[vix]

There was an article in our local paper this week that spoke about how Russia is now starting to take a second look at westerners adopting children from Russia. It listed all the pros/cons etc, but stated that adoptions from Russia may end by the end of the year. (I can't post the article due to problems, sorry).

I called my agency about this and they told us that they cannot predict what is going to happen, but they said that we would be wise to wait until the end of the year before we submit anything. They mentioned we would lose all of our money if it did close.

We are just in the initial stages, where we have just submitted our homestudy. We were hoping to send our dossier in the next month or so.

Has anyone else heard this? I am freaking out here!

[vix]

"I have just cut and pasted the article in...see what you think.

MOSCOW—With a few days to spare before flying back to Canada this weekend, Hamilton couple Dana Visocchi Rice and Keith Rice went sightseeing in Moscow with their new baby girl, 15-month-old Elena.

Like thousands of other Western families, the couple had decided to adopt a Russian orphan after hearing that adoptions can take a fraction of the time here and that hundreds of thousands of abandoned children fill Russian orphanages.

Eighteen months later — after screenings, reams of paperwork and multiple court hearings — they picked up Elena from an orphanage in the far eastern Russian city of Birobidzhan.

Pushing the bright-eyed baby girl in a new stroller, they spent their last few days in Russia visiting Red Square, the Pushkin Museum, Tretyakov Gallery and other sights.

"We took her along sightseeing and it was amazing," Visocchi Rice says. "Everywhere we went, people were saying what a nice thing we were doing and how she's going to be so happy in Canada."

But not everyone in Russia feels the same. With foreign adoptions surging to record levels, there's a growing backlash against Westerners adopting Russian children.

Nationalist politicians allege that the foreign adoption system is riddled with corruption and that Western families are bribing officials in order to "buy" Russian children.

Rumours circulate of Western families abusing Russian children and even of orphans being sold to the West so their organs can be harvested.

Recent high-profile adoptions of Russian orphans by Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, who adopted a 7-month-old boy named Gleb this fall, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who adopted a 3-year-old orphan from St. Petersburg in July, have also brought the issue to the fore.

Now, lawmakers are set to approve a bill tightening controls on foreign adoptions by the end of this year.

"It's a dirty country that sells its children," Communist party deputy Nikolai Kondratenko said in a recent debate on the new legislation.

The rampant poverty that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union has sent the number of Russian children in state care soaring to levels not seen since the end of World War II.

According to official figures, more than 700,000 Russian children are wards of the state, many of them crammed into poorly funded and understaffed institutions.

In 1998, Human Rights Watch visited 20 Russian orphanages and reported that children "are exposed to shocking levels of cruelty and neglect."

The report alleged that thousands of children are misdiagnosed as "mentally deficient" every year and sent to boarding institutions where "they receive little to no education ... may be restrained in cloth sacks, tethered by a limb to furniture, denied stimulation and sometimes left to lie half-naked in their own filth."

The ministry of education, which cares for orphans in Russia, denies that maltreatment is widespread and a number of experts here, including doctors and adoption agents who regularly visit orphanages, say the HRW report exaggerated conditions.

Officials said that, while it is true that institutions are frequently lacking in basic needs, abuse is rare and orphanages try to care for their wards as best they can.

With most Russians struggling to survive financially and a strong social stigma still attached to adoption, few Russian families are willing to adopt.

That has left a massive pool of potential adoptees waiting for parents and foreign families have rushed in to fill the gap.

Foreigners adopted more than 7,000 Russian children in 2003 and the number is growing every year.

For the first time last year, the number of foreign adoptions exceeded the number of local ones, with the bulk of the exported children going to the United States.

American families have adopted 5,849 Russian orphans so far this year, 640 more than last year, according to the U.S. embassy in Moscow. The Canadian embassy says about 200 Russian children are adopted by Canadians every year.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`There have been grave violations of the rights of Russian children abroad'

Irina Kuznetsova, Russian MP

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Experts say the average North American family spends $20,000 to $30,000 — with agency fees, processing charges and travel expenses — on adopting a Russian child.

Russia has taken repeated steps to tighten controls on foreign adoptions.

In the mid-1990s, it decreed that foreign families could adopt only children who have been up for adoption for at least three months and have not been selected by a Russian family.

If a Russian family expresses interest in a child at any point before the adoption is finalized, it will be given preference.

In 2000, in the wake of scandals over criminal baby-trading rings in provincial cities — including the arrest of a woman in Volgograd who allegedly bribed officials and forged documents to facilitate the adoptions of about 600 children by Italian families — President Vladimir Putin signed a decree requiring adoption agencies to register with the government and introducing harsh penalties for illegal middlemen.

Russian lawmakers are now worrying about what happens to adopted children once they've gone abroad.

Irina Kuznetsova, the MP overseeing the legislative changes, says the problem is that Russian authorities "have no way of keeping a close watch on or to control the fate of Russian children abroad.

"There have been grave violations of the rights of Russian children abroad.

"In the past several years, six Russian children have died in foreign families, four of them in the last year. We need to have more control abroad."

The bill proposes that international treaties be negotiated giving Russia some jurisdiction over children adopted by foreign families — allowing Moscow to monitor a child's development and intervene in cases of abuse.

Many of those involved in foreign adoptions fear the proposal is a smokescreen.

Maria Gnevasheva, the Russian representative of Christian World Adoption, says that the proposal may sound reasonable, but it would effectively ban foreign adoptions because Western countries would never give Russia jurisdiction over adopted children.

"If they manage to push this law through parliament, it will mean an end to foreign adoptions," says Gnevasheva, whose agency handles about 100 American adoptions a year.

Sandra Scarth, president of the Adoption Council of Canada and executive director of the Victoria, B.C.-based Choices adoption agency, says cases of abuse are extremely rare and fears over the fate of adopted children are overblown.

"The children are thriving. The people who are worried about this in Russia should come to Canada to meet the children and the families, and to see how well they are doing and how well-regulated the system is."

Scarth, who is currently touring Russian orphanages, says she understands why some Russians are opposed to foreign adoptions.

"It can be seen to be embarrassing, to not be able to care for their children. But it's no crime for countries that are having economic difficulties to allow foreign adoptions.

"Every child should have a family. Why should they spend the rest of their lives in institutions if they don't have to?"

Bouncing a laughing Elena in his arms, Keith Rice shakes his head at the thought that other families might not get the chance that his did.

"There are so many kids here that need good homes," he says. "If these children are not going to be adopted by Russian families, what's going to happen to them?

"There are families in Canada who would go to the highest mountain on Earth for a child like this

[sands]

Every time I read something like this - I FREAK OUT!

What paper was this from? I have forwarded it to my agency and I need a source.

[vix]

This article is from the Toronto Star in Canada

[Kasey]

There have been rumors always circulating about slow downs, shut downs, etc...
From what we were told and what has always been on this board previously, politicians and lawmakers over there are looking at how the system works but as far as anything changing in the near future, that is not the case.
This is what is on the Frank Foundation website:

Frank Adoption Center, North Carolina is pleased to report that the Ministry of Education has NOT stopped the issuance of Databank Release letters relating to Russian adoptions. This information has been confirmed with the Russian authorities who asked that this statement be issued immediately.

We are aware of the widespread panic that resulted from the rumors which had been disseminated over the last few days. While we recognize that we cannot control the political situation abroad and circumstances may change spontaneously, we believe that any detail, particularly one as crucial as this one, must be verified to prevent misinformation and undue stress for everyone going through the very emotional adoption process.

Thank you for your patience. We continue to work for you and the children.


Hope that helps to allay some fears. I can tell you when we started our process last October there were constant rumors of slow downs, shut downs, closings etc.. Well a year later we are home with our son with no issues.
Good luck,
Kris

[Xanny]

There are always rumors of this kind, so there's probably nothing to worry about. However, I would be VERY wary of an agency that says you would lose your money if Russia shuts down. In our contract it says that if the agency cannot complete the adoption, they have to give the money back.

One thing we can all do to help prevent Russia from closing down is to be very careful about what we post on the internet. Apparantly there was a slow-down this summer caused by people posting on the internet about illegal activity. Remember--the ONLY legal way to get a referral is in Russia at the Center for Adoption on your first trip. If anything else happens, it should not be posted on the internet.

We all feel safe here, which is wonderful. But remember, you don't even need to register in order to read the postings, and adoption.com would have no reason to refuse registration to any adoption professional, anyway. We never know who is reading what we post, so we should be careful to think before clicking "submit reply."

Best wishes (and hang in there--a slowdown is possible, but a shutdown is very unlikely. There are too many children who need homes.)

Xanny

[Kasey]

I also wanted to add on to what Xanny said about keeping things moving in Russia, register your child with the consulate when you get home, dont wait, don't blow it off and also complete your post placement reports---people not doing these things can affect future adoptions in your region--these are both very important, especially if you plan to adopt again yourself--you won't be looked on too kindly if you never completed you post placements or registered your child.
Best wishes,
kris

[JessnChuck]

I think the Russian officials will realize that such a closure or delay in process will have an adverse impact on already overcrowded and underfunded orphanages. Additonal controls and post visit follow ups will weed out the bad.

[sands]

The director of our agency just sent me an email - it is quoted below:

"There is no need to worry!! Russia is not closing its doors to Americans adopting Russian children!! I do not know the details for this persons case, but please remember each adoption is different and they may have had issues that weren’t disclosed in the article!"

------

So, don't fret. I panicked but I feel much better now! Also, our money WOULD be refunded (other than the application fee) if Russia would close down. Be wary of agencies who wouldn't honor that.

Hope this helps!

[vix]

I guess you could say we had a temporary melt down. We are just worried because the other countries our agency works with are Georgia, Belarus and Ukraine, all of which have closed or are in delays. I just want to make sure we make the right decision. The money we would lose, would be money that we had to pay towards our government for immigration visas etc. Surely the agency would not keep our money, but we have not signed our contract with them yet, so we need to make sure. Our homestudy is just being written up, so picking an agency is next. We are thrilled with the agency we have been dealing with so far.

As for the situation in Russia, we have had our heart set on Russia and cannot wait to have a child from there. I just hope that Russian officials realize that people like yourselves and ourselves are prepared to give our children the most wonderful lives imaginable.....hence why we are all on these boards all of the time.

Thanks again for all of your help!

[kryslm]

This is such a precarious process that we're all easily thrown into a panic when we hear the rumors or read news reports that some Russian leaders are seeking adoption reform.

Mike

[kbrandi]

I hope this is not true. There are too many paperwork problems without the added threat of Russia closing. Good luck to everyone!

[wendydebbel]

I saw the following in an article called "Babies for sale trade faces a global crackdown" in The Guardian newspaper about a week ago.

"But Russia is now about to go further. After a series of committee hearings last week, the Duma is considering a draft law to limit adoptions to countries that have signed a bilateral agreement. This would temporarily halt adoption to Britain and Italy, and entirely end adoptions to Canada and the US. Lakhova estimates some 100 agencies work illegally in Russia."

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/inte...1356054,00.html

R

[marjo]

I've been reading about this on the FRUA board it sure makes my heart stop. Prayers for all of us going through this process.

[keithww]

This article was written by a reporter with an axe to grind. That the Dumas is considering a law is no more scary than the Congress considering a law. A great many more bills are introduced than are passed in to law.