[Amysue1112]

Just got this in my Yahoo group mail...

Dear adoptive parents,

As always, I would like to keep families informed about legislation
regarding Russian adoption.

The new law "About Additional Support of the Families With Children"
was passed in Russia last week. It is officially published
yesterday, December 31, 2006, and came in force today, January 1,
2007.

This law stipulates that a family having a second, third, etc. child
(birth or adopted) will receive large financial support from the
Government. The amount is 250,000 rubles (About $10,000) as a one
time payment. It is a very big sum of money for Russian families
(for some low-income families it is equal to 19 years income). This
amount will be indexed proportionally to inflation and in 5 years it
will be about 350,000 rubles.

This law has already made an impact on Russian society. Hundreds of
people have already announced their desire to adopt children.
According to the Russian media, last week alone most orphanages had
visitors (Russian citizens wishing to adopt), which was more than for
an entire year.

Many people that had previously abandoned their children already
informed the orphanages that they want to take them back into their
custody.

Although this law is not about international adoption, it can impact
international adoption. More children, especially children that are
relatively healthy, will likely be adopted by Russian families.

Some women that were due to deliver babies in December are delaying
their labor by taking medications (that is of course very risky for
children). Some women took a risk to deliver their babies
unsupervised at home, to conceal the fact of childbirth and then will
claim that the child was born after January 1, 2007.

It is quite probable that some people will adopt children only for
their own personal enrichment, but this is now a law and it will work
for the advantage of Russian citizens.

[BrandyHagz]

Please remember - if you're going to post communications passed on to you from agencies, facilitators or attorneys who provide adoption service, you need to remove their contacnt information, URL's, names/titles from the communication.

I've edited the above post.

[Amysue1112]

Sorry Brandy..I didn't know that she actually does Russin adoptions..thought she just specialized in Russian law...(maybe that is a no no too?) Anyway, sorry!

[Abdulina]

This was sent to all Russian yahoo groups. It is going to drastically affect Russian adoptions this year. I was personally told by a friend of mine who was there 2 weeks ago about this going into effect. This is close to our hearts b/c of a situation that I currently can't elaborate on.

Does anyone know if this affects children whose parental rights were terminated due to neglect? Can those parents then come back and claim the children even though the rightw were terminated legally? I would assume NO but this whole thing seems so crazy, I just don't know.

I know this is to encourage Russian citizens to adopt and that I agree w/. I just hope they are not adopting just for the money and then the children are put back into another horrific situation.

Concerned for the ones left behind....

[MissDaisyofTexas]

I can't help feeling a little worried and concerned about this...will Russian families adopt just for the money? And what will this do to our wait times? I was feeling so optimistic about accreditation, now I'm feeling discouraged. If this really is going to affect our adoptions drastically, wouldn't our agencies tell us? Has anyone heard word from their agency? Thanks.

[BrandyHagz]

Not to invite debate/argument - I was just wondering how this differed from our own 'tax credit' here in the US?

Do people here in the US adopt just to take the tax credit?

[schulie]

I think there are a whole lot of questions pending regarding how this process will work. The 250,000 ruble payment supposedly will not be paid until 3 years after the child is born to a family or adopted into a family; can families afford to support an additional child for 3 years without assistance? Presumably family members who were charged with neglect/abuse would not be able to petition to get their child(ren) back, but other family members could do so and be eligible for the payment. What type of screening process would be put in place to review applications for domestic adoption? I do think the impact of this process will be three-fold: 1) encouraging Russian families to have more than one child, 2) allow women with limited financial means to keep their child vs signing the child over to the state, and 3) encouraging domestic adoption over international adoption. In terms of IA, I don't see a big impact on older child adoption but do see how this policy could impact the availability of infant/toddler age children to non-Russian PAPs. I do think it will take awhile to see how this program is accepted by Russian society, which traditionally has not embraced adoption of non-family members

[Abdulina]

I was told by a family there two weeks ago that they were being told that foreigners adopting infants is going to be rare. How true this is, is yet to be determined. I will be getting some "inside" information soon and relay what I find out. I think there is good and bad to this new law as with any new law that just gets passed. With 700,000 kids in Russian orphanages, it would be great to see many of them go to Russian Citizens. I do believe however, that those travelling soon for an infant referral do need to be cautious. I know for a fact in one region a few months ago that relatives were coming for the children right before court dates b/c that's when they were getting informed by the law that a possible foreigner was adopting.

Do remember folks, there is ALWAYS something happening in regards to Russian adoptions. Yet, they also continue to happen. I wouldn't stress this too much just wait and see how it plays out. I just hope everything is done in the best interest of the children.

Take care,

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Brandy--From what I understand, $10,000 in Russia is a much larger chunk of annual salary (19 years? I think is what was said) than it typically is in the U.S. Also, our tax credit is not guaranteed--depending on a couple's AGI, and they must have paid $10k in taxes in order to get the credit paid back in one year.
I suppose some Americans could be adopting for the tax credit, but most private domestic and international adoptions cost well over the tax credit, so people aren't earning any money by adopting...the money is helping to offset initial expenses.

[DCD]

I do think this is different than the US tax credit. That tax credit comes after we shell out over 35,000 dollars. So a 10,000 tax credit brings our total down to 25,000.

The Russian citizens that are getting the incentive to have children or adopt do so without having to put forth large sums of money.

I don't bellieve that people adopt to qualify for the tax credit or for that matter a tax deduction.

[tbristow]

It will probably be a few more years before we do our next adoption and I'm sure by then, this will be old news and we'll know how this impacted everything. My gut instinct is that it might for a little while, but how long can the government actually keep payments of this type up? I do look for more families to keep a second or third child that was wanted. Some of the women though that have given birth to 4, 5, 6 or more unwanted...no, I don't expect them to keep most of them. As for adoption, it might change a little for the Russians that can't have children. The rest of the population I expect to bring a bio child into the world instead. I don't think their attitude towards adoption will change that much. My fear too is the number of 2-4 year-olds that may be dumped back in the system or abandoned on the streets when Mom gets a new husband or boyfriend (I REALLY don't think a man's attitude about raising another man's son over there will change.) They obviously won't have to give the money back so what's to stop them? Unfortunately for the older kids, this may actually may make their situation much worse because there will probably be more of them. This is just my opinion though. Only time will tell. My thoughts are with all of you adopting under 24 months because I figure you will be the ones to feel the impact.

[Ktates]

Here's an article about it. They will not get the money until the child turns three or on the 3rd anniversary of the adoption. Also it comes with conditions - someone on one of the boards said they will get it as a note to be put towards real estate or education.

Russian parliament's upper house passes maternity bill
12:05 | 27/ 12/ 2006



MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian parliament's upper house, the Federation Council, passed Wednesday a maternity incentive bill on payouts for women who give birth to or adopt more than one child.

The president-sponsored bill, aimed at reversing the current decline in the nation's birth rate, will provide for one-off payouts to women who give birth to or adopt a second child after January 1, 2007, and for subsequent births.

But the payouts, which are currently set at 250,000 rubles (a little under $9,400), will be revised annually to adjust to inflation and come with conditions attached. They could be invested in education, housing, or a pension saving program, but not until the child turns three, or three years after his/her adoption.

The second-birth incentive bill is expected to help Russia overcome a severe demographic crisis. The country's population has been in steady decline since the launch of market reforms in the early 1990s, and, according to the United Nations, it may further fall by one-third from today's 142 million by the middle of the century.

Ahead of the bill's submission to parliament in October, Deputy Duma Chairman Oleg Morozov said, citing expert estimates, that if enacted, the new legislation could triple the birth rate within three years.

In his annual address to the nation in May, President Vladimir Putin said the population in Russia was falling by about 700,000 each year, and pledged financial incentives to women with larger families

End of article

I think this will only affect people who can not afford to have another child - and if that's the only reason they are placed in an orphanage than that's a great thing. However I think with the current Russian views on adoption and the fact that most Russians want a very healthy young child that it still will only be a drop in the bucket. Don't forget that children who are visited in the orphanage by a relative or even the parents would not be eligible for foreign adoption (or probably even domestic).

However I think it's a great thing if it can encourage more families and women to keep their children when they would otherwise not be able to afford them...but then again - how would you get through those first few years and once the money is gone?

[Amysue1112]

ktates..thanks for the info!
That makes a lot more sense...rather than shelling out 10,000 dollars for them to do as they please (good or bad) it will be used for things to better their lives/future/education.

And it will probably make it less likely or someone "on a whim" to adopt just to get money..3 yrs is a long time to wait for that and they know better than us that things change all the time in Russian law.

Although I know that the money will go back into the economy if forced to use for real estate/education etc, I seems there would be only so many "notes" to go around..I wonder if a lot of people proceed with this how long it will last..

It does sound though that it could better the lives of many of the kids in orphanages and their PAPs...so as much as it might hurt us that rely on IA to build our families, we can only be happy and hopeful that more children will have homes.

I am sad for those of you in the waiting game though..it does not help to add one more anxiety and unknown...but I truly believe that when the child that is meant for your family is in Russia-nothing will stop you from bringing them home.

[GoCathy]

I think the main thing this law will do will encourage people to have more children, which is what is intended. If people can have a biological infant and receive this sum, which they can, then I believe that is what they will do rather than adopting babies. If it allows some poor women to keep babies they did not want to give up, that is a good thing, too.
There are also many older kids in orphanages with relatives who take them out on weekends, etc., but cannot afford to support them entirely so the kids live in the orphanages. If some of these older kids could be returned to families or extended families, that, too, would be great.Of course, I hope everyone waiting gets their children. Beyond that, I hope as many kids as possible can find a home. Those that are adopted IA are a drop in the bucket. I know that is no consolation if the child in question is the one you hoped would be yours.

[tbristow]

Karen, I also thank you for the info.

I honestly believe that if this program were in place in 2004 or 2005, my son would be living with his birthmother. It's hard to know how to feel on that one. I know that somehow, some way, if there is a child meant to be Kayden then we will be directed to him just as all of you will be to your children. Hopefully this will just allow more children to find forever families or stay with their original family.