[jpine]

Is anyone aware of children of a Jewish parent(s) available for
adoption in Russia or Ukraine. My wife and I are seeking a girl age 8-11. We have been unsuccessful finding a Jewish orphanage nore agency that specializes in finding homes for Jewish children from the former Soviet Union.

[yael]

I did quite a bit of research on this a couple of years back. The bottom line is that while there are Jewish children in orphanages there, it is almost impossible for them to be adopted. First, for a number of reasons, these children are often not identified as Jewish. Second, there is an orphanage there that is allowed to identify the children as Jewish, but they cannot release these children for adoption. They raise the children in a religious environment and then send the children to Israel when they are 17 or 18. When I heard about this, I was quite upset, as I cannot imagine that ANY institutional setting is better than a loving family, but I guess this organization is doing the best they can--at least the kids know they are Jewish.

If you are open to adopting a child this old, I am sure you are aware that many children who have lived in an institution that long will have many issues. You may want to consider adopting a Jewish child with special needs domestically. Call Jewish Children's Adoption Network in Colorado, if that is the case.

Not too long ago, JCAN was looking for a religious family to adopt a girl originally adopted from Russia, so you never know!


Good luck,
Yael

[jpine]

Thankyou, Yael. I have been in touch with the agency in Colorado. The young girl is on her way to a family in Chicago.
Thankyou for your help.

[yael]

I sent a Private message to you with some information, but did not get a response. Did you get it? Yael

[jpine]

Yael,

No, I did not receive a private message. I would like to receive it. Please email me at jpine@renovatechnology.com

Kindest regards

[BD2884]

I found a site about Jewish orphanages that are supported by Chabad (I think that it was Chabad or the Lubavacher's) and wrote the Rabbi who is the head of it all in Moscow. There are children in orphanages but none are available for adoption. Apparently, while the parents are unable to care for their children, they still visit, etc. and the children are raised in what would be considered, I guess, a boarding school.

If you would like more information, I can try to find the internet site again and send a link.

It is also considered better to adopt a non-Jewish child and have them converted. It has to do with Jewish law--I wont go into it here--I think that there are threads on it already.

Good luck!
Bari

[jpine]

Thankyou Bari, your information pretty well confirms what I have learned as well. But I would appreciate the website name.
Best regards...Jonathan

[BD2884]

Hi Jonathan:

The website I found is here:

http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=137583

I wrote to Rabbi Berkowitz in Russia and he gave me the information that I have passed along.

Best,
Bari