda Magaard enduring an 11-week adoption process riddled with inflexible bureaucrats, language and cultural barriers and a fear their efforts would prove fruitless. He’d come to understand he’d been adopted at about age 7. As he grew older, he began searching for his birth family, without results. In March, he was contacted by Romanian television stations Observatory, a news station, and Antennae 1, “the equivalent of Ellen DeGeneres.” The newscasters were following up on Romania’s “Lost Generation.” After the Romanian TV interview in Minnesota, Alex was invited to travel to Bucharest, Romania at the news stations’ expense, where he would learn the series of events leading up to his adoption. Dick and Wanda Magaard accompanied their son. The Magaards left Nov. 21 and returned a week later. “It was a great trip,” Dick said. “Wonderful, friendly, cordial people. This time, Wanda and I sat back and watched.”   Mother’s guilt dissipates Alex was born in eastern Romania in the town of Tulcea. Because Maria, his mother, a gypsy, had no money, she was not allowed to take Alex home from the hospital.  The equivalent of Child Protection Services placed Alex in an orphanage. Maria subsequently traveled across the country to her home in Pancota, where for the next several months she attempted to retrieve Alex. But the authorities refused to release him. At this point, the Magaards had begun the adoption process and a woman from the agency contacted Maria, asking if she would consider this.  She boarded a train for the journey to Tulcea. Maria engaged the assistance of a friend with a house that would be deemed suitable living quarters for her son. Authorities presumed she owned it and granted his release from the orphanage. Maria boarded the train and headed for Arad and Pancota. An hour after disembarking, Alexander was to meet his parents-to-be. Coincidentally, Alexander was the name the Magaards had chosen. The Magaards assumed the adoption process was about to begin. But Maria, through sign language, insisted they take the baby, hungry and in urine soaked rags, that night. Alex would learn his mother and her three young sons were evicted from his fraternal grandfather’s house because she’d put her son up for adoption. “People were proud,” Alex said of his grandfather’s decision to expel. “It was the old style of thinking.” In the course of Alex’s recent Romanian stay, Maria’s outlook would shift from guilt and sadness to contentment. “She’s seeing the life I’ve had and she’s okay with it. She’s happy with it,” Alex said.  
  ‘Very emotional’ Alex’s “schedule” was orchestrated to engage the Romanian television stations’ audience. Day one, the Magaards were taken on a tour of Bucharest, visiting a Peasant Museum and parliament. An interpreter accompanied but many people spoke English. Monday, the first night of the show, Alexandra and her three children walked on stage, as did Maria. “It was very emotional,” he said of reuniting with birth family members, Maria apologizing. “It was strange, but a good strange.” The conversation centered on what led to his adoption. Alex was questioned about growing up in the U.S., what he thought about adoption. He told them about his hunting and fishing exploits. “They were amazed by that.” Romania, he would learn, has a tremendous grizzly bear population, but only the very wealthy hunt. Tuesday, he would meet his younger brother Alexandru, who was “very emotional, he could barely come to words.” “I can’t believe this is actually happening,” his younger brother told the audience. Then his father walked on stage. “I just rolled with the punches,” Alex said of what unfolded. “We were born in the same place,” he reflected, “but I was raised with an education.” Several of his eight siblings - six brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 31 – completed only two grades of schooling. His brothers work in France, “making do with what they can.” Most have children. An average home, about 600 square feet, has no indoor plumbing. Wood is the heating fuel source.    Wednesday, they traveled via a “crazy fast” van through the “absolutely gorgeous mountains” to his family’s hometown of Pancota to meet relatives. The celebrity was greeted with applause, the crowd then splitting and an announcement, “We have a surprise for you.” “I knew then,” he said of his brothers’ appearance, the television station learning of their impending arrival just an hour before. “Everyone in Pancota knew,” he said of their serendipitous arrival. His brothers had originally declined, cost and work the factors in the decision. “We sat down,” he recalled. “No one knew what to do. My brothers were exhausted” after the two-day bus ride. But the timorousness was short lived. “We touched cheeks. There were hugs and kisses. We talked,” at times, without an interpreter, “and got the gist of it.” (Alex had downloaded a Romanian translator on his phone.) “Let’s go to the bar,” they decided, 70 people following them in, cameras rolling, “little girls crowding around” for a view of the celebrity.” By 9 p.m., people began to depart and Alex and his family bid a faux farewell for the cameras. But the evening had just begun for Alex and his brothers, who downed some ale and “shared stories of meeting wives and girlfriends.” When the time came to leave, Alex had developed “a connection with his brothers,” well beyond the Facebook association. “Alexandra should be here,” Alex said of his sister, upon returning home.  When Dick and Wanda attempted to adopt her, Alex’s father was out of jail; Maria precluded the procedure. “I have hard feelings,” Alex said. “She could have had a better life. She had her first child at 14.  It saddens me.” Alexandra looked at him wistfully a few times, he said, with an “I could have been there” expression. “She should have been here,” he agrees.   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351813","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]   ‘America good place’ “The food was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever had,” Alex said, noting obesity is nearly nonexistent in Romania. “They eat to savor the taste,” he said of Romania’s moderate consumption. He donned a tuxedo for the cameras, “to see what I’ll look like when I get married.” He and his fiancee Abbie Grossman plan to wed in his native country. ”And I felt like I fit in,” he said of hair and skin color. “It was sad to leave. It was something I’d looked forward to all these years. There was not enough time,” he said of the five-day window. “But I’m glad for the experience,” the “overnight celebrity” said of people stopping him, shaking his hand, asking for a photo with him. The reality of his homeland struck him when he saw people climbing out of the sewers. And he’s concerned with possible Russian encroachment. When Alex was ready to depart with his parents, a woman at the airport told him, “Stay in America. America good place.” “It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I hope to go back next year.”   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351815","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"292","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Alex Magaard of Nevis returned to his home country of Romania for a reunion with his birth family, televised for all to see. He’d meet his tearful birth mother, Maria Muscan, learning the intricacies of his adoption. She would explain before a television audience how the adoption fee allowed her to buy a home and clothing for her children, 3, 5 and 7 years old at the time. “I’m so sorry,” she told her son through an interpreter. “I regret it every day.” Alex met his birth father Manea for the first time, “a gypsy,” who was in jail when he was born and during the subsequent adoption process. The television station had portrayed him as “callous,” Alex said. “But I could see the sorrow in his eyes.” He was introduced to his siblings, bonding immediately with his brothers, who’d traveled from France, a 48-hour cross-country journey, to surprise him. He’d meet his sister Alexandra, the mother of three girls, who his parents, Dick and Wanda Magaard, had also tried to adopt. Maria was pregnant with Alexandra when Alex emigrated. And he would realize, “I’m thankful to God I was adopted.”   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351809","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"270"}}]]   Parents now spectators Alex, 24, arrived in the United States at 10 months old, parents Dick and Wanda Magaard enduring an 11-week adoption process riddled with inflexible bureaucrats, language and cultural barriers and a fear their efforts would prove fruitless. He’d come to understand he’d been adopted at about age 7. As he grew older, he began searching for his birth family, without results. In March, he was contacted by Romanian television stations Observatory, a news station, and Antennae 1, “the equivalent of Ellen DeGeneres.” The newscasters were following up on Romania’s “Lost Generation.” After the Romanian TV interview in Minnesota, Alex was invited to travel to Bucharest, Romania at the news stations’ expense, where he would learn the series of events leading up to his adoption. Dick and Wanda Magaard accompanied their son. The Magaards left Nov. 21 and returned a week later. “It was a great trip,” Dick said. “Wonderful, friendly, cordial people. This time, Wanda and I sat back and watched.”   Mother’s guilt dissipates Alex was born in eastern Romania in the town of Tulcea. Because Maria, his mother, a gypsy, had no money, she was not allowed to take Alex home from the hospital.  The equivalent of Child Protection Services placed Alex in an orphanage. Maria subsequently traveled across the country to her home in Pancota, where for the next several months she attempted to retrieve Alex. But the authorities refused to release him. At this point, the Magaards had begun the adoption process and a woman from the agency contacted Maria, asking if she would consider this.  She boarded a train for the journey to Tulcea. Maria engaged the assistance of a friend with a house that would be deemed suitable living quarters for her son. Authorities presumed she owned it and granted his release from the orphanage. Maria boarded the train and headed for Arad and Pancota. An hour after disembarking, Alexander was to meet his parents-to-be. Coincidentally, Alexander was the name the Magaards had chosen. The Magaards assumed the adoption process was about to begin. But Maria, through sign language, insisted they take the baby, hungry and in urine soaked rags, that night. Alex would learn his mother and her three young sons were evicted from his fraternal grandfather’s house because she’d put her son up for adoption. “People were proud,” Alex said of his grandfather’s decision to expel. “It was the old style of thinking.” In the course of Alex’s recent Romanian stay, Maria’s outlook would shift from guilt and sadness to contentment. “She’s seeing the life I’ve had and she’s okay with it. She’s happy with it,” Alex said.   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351811","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]   ‘Very emotional’ Alex’s “schedule” was orchestrated to engage the Romanian television stations’ audience. Day one, the Magaards were taken on a tour of Bucharest, visiting a Peasant Museum and parliament. An interpreter accompanied but many people spoke English. Monday, the first night of the show, Alexandra and her three children walked on stage, as did Maria. “It was very emotional,” he said of reuniting with birth family members, Maria apologizing. “It was strange, but a good strange.” The conversation centered on what led to his adoption. Alex was questioned about growing up in the U.S., what he thought about adoption. He told them about his hunting and fishing exploits. “They were amazed by that.” Romania, he would learn, has a tremendous grizzly bear population, but only the very wealthy hunt. Tuesday, he would meet his younger brother Alexandru, who was “very emotional, he could barely come to words.” “I can’t believe this is actually happening,” his younger brother told the audience. Then his father walked on stage. “I just rolled with the punches,” Alex said of what unfolded. “We were born in the same place,” he reflected, “but I was raised with an education.” Several of his eight siblings - six brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 31 – completed only two grades of schooling. His brothers work in France, “making do with what they can.” Most have children. An average home, about 600 square feet, has no indoor plumbing. Wood is the heating fuel source.    Wednesday, they traveled via a “crazy fast” van through the “absolutely gorgeous mountains” to his family’s hometown of Pancota to meet relatives. The celebrity was greeted with applause, the crowd then splitting and an announcement, “We have a surprise for you.” “I knew then,” he said of his brothers’ appearance, the television station learning of their impending arrival just an hour before. “Everyone in Pancota knew,” he said of their serendipitous arrival. His brothers had originally declined, cost and work the factors in the decision. “We sat down,” he recalled. “No one knew what to do. My brothers were exhausted” after the two-day bus ride. But the timorousness was short lived. “We touched cheeks. There were hugs and kisses. We talked,” at times, without an interpreter, “and got the gist of it.” (Alex had downloaded a Romanian translator on his phone.) “Let’s go to the bar,” they decided, 70 people following them in, cameras rolling, “little girls crowding around” for a view of the celebrity.” By 9 p.m., people began to depart and Alex and his family bid a faux farewell for the cameras. But the evening had just begun for Alex and his brothers, who downed some ale and “shared stories of meeting wives and girlfriends.” When the time came to leave, Alex had developed “a connection with his brothers,” well beyond the Facebook association. “Alexandra should be here,” Alex said of his sister, upon returning home.  When Dick and Wanda attempted to adopt her, Alex’s father was out of jail; Maria precluded the procedure. “I have hard feelings,” Alex said. “She could have had a better life. She had her first child at 14.  It saddens me.” Alexandra looked at him wistfully a few times, he said, with an “I could have been there” expression. “She should have been here,” he agrees.  
  ‘America good place’ “The food was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever had,” Alex said, noting obesity is nearly nonexistent in Romania. “They eat to savor the taste,” he said of Romania’s moderate consumption. He donned a tuxedo for the cameras, “to see what I’ll look like when I get married.” He and his fiancee Abbie Grossman plan to wed in his native country. ”And I felt like I fit in,” he said of hair and skin color. “It was sad to leave. It was something I’d looked forward to all these years. There was not enough time,” he said of the five-day window. “But I’m glad for the experience,” the “overnight celebrity” said of people stopping him, shaking his hand, asking for a photo with him. The reality of his homeland struck him when he saw people climbing out of the sewers. And he’s concerned with possible Russian encroachment. When Alex was ready to depart with his parents, a woman at the airport told him, “Stay in America. America good place.” “It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I hope to go back next year.”   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351815","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"292","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Alex Magaard of Nevis returned to his home country of Romania for a reunion with his birth family, televised for all to see. He’d meet his tearful birth mother, Maria Muscan, learning the intricacies of his adoption. She would explain before a television audience how the adoption fee allowed her to buy a home and clothing for her children, 3, 5 and 7 years old at the time. “I’m so sorry,” she told her son through an interpreter. “I regret it every day.” Alex met his birth father Manea for the first time, “a gypsy,” who was in jail when he was born and during the subsequent adoption process. The television station had portrayed him as “callous,” Alex said. “But I could see the sorrow in his eyes.” He was introduced to his siblings, bonding immediately with his brothers, who’d traveled from France, a 48-hour cross-country journey, to surprise him. He’d meet his sister Alexandra, the mother of three girls, who his parents, Dick and Wanda Magaard, had also tried to adopt. Maria was pregnant with Alexandra when Alex emigrated. And he would realize, “I’m thankful to God I was adopted.”   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351809","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"270"}}]]   Parents now spectators Alex, 24, arrived in the United States at 10 months old, parents Dick and Wanda Magaard enduring an 11-week adoption process riddled with inflexible bureaucrats, language and cultural barriers and a fear their efforts would prove fruitless. He’d come to understand he’d been adopted at about age 7. As he grew older, he began searching for his birth family, without results. In March, he was contacted by Romanian television stations Observatory, a news station, and Antennae 1, “the equivalent of Ellen DeGeneres.” The newscasters were following up on Romania’s “Lost Generation.” After the Romanian TV interview in Minnesota, Alex was invited to travel to Bucharest, Romania at the news stations’ expense, where he would learn the series of events leading up to his adoption. Dick and Wanda Magaard accompanied their son. The Magaards left Nov. 21 and returned a week later. “It was a great trip,” Dick said. “Wonderful, friendly, cordial people. This time, Wanda and I sat back and watched.”   Mother’s guilt dissipates Alex was born in eastern Romania in the town of Tulcea. Because Maria, his mother, a gypsy, had no money, she was not allowed to take Alex home from the hospital.  The equivalent of Child Protection Services placed Alex in an orphanage. Maria subsequently traveled across the country to her home in Pancota, where for the next several months she attempted to retrieve Alex. But the authorities refused to release him. At this point, the Magaards had begun the adoption process and a woman from the agency contacted Maria, asking if she would consider this.  She boarded a train for the journey to Tulcea. Maria engaged the assistance of a friend with a house that would be deemed suitable living quarters for her son. Authorities presumed she owned it and granted his release from the orphanage. Maria boarded the train and headed for Arad and Pancota. An hour after disembarking, Alexander was to meet his parents-to-be. Coincidentally, Alexander was the name the Magaards had chosen. The Magaards assumed the adoption process was about to begin. But Maria, through sign language, insisted they take the baby, hungry and in urine soaked rags, that night. Alex would learn his mother and her three young sons were evicted from his fraternal grandfather’s house because she’d put her son up for adoption. “People were proud,” Alex said of his grandfather’s decision to expel. “It was the old style of thinking.” In the course of Alex’s recent Romanian stay, Maria’s outlook would shift from guilt and sadness to contentment. “She’s seeing the life I’ve had and she’s okay with it. She’s happy with it,” Alex said.   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351811","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]   ‘Very emotional’ Alex’s “schedule” was orchestrated to engage the Romanian television stations’ audience. Day one, the Magaards were taken on a tour of Bucharest, visiting a Peasant Museum and parliament. An interpreter accompanied but many people spoke English. Monday, the first night of the show, Alexandra and her three children walked on stage, as did Maria. “It was very emotional,” he said of reuniting with birth family members, Maria apologizing. “It was strange, but a good strange.” The conversation centered on what led to his adoption. Alex was questioned about growing up in the U.S., what he thought about adoption. He told them about his hunting and fishing exploits. “They were amazed by that.” Romania, he would learn, has a tremendous grizzly bear population, but only the very wealthy hunt. Tuesday, he would meet his younger brother Alexandru, who was “very emotional, he could barely come to words.” “I can’t believe this is actually happening,” his younger brother told the audience. Then his father walked on stage. “I just rolled with the punches,” Alex said of what unfolded. “We were born in the same place,” he reflected, “but I was raised with an education.” Several of his eight siblings - six brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 31 – completed only two grades of schooling. His brothers work in France, “making do with what they can.” Most have children. An average home, about 600 square feet, has no indoor plumbing. Wood is the heating fuel source.    Wednesday, they traveled via a “crazy fast” van through the “absolutely gorgeous mountains” to his family’s hometown of Pancota to meet relatives. The celebrity was greeted with applause, the crowd then splitting and an announcement, “We have a surprise for you.” “I knew then,” he said of his brothers’ appearance, the television station learning of their impending arrival just an hour before. “Everyone in Pancota knew,” he said of their serendipitous arrival. His brothers had originally declined, cost and work the factors in the decision. “We sat down,” he recalled. “No one knew what to do. My brothers were exhausted” after the two-day bus ride. But the timorousness was short lived. “We touched cheeks. There were hugs and kisses. We talked,” at times, without an interpreter, “and got the gist of it.” (Alex had downloaded a Romanian translator on his phone.) “Let’s go to the bar,” they decided, 70 people following them in, cameras rolling, “little girls crowding around” for a view of the celebrity.” By 9 p.m., people began to depart and Alex and his family bid a faux farewell for the cameras. But the evening had just begun for Alex and his brothers, who downed some ale and “shared stories of meeting wives and girlfriends.” When the time came to leave, Alex had developed “a connection with his brothers,” well beyond the Facebook association. “Alexandra should be here,” Alex said of his sister, upon returning home.  When Dick and Wanda attempted to adopt her, Alex’s father was out of jail; Maria precluded the procedure. “I have hard feelings,” Alex said. “She could have had a better life. She had her first child at 14.  It saddens me.” Alexandra looked at him wistfully a few times, he said, with an “I could have been there” expression. “She should have been here,” he agrees.   [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351813","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]   ‘America good place’ “The food was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever had,” Alex said, noting obesity is nearly nonexistent in Romania. “They eat to savor the taste,” he said of Romania’s moderate consumption. He donned a tuxedo for the cameras, “to see what I’ll look like when I get married.” He and his fiancee Abbie Grossman plan to wed in his native country. ”And I felt like I fit in,” he said of hair and skin color. “It was sad to leave. It was something I’d looked forward to all these years. There was not enough time,” he said of the five-day window. “But I’m glad for the experience,” the “overnight celebrity” said of people stopping him, shaking his hand, asking for a photo with him. The reality of his homeland struck him when he saw people climbing out of the sewers. And he’s concerned with possible Russian encroachment. When Alex was ready to depart with his parents, a woman at the airport told him, “Stay in America. America good place.” “It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I hope to go back next year.”  
Alex Magaard of Nevis returned to his home country of Romania for a reunion with his birth family, televised for all to see.He’d meet his tearful birth mother, Maria Muscan, learning the intricacies of his adoption. She would explain before a television audience how the adoption fee allowed her to buy a home and clothing for her children, 3, 5 and 7 years old at the time.“I’m so sorry,” she told her son through an interpreter. “I regret it every day.”Alex met his birth father Manea for the first time, “a gypsy,” who was in jail when he was born and during the subsequent adoption process. The television station had portrayed him as “callous,” Alex said. “But I could see the sorrow in his eyes.”He was introduced to his siblings, bonding immediately with his brothers, who’d traveled from France, a 48-hour cross-country journey, to surprise him.He’d meet his sister Alexandra, the mother of three girls, who his parents, Dick and Wanda Magaard, had also tried to adopt. Maria was pregnant with Alexandra when Alex emigrated.And he would realize, “I’m thankful to God I was adopted.” 
 Parents now spectatorsAlex, 24, arrived in the United States at 10 months old, parents Dick and Wanda Magaard enduring an 11-week adoption process riddled with inflexible bureaucrats, language and cultural barriers and a fear their efforts would prove fruitless.He’d come to understand he’d been adopted at about age 7. As he grew older, he began searching for his birth family, without results.In March, he was contacted by Romanian television stations Observatory, a news station, and Antennae 1, “the equivalent of Ellen DeGeneres.” The newscasters were following up on Romania’s “Lost Generation.” After the Romanian TV interview in Minnesota, Alex was invited to travel to Bucharest, Romania at the news stations’ expense, where he would learn the series of events leading up to his adoption.Dick and Wanda Magaard accompanied their son. The Magaards left Nov. 21 and returned a week later.“It was a great trip,” Dick said. “Wonderful, friendly, cordial people. This time, Wanda and I sat back and watched.” Mother’s guilt dissipatesAlex was born in eastern Romania in the town of Tulcea. Because Maria, his mother, a gypsy, had no money, she was not allowed to take Alex home from the hospital.  The equivalent of Child Protection Services placed Alex in an orphanage.Maria subsequently traveled across the country to her home in Pancota, where for the next several months she attempted to retrieve Alex. But the authorities refused to release him.At this point, the Magaards had begun the adoption process and a woman from the agency contacted Maria, asking if she would consider this.  She boarded a train for the journey to Tulcea.Maria engaged the assistance of a friend with a house that would be deemed suitable living quarters for her son. Authorities presumed she owned it and granted his release from the orphanage.Maria boarded the train and headed for Arad and Pancota. An hour after disembarking, Alexander was to meet his parents-to-be. Coincidentally, Alexander was the name the Magaards had chosen.The Magaards assumed the adoption process was about to begin. But Maria, through sign language, insisted they take the baby, hungry and in urine soaked rags, that night.Alex would learn his mother and her three young sons were evicted from his fraternal grandfather’s house because she’d put her son up for adoption.“People were proud,” Alex said of his grandfather’s decision to expel. “It was the old style of thinking.”In the course of Alex’s recent Romanian stay, Maria’s outlook would shift from guilt and sadness to contentment.“She’s seeing the life I’ve had and she’s okay with it. She’s happy with it,” Alex said. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351811","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]] ‘Very emotional’Alex’s “schedule” was orchestrated to engage the Romanian television stations’ audience.Day one, the Magaards were taken on a tour of Bucharest, visiting a Peasant Museum and parliament. An interpreter accompanied but many people spoke English.Monday, the first night of the show, Alexandra and her three children walked on stage, as did Maria.“It was very emotional,” he said of reuniting with birth family members, Maria apologizing.“It was strange, but a good strange.”The conversation centered on what led to his adoption. Alex was questioned about growing up in the U.S., what he thought about adoption.He told them about his hunting and fishing exploits. “They were amazed by that.” Romania, he would learn, has a tremendous grizzly bear population, but only the very wealthy hunt.Tuesday, he would meet his younger brother Alexandru, who was “very emotional, he could barely come to words.”“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” his younger brother told the audience.Then his father walked on stage.“I just rolled with the punches,” Alex said of what unfolded.“We were born in the same place,” he reflected, “but I was raised with an education.”Several of his eight siblings - six brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 31 – completed only two grades of schooling. His brothers work in France, “making do with what they can.” Most have children.An average home, about 600 square feet, has no indoor plumbing. Wood is the heating fuel source.   Wednesday, they traveled via a “crazy fast” van through the “absolutely gorgeous mountains” to his family’s hometown of Pancota to meet relatives.The celebrity was greeted with applause, the crowd then splitting and an announcement, “We have a surprise for you.”“I knew then,” he said of his brothers’ appearance, the television station learning of their impending arrival just an hour before.“Everyone in Pancota knew,” he said of their serendipitous arrival. His brothers had originally declined, cost and work the factors in the decision.“We sat down,” he recalled. “No one knew what to do. My brothers were exhausted” after the two-day bus ride.But the timorousness was short lived. “We touched cheeks. There were hugs and kisses. We talked,” at times, without an interpreter, “and got the gist of it.” (Alex had downloaded a Romanian translator on his phone.)“Let’s go to the bar,” they decided, 70 people following them in, cameras rolling, “little girls crowding around” for a view of the celebrity.”By 9 p.m., people began to depart and Alex and his family bid a faux farewell for the cameras.But the evening had just begun for Alex and his brothers, who downed some ale and “shared stories of meeting wives and girlfriends.”When the time came to leave, Alex had developed “a connection with his brothers,” well beyond the Facebook association.“Alexandra should be here,” Alex said of his sister, upon returning home.  When Dick and Wanda attempted to adopt her, Alex’s father was out of jail; Maria precluded the procedure.“I have hard feelings,” Alex said. “She could have had a better life. She had her first child at 14.  It saddens me.”Alexandra looked at him wistfully a few times, he said, with an “I could have been there” expression.“She should have been here,” he agrees. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351813","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]] ‘America good place’“The food was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever had,” Alex said, noting obesity is nearly nonexistent in Romania. “They eat to savor the taste,” he said of Romania’s moderate consumption.He donned a tuxedo for the cameras, “to see what I’ll look like when I get married.” He and his fiancee Abbie Grossman plan to wed in his native country.”And I felt like I fit in,” he said of hair and skin color.“It was sad to leave. It was something I’d looked forward to all these years. There was not enough time,” he said of the five-day window.“But I’m glad for the experience,” the “overnight celebrity” said of people stopping him, shaking his hand, asking for a photo with him.The reality of his homeland struck him when he saw people climbing out of the sewers. And he’s concerned with possible Russian encroachment.When Alex was ready to depart with his parents, a woman at the airport told him, “Stay in America. America good place.”“It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I hope to go back next year.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351815","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"292","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Alex Magaard of Nevis returned to his home country of Romania for a reunion with his birth family, televised for all to see.He’d meet his tearful birth mother, Maria Muscan, learning the intricacies of his adoption. She would explain before a television audience how the adoption fee allowed her to buy a home and clothing for her children, 3, 5 and 7 years old at the time.“I’m so sorry,” she told her son through an interpreter. “I regret it every day.”Alex met his birth father Manea for the first time, “a gypsy,” who was in jail when he was born and during the subsequent adoption process. The television station had portrayed him as “callous,” Alex said. “But I could see the sorrow in his eyes.”He was introduced to his siblings, bonding immediately with his brothers, who’d traveled from France, a 48-hour cross-country journey, to surprise him.He’d meet his sister Alexandra, the mother of three girls, who his parents, Dick and Wanda Magaard, had also tried to adopt. Maria was pregnant with Alexandra when Alex emigrated.And he would realize, “I’m thankful to God I was adopted.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351809","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"270"}}]] Parents now spectatorsAlex, 24, arrived in the United States at 10 months old, parents Dick and Wanda Magaard enduring an 11-week adoption process riddled with inflexible bureaucrats, language and cultural barriers and a fear their efforts would prove fruitless.He’d come to understand he’d been adopted at about age 7. As he grew older, he began searching for his birth family, without results.In March, he was contacted by Romanian television stations Observatory, a news station, and Antennae 1, “the equivalent of Ellen DeGeneres.” The newscasters were following up on Romania’s “Lost Generation.” After the Romanian TV interview in Minnesota, Alex was invited to travel to Bucharest, Romania at the news stations’ expense, where he would learn the series of events leading up to his adoption.Dick and Wanda Magaard accompanied their son. The Magaards left Nov. 21 and returned a week later.“It was a great trip,” Dick said. “Wonderful, friendly, cordial people. This time, Wanda and I sat back and watched.” Mother’s guilt dissipatesAlex was born in eastern Romania in the town of Tulcea. Because Maria, his mother, a gypsy, had no money, she was not allowed to take Alex home from the hospital.  The equivalent of Child Protection Services placed Alex in an orphanage.Maria subsequently traveled across the country to her home in Pancota, where for the next several months she attempted to retrieve Alex. But the authorities refused to release him.At this point, the Magaards had begun the adoption process and a woman from the agency contacted Maria, asking if she would consider this.  She boarded a train for the journey to Tulcea.Maria engaged the assistance of a friend with a house that would be deemed suitable living quarters for her son. Authorities presumed she owned it and granted his release from the orphanage.Maria boarded the train and headed for Arad and Pancota. An hour after disembarking, Alexander was to meet his parents-to-be. Coincidentally, Alexander was the name the Magaards had chosen.The Magaards assumed the adoption process was about to begin. But Maria, through sign language, insisted they take the baby, hungry and in urine soaked rags, that night.Alex would learn his mother and her three young sons were evicted from his fraternal grandfather’s house because she’d put her son up for adoption.“People were proud,” Alex said of his grandfather’s decision to expel. “It was the old style of thinking.”In the course of Alex’s recent Romanian stay, Maria’s outlook would shift from guilt and sadness to contentment.“She’s seeing the life I’ve had and she’s okay with it. She’s happy with it,” Alex said. 
 ‘Very emotional’Alex’s “schedule” was orchestrated to engage the Romanian television stations’ audience.Day one, the Magaards were taken on a tour of Bucharest, visiting a Peasant Museum and parliament. An interpreter accompanied but many people spoke English.Monday, the first night of the show, Alexandra and her three children walked on stage, as did Maria.“It was very emotional,” he said of reuniting with birth family members, Maria apologizing.“It was strange, but a good strange.”The conversation centered on what led to his adoption. Alex was questioned about growing up in the U.S., what he thought about adoption.He told them about his hunting and fishing exploits. “They were amazed by that.” Romania, he would learn, has a tremendous grizzly bear population, but only the very wealthy hunt.Tuesday, he would meet his younger brother Alexandru, who was “very emotional, he could barely come to words.”“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” his younger brother told the audience.Then his father walked on stage.“I just rolled with the punches,” Alex said of what unfolded.“We were born in the same place,” he reflected, “but I was raised with an education.”Several of his eight siblings - six brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 31 – completed only two grades of schooling. His brothers work in France, “making do with what they can.” Most have children.An average home, about 600 square feet, has no indoor plumbing. Wood is the heating fuel source.   Wednesday, they traveled via a “crazy fast” van through the “absolutely gorgeous mountains” to his family’s hometown of Pancota to meet relatives.The celebrity was greeted with applause, the crowd then splitting and an announcement, “We have a surprise for you.”“I knew then,” he said of his brothers’ appearance, the television station learning of their impending arrival just an hour before.“Everyone in Pancota knew,” he said of their serendipitous arrival. His brothers had originally declined, cost and work the factors in the decision.“We sat down,” he recalled. “No one knew what to do. My brothers were exhausted” after the two-day bus ride.But the timorousness was short lived. “We touched cheeks. There were hugs and kisses. We talked,” at times, without an interpreter, “and got the gist of it.” (Alex had downloaded a Romanian translator on his phone.)“Let’s go to the bar,” they decided, 70 people following them in, cameras rolling, “little girls crowding around” for a view of the celebrity.”By 9 p.m., people began to depart and Alex and his family bid a faux farewell for the cameras.But the evening had just begun for Alex and his brothers, who downed some ale and “shared stories of meeting wives and girlfriends.”When the time came to leave, Alex had developed “a connection with his brothers,” well beyond the Facebook association.“Alexandra should be here,” Alex said of his sister, upon returning home.  When Dick and Wanda attempted to adopt her, Alex’s father was out of jail; Maria precluded the procedure.“I have hard feelings,” Alex said. “She could have had a better life. She had her first child at 14.  It saddens me.”Alexandra looked at him wistfully a few times, he said, with an “I could have been there” expression.“She should have been here,” he agrees. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351813","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]] ‘America good place’“The food was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever had,” Alex said, noting obesity is nearly nonexistent in Romania. “They eat to savor the taste,” he said of Romania’s moderate consumption.He donned a tuxedo for the cameras, “to see what I’ll look like when I get married.” He and his fiancee Abbie Grossman plan to wed in his native country.”And I felt like I fit in,” he said of hair and skin color.“It was sad to leave. It was something I’d looked forward to all these years. There was not enough time,” he said of the five-day window.“But I’m glad for the experience,” the “overnight celebrity” said of people stopping him, shaking his hand, asking for a photo with him.The reality of his homeland struck him when he saw people climbing out of the sewers. And he’s concerned with possible Russian encroachment.When Alex was ready to depart with his parents, a woman at the airport told him, “Stay in America. America good place.”“It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I hope to go back next year.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351815","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"292","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Alex Magaard of Nevis returned to his home country of Romania for a reunion with his birth family, televised for all to see.He’d meet his tearful birth mother, Maria Muscan, learning the intricacies of his adoption. She would explain before a television audience how the adoption fee allowed her to buy a home and clothing for her children, 3, 5 and 7 years old at the time.“I’m so sorry,” she told her son through an interpreter. “I regret it every day.”Alex met his birth father Manea for the first time, “a gypsy,” who was in jail when he was born and during the subsequent adoption process. The television station had portrayed him as “callous,” Alex said. “But I could see the sorrow in his eyes.”He was introduced to his siblings, bonding immediately with his brothers, who’d traveled from France, a 48-hour cross-country journey, to surprise him.He’d meet his sister Alexandra, the mother of three girls, who his parents, Dick and Wanda Magaard, had also tried to adopt. Maria was pregnant with Alexandra when Alex emigrated.And he would realize, “I’m thankful to God I was adopted.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351809","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"270"}}]] Parents now spectatorsAlex, 24, arrived in the United States at 10 months old, parents Dick and Wanda Magaard enduring an 11-week adoption process riddled with inflexible bureaucrats, language and cultural barriers and a fear their efforts would prove fruitless.He’d come to understand he’d been adopted at about age 7. As he grew older, he began searching for his birth family, without results.In March, he was contacted by Romanian television stations Observatory, a news station, and Antennae 1, “the equivalent of Ellen DeGeneres.” The newscasters were following up on Romania’s “Lost Generation.” After the Romanian TV interview in Minnesota, Alex was invited to travel to Bucharest, Romania at the news stations’ expense, where he would learn the series of events leading up to his adoption.Dick and Wanda Magaard accompanied their son. The Magaards left Nov. 21 and returned a week later.“It was a great trip,” Dick said. “Wonderful, friendly, cordial people. This time, Wanda and I sat back and watched.” Mother’s guilt dissipatesAlex was born in eastern Romania in the town of Tulcea. Because Maria, his mother, a gypsy, had no money, she was not allowed to take Alex home from the hospital.  The equivalent of Child Protection Services placed Alex in an orphanage.Maria subsequently traveled across the country to her home in Pancota, where for the next several months she attempted to retrieve Alex. But the authorities refused to release him.At this point, the Magaards had begun the adoption process and a woman from the agency contacted Maria, asking if she would consider this.  She boarded a train for the journey to Tulcea.Maria engaged the assistance of a friend with a house that would be deemed suitable living quarters for her son. Authorities presumed she owned it and granted his release from the orphanage.Maria boarded the train and headed for Arad and Pancota. An hour after disembarking, Alexander was to meet his parents-to-be. Coincidentally, Alexander was the name the Magaards had chosen.The Magaards assumed the adoption process was about to begin. But Maria, through sign language, insisted they take the baby, hungry and in urine soaked rags, that night.Alex would learn his mother and her three young sons were evicted from his fraternal grandfather’s house because she’d put her son up for adoption.“People were proud,” Alex said of his grandfather’s decision to expel. “It was the old style of thinking.”In the course of Alex’s recent Romanian stay, Maria’s outlook would shift from guilt and sadness to contentment.“She’s seeing the life I’ve had and she’s okay with it. She’s happy with it,” Alex said. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351811","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]] ‘Very emotional’Alex’s “schedule” was orchestrated to engage the Romanian television stations’ audience.Day one, the Magaards were taken on a tour of Bucharest, visiting a Peasant Museum and parliament. An interpreter accompanied but many people spoke English.Monday, the first night of the show, Alexandra and her three children walked on stage, as did Maria.“It was very emotional,” he said of reuniting with birth family members, Maria apologizing.“It was strange, but a good strange.”The conversation centered on what led to his adoption. Alex was questioned about growing up in the U.S., what he thought about adoption.He told them about his hunting and fishing exploits. “They were amazed by that.” Romania, he would learn, has a tremendous grizzly bear population, but only the very wealthy hunt.Tuesday, he would meet his younger brother Alexandru, who was “very emotional, he could barely come to words.”“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” his younger brother told the audience.Then his father walked on stage.“I just rolled with the punches,” Alex said of what unfolded.“We were born in the same place,” he reflected, “but I was raised with an education.”Several of his eight siblings - six brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 31 – completed only two grades of schooling. His brothers work in France, “making do with what they can.” Most have children.An average home, about 600 square feet, has no indoor plumbing. Wood is the heating fuel source.   Wednesday, they traveled via a “crazy fast” van through the “absolutely gorgeous mountains” to his family’s hometown of Pancota to meet relatives.The celebrity was greeted with applause, the crowd then splitting and an announcement, “We have a surprise for you.”“I knew then,” he said of his brothers’ appearance, the television station learning of their impending arrival just an hour before.“Everyone in Pancota knew,” he said of their serendipitous arrival. His brothers had originally declined, cost and work the factors in the decision.“We sat down,” he recalled. “No one knew what to do. My brothers were exhausted” after the two-day bus ride.But the timorousness was short lived. “We touched cheeks. There were hugs and kisses. We talked,” at times, without an interpreter, “and got the gist of it.” (Alex had downloaded a Romanian translator on his phone.)“Let’s go to the bar,” they decided, 70 people following them in, cameras rolling, “little girls crowding around” for a view of the celebrity.”By 9 p.m., people began to depart and Alex and his family bid a faux farewell for the cameras.But the evening had just begun for Alex and his brothers, who downed some ale and “shared stories of meeting wives and girlfriends.”When the time came to leave, Alex had developed “a connection with his brothers,” well beyond the Facebook association.“Alexandra should be here,” Alex said of his sister, upon returning home.  When Dick and Wanda attempted to adopt her, Alex’s father was out of jail; Maria precluded the procedure.“I have hard feelings,” Alex said. “She could have had a better life. She had her first child at 14.  It saddens me.”Alexandra looked at him wistfully a few times, he said, with an “I could have been there” expression.“She should have been here,” he agrees. 
 ‘America good place’“The food was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever had,” Alex said, noting obesity is nearly nonexistent in Romania. “They eat to savor the taste,” he said of Romania’s moderate consumption.He donned a tuxedo for the cameras, “to see what I’ll look like when I get married.” He and his fiancee Abbie Grossman plan to wed in his native country.”And I felt like I fit in,” he said of hair and skin color.“It was sad to leave. It was something I’d looked forward to all these years. There was not enough time,” he said of the five-day window.“But I’m glad for the experience,” the “overnight celebrity” said of people stopping him, shaking his hand, asking for a photo with him.The reality of his homeland struck him when he saw people climbing out of the sewers. And he’s concerned with possible Russian encroachment.When Alex was ready to depart with his parents, a woman at the airport told him, “Stay in America. America good place.”“It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I hope to go back next year.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351815","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"292","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Alex Magaard of Nevis returned to his home country of Romania for a reunion with his birth family, televised for all to see.He’d meet his tearful birth mother, Maria Muscan, learning the intricacies of his adoption. She would explain before a television audience how the adoption fee allowed her to buy a home and clothing for her children, 3, 5 and 7 years old at the time.“I’m so sorry,” she told her son through an interpreter. “I regret it every day.”Alex met his birth father Manea for the first time, “a gypsy,” who was in jail when he was born and during the subsequent adoption process. The television station had portrayed him as “callous,” Alex said. “But I could see the sorrow in his eyes.”He was introduced to his siblings, bonding immediately with his brothers, who’d traveled from France, a 48-hour cross-country journey, to surprise him.He’d meet his sister Alexandra, the mother of three girls, who his parents, Dick and Wanda Magaard, had also tried to adopt. Maria was pregnant with Alexandra when Alex emigrated.And he would realize, “I’m thankful to God I was adopted.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351809","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"270"}}]] Parents now spectatorsAlex, 24, arrived in the United States at 10 months old, parents Dick and Wanda Magaard enduring an 11-week adoption process riddled with inflexible bureaucrats, language and cultural barriers and a fear their efforts would prove fruitless.He’d come to understand he’d been adopted at about age 7. As he grew older, he began searching for his birth family, without results.In March, he was contacted by Romanian television stations Observatory, a news station, and Antennae 1, “the equivalent of Ellen DeGeneres.” The newscasters were following up on Romania’s “Lost Generation.” After the Romanian TV interview in Minnesota, Alex was invited to travel to Bucharest, Romania at the news stations’ expense, where he would learn the series of events leading up to his adoption.Dick and Wanda Magaard accompanied their son. The Magaards left Nov. 21 and returned a week later.“It was a great trip,” Dick said. “Wonderful, friendly, cordial people. This time, Wanda and I sat back and watched.” Mother’s guilt dissipatesAlex was born in eastern Romania in the town of Tulcea. Because Maria, his mother, a gypsy, had no money, she was not allowed to take Alex home from the hospital.  The equivalent of Child Protection Services placed Alex in an orphanage.Maria subsequently traveled across the country to her home in Pancota, where for the next several months she attempted to retrieve Alex. But the authorities refused to release him.At this point, the Magaards had begun the adoption process and a woman from the agency contacted Maria, asking if she would consider this.  She boarded a train for the journey to Tulcea.Maria engaged the assistance of a friend with a house that would be deemed suitable living quarters for her son. Authorities presumed she owned it and granted his release from the orphanage.Maria boarded the train and headed for Arad and Pancota. An hour after disembarking, Alexander was to meet his parents-to-be. Coincidentally, Alexander was the name the Magaards had chosen.The Magaards assumed the adoption process was about to begin. But Maria, through sign language, insisted they take the baby, hungry and in urine soaked rags, that night.Alex would learn his mother and her three young sons were evicted from his fraternal grandfather’s house because she’d put her son up for adoption.“People were proud,” Alex said of his grandfather’s decision to expel. “It was the old style of thinking.”In the course of Alex’s recent Romanian stay, Maria’s outlook would shift from guilt and sadness to contentment.“She’s seeing the life I’ve had and she’s okay with it. She’s happy with it,” Alex said. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351811","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]] ‘Very emotional’Alex’s “schedule” was orchestrated to engage the Romanian television stations’ audience.Day one, the Magaards were taken on a tour of Bucharest, visiting a Peasant Museum and parliament. An interpreter accompanied but many people spoke English.Monday, the first night of the show, Alexandra and her three children walked on stage, as did Maria.“It was very emotional,” he said of reuniting with birth family members, Maria apologizing.“It was strange, but a good strange.”The conversation centered on what led to his adoption. Alex was questioned about growing up in the U.S., what he thought about adoption.He told them about his hunting and fishing exploits. “They were amazed by that.” Romania, he would learn, has a tremendous grizzly bear population, but only the very wealthy hunt.Tuesday, he would meet his younger brother Alexandru, who was “very emotional, he could barely come to words.”“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” his younger brother told the audience.Then his father walked on stage.“I just rolled with the punches,” Alex said of what unfolded.“We were born in the same place,” he reflected, “but I was raised with an education.”Several of his eight siblings - six brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 16 to 31 – completed only two grades of schooling. His brothers work in France, “making do with what they can.” Most have children.An average home, about 600 square feet, has no indoor plumbing. Wood is the heating fuel source.   Wednesday, they traveled via a “crazy fast” van through the “absolutely gorgeous mountains” to his family’s hometown of Pancota to meet relatives.The celebrity was greeted with applause, the crowd then splitting and an announcement, “We have a surprise for you.”“I knew then,” he said of his brothers’ appearance, the television station learning of their impending arrival just an hour before.“Everyone in Pancota knew,” he said of their serendipitous arrival. His brothers had originally declined, cost and work the factors in the decision.“We sat down,” he recalled. “No one knew what to do. My brothers were exhausted” after the two-day bus ride.But the timorousness was short lived. “We touched cheeks. There were hugs and kisses. We talked,” at times, without an interpreter, “and got the gist of it.” (Alex had downloaded a Romanian translator on his phone.)“Let’s go to the bar,” they decided, 70 people following them in, cameras rolling, “little girls crowding around” for a view of the celebrity.”By 9 p.m., people began to depart and Alex and his family bid a faux farewell for the cameras.But the evening had just begun for Alex and his brothers, who downed some ale and “shared stories of meeting wives and girlfriends.”When the time came to leave, Alex had developed “a connection with his brothers,” well beyond the Facebook association.“Alexandra should be here,” Alex said of his sister, upon returning home.  When Dick and Wanda attempted to adopt her, Alex’s father was out of jail; Maria precluded the procedure.“I have hard feelings,” Alex said. “She could have had a better life. She had her first child at 14.  It saddens me.”Alexandra looked at him wistfully a few times, he said, with an “I could have been there” expression.“She should have been here,” he agrees. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1351813","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"270","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]] ‘America good place’“The food was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever had,” Alex said, noting obesity is nearly nonexistent in Romania. “They eat to savor the taste,” he said of Romania’s moderate consumption.He donned a tuxedo for the cameras, “to see what I’ll look like when I get married.” He and his fiancee Abbie Grossman plan to wed in his native country.”And I felt like I fit in,” he said of hair and skin color.“It was sad to leave. It was something I’d looked forward to all these years. There was not enough time,” he said of the five-day window.“But I’m glad for the experience,” the “overnight celebrity” said of people stopping him, shaking his hand, asking for a photo with him.The reality of his homeland struck him when he saw people climbing out of the sewers. And he’s concerned with possible Russian encroachment.When Alex was ready to depart with his parents, a woman at the airport told him, “Stay in America. America good place.”“It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I hope to go back next year.”