The author examines the policies and treatment of children institutionalized during and after the communist regime, the adoption policies for these children, the human rights claimed in the name of these children, and the ecology of disabilities in Romania. Institutionalized children fell into three categories: children who had one or more minor to severe disabilities, children who had been abandoned, and children who were part of ethnic minorities, especially the Roma. The author reviews the literature on these topics and adds her own perspective, as a Romanian special education teacher and researcher. While during communism, institutionalized persons were invisible to the public and kept in inhuman conditions, after communism, increased awareness about the situation in state institutions and about disabilities and human rights in general led to the adoption and implementation of new disability-friendly policies. Currently, there is increased advocacy for the rights of the people with disabilities, although great challenges remain.