[k8c]

I have a friend who has been waiting and waiting to bring home her son. She's met him and has been waiting months for a court date. (We know what that's like, don't we?)

This story from CNN has her spooked. I told her I'd ask here to see what people knew or had heard. I'm so out of the loop that I haven't heard anything.

Anyone?

[tigger44]

It sounds like this is a region issue, but followed protocol to supreme court, similar to the US system. There are individual regions that no longer allow US citizense to adopt, and the prosecutor from this region may be fighting for a local moratorium for this specific region. I may be wrong, but this is the way I interpret this article.

[sak9645]

Agree with Tigger. While Russia has a national adoption law, individual regions have their own policies, and individual judges within regions can wield a lot of power. If you've got a judge with a strong anti-international adoption bias, or a strong anti-American bias, or both, you've got a real problem. And if local sentiment has turned against adoption by Americans because of nationalism -- very strong in some parts of Russia -- or concerns about child abuse, the problem is even worse.

The prospective parents, shown on CNN, happen to live in a small Siberian town, and my guess is that it's not in a region that a lot of American adoption agencies work with. The agencies generally try to work in areas where they are more likely to find reasonable policies and sympathetic judges. Ask your friend what region she is working with, and suggest that she call her agency and ask if there is anything going on in her region that might slow things down.

Sharon

[skywat]

I am the father. Yes, it is a regional issue at this point. We know of other adoptions which have been completed as late as November. However, if the Supreme Court reverses the lower court's positive decision, it will be a huge blow to future adoptions in any region. We are hopeful that the right decision will be made, not just for us but for all the orphans that remain institutionalized.

It is just one more thing which is unnecessarily damaging relations between the US and Russia.

The greatest frustration is that this has required our family to live separately since last July - our older son and I in the US and our foster-son and my wife in Russia. We live our lives via skype. I'm still in the US because homestudies don't happen overnight and both our agency and the State have added to our hardship by dragging their feet even though we paid to expedite the process. The Russian regional court has frequently made new requests for information requiring one of us to be here.

The Russians have every right and duty to be concerned about international adoptions, and I respect that. Some terrible things have happened. But we've been into this so long and spent far more than the average international adoption. Amazing considering my wife is Russian, we LIVE in Russia and we've invested so much of our lives into this child whom we love deeply!

We just don't know where else to turn for help. I can only get mad at the bureaucracy, not Russia itself. It's my second home and there are many there who have offered so much support and whom I cherish.

[k8c]

Skywat, thanks for taking the time to comment!

I was an ex-pat in Russia while adopting my daughter and found that it complicated things enormously. I'm so sorry you're caught in a difficult situation. I'm single, so it was different. I ended up doing everything a US family would do and everything a Russian familiy would do--two home studies, two social workers, all the paperwork...

When is the supreme court hearing the case?

(And apologies to all for my mistyping of moratorium. I didn't notice until it was too late to fix!)

[k8c]

This is from the friend I mentioned:

The dad is correct - it is the bureaucracy. Really hurts the kids. I really feel for this family. Please let him know myself and a couple of other waiting families are praying for the right outcome - for this family and all the kids that would be impacted by a bad decision. I have been waiting since Aug 2010 - almost 18 months - the other family has been waiting 26 months for their courtdate. We've both done trip 1 - and are waiting for that court trip. (Which we hope will have positive results).

[skywat]

Our case is Feb 21. Thanks for your encouragement.

It's been more than 2 years since we started the process and 1 yr 9 months with our child. It saddens me to see so much anti-Americanism. I travel quite a bit and it seems like I'm always running into an Italian, Spaniard, Slovenian couple who are adopting from our city - they never have problems. They spend a few days with a child, go home, and return 2 months later to complete the adoption. They're gone and never look back. My wife and I have gone to great lengths to make sure our older son knows the language and culture. He even danced for 4 years in a Russian folk troupe.

The process has just worn us out.

[Xander]

We were supposed to hear of our court date last week. Instead, our agency contacted us Friday to inform us that the judge of our region was told by the Supreme Court of RF not to set any more court dates because they are placeing a moratoriam on all Russia/US adoptions. I do not know when the moratoriam will "officially" begin, but our regional judge will not set a court date for us now. I understand this particular judge looks favorably on our agency but will follow RF directives. Obviously, my husband and I are quite devastated over this and are praying that we will somehow still get to bring the boys home. I've read (via internet) that the moratoriam may be temporary... until the bilateral agreement is ratified by Russia.

[Beaglepup]

This is awful for those waiting on court and otherwise. What does it mean for those that had court and are waiting for the decree to be issued?

[Xander]

I'm not sure what will happen. Our agency had a couple who had their court date January 17th and they haven't heard of any decision being overturned, but I'm sure their a bit nervous about what may happen.

[ippichic]

Has anyone heard anything more about a moratorium? I am not able to view the cnn link above and can't find anything on the State Dept site or in the news about it. Please let me know what you've heard! We have completed our Russian application and are submitting to the agency tomorrow and may reconsider if there is something that could put a halt to adoptions before we make any financial commitments.

[k8c]

ippi, it sounds like it's region-dependent right now. talk to your chosen agency and see what they're saying. see if they have regions that are progressing as normal.

fingers crossed...

beagle, any news?

[Oldmama]

I found this.

AdoptionTalk: Adoption as a Political Tool in Russia


My agency said that a couple of regions are being focused on right now and they have not heard of anything stopping adoptions in other regions as of yet.

It looks to me like this is political posturing...and will die down after elections (March I believe). Hence, a moratorium rather than a suspension.

Everybody keep their fingers crossed. I know we are holding our breath. This waiting for travel dates is AWFUL...kind of like being 8 months pregnant FOR EVER! haha This makes me worry a bit more...but just gonna keep the faith and believe all will be ok.

[Beaglepup]

We hope to hear exact travel dates for our pick up trip this week. So far, it looks ok for us, but you know that can change at any moment. As always, we wait and do as we're told. :-) Good luck to all!

[ippichic]

Praying for quick news and safe travels Beaglepup! Please keep us posted!