by Anita Carter

Created on: April 17, 2010   Last Updated: April 18, 2010

Russia And Adoptions

His face was sweet and innocent.  A young boy, a child of only six, was taken in by every media outlet across the nation if not the world with microphones and cameras trying to get one word from him and/or the perfect picture.  Why? He was sent back to the country he came from alone on an airplane. He was sent back to Russia alone by his adopted mother with a suitcase and a few dollars in his pocket.  

This mother, from Tennessee,  nicely arranged online to have this person, this stranger, to welcome him back for only $200. Her love for him sent an outcry of rage and disbelief that a mother, especially an adoptive mother, could do this to her son who she had taken in for her own.

The reason she has given is even harder to believe. Her claim that the orphange, from where he had came from, lied to her. That she was not told of any emotional baggage this child was supposed to be suffering from. Yet this woman from Tennessee spent time getting to know him while what was supposed to be a love for him.

It is understandable that Russia feels a concern for the well-being of every child taken into the U.S. to live. However, to punish that one person/ that one family of giving that child, "their child", a loving and caring home is unfair and heartbreaking. 

Last year alone, over 18,000 Russian children was welcomed into the lives of loving parents.  Though, this number doesn't come close to the suggested 700,000 children who are still waiting for a good home. (This number was from a report taken between 2006-2007.)

The requirements for a child to be adopted from some areas of Russia:

2 trips have to have taken place

* "One trip to accept the referral and the other to complete the adoption".                                                     

8 medical releases have to be signed and processed

A bond has be found between the child and potential parent before the referral

There are countless stories of love between a parent and their child from Russia with great warmth and love.  For Russia to take this away is devasting.  Russia is known for its strict laws and proverty is painful to hear but to live it is another.  These children living in overly crowded orpahages is a nightmare that should'nt be.

*  Adoptive  Families Magazine

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