Among the new rules is one prohibiting the adoption of children less than 6 months old, Dr. Alexandra Zugravescu, president of the Romanian Committee for Adoptions, said at a news conference.Romania officially stopped all international adoptions July 17 after reports that parents and their agents were demanding money or gifts before they would consent to an adoption.

Zugravescu said the current freeze on foreign adoptions would continue at least until the end of the year while her committee tries to bring its list of eligible children up to date.

The Romanian Committee for Adoptions is compiling a register "of all really abandoned children and orphans, of actually all children whom we can provide with a home, with a family of their own that should help them lead a normal life" she said.

The children are scattered among hundreds of orphanages across the country, and the crippled Romanian economy is hampering the registration process.

Once foreign adoptions resume, Zugravescu said, Americans wishing to adopt a Romanian child will have to work through an accredited U.S. adoption agency, which will in turn deal with the Romanian Committee for Adoptions.