‘Donating’ a Child in 20th Century Albania

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Brothers Rifat and Asim, both traders, lived in the Albanian coastal city of Durres in the first half of the last century, Asim born in 1900, and Rifat in 1910.

The older brother married a woman called Hatixhe and they were blessed with 15 children, of which 10 survived into adulthood. The last was born in 1946.

Rifat, meanwhile, married Nadire, but they were unable to have children, despite seeking help from clinics in Italy, Austria and Bosnia.

"When the couple was sure they could not have a child of their own, Rifat's brother offered them one of his youngest children, Refik, who later became my uncle," recalled Redi Myshketa. But it didn't work out.

Refik was three at the time, and big enough to understand that he had been separated from his parents and siblings. He would run crying to his biological mother, Hatixhe, until eventually they took him back.

"They decided that they would take back Refik and give their next newborn child, be it a boy or a girl, to his brother," said Myshketa. "So my father was given away as a baby to his uncle when he was born."

'Unwritten rule'

The tradition of adoption by childless relatives was widespread in Albanian families in the last century. It was considered a 'donation' and usually confined to close family members.

"Every childless elderly couple needed financial support; they could not make it on their own and needed adoption," said Prof. Dr. Zyhdi Dervishi, a professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Tirana. "In a society without state children's homes, adoptions usually happened within the family."

During this period, there existed an 'unwritten rule' that adoption occurred within the father's family. In most cases, the...