We recognize that many prospective adoptive parents are concerned about the recent news reports citing a potential hold on adoptions of Russian children by American families. Please be advised that U.S. Embassy processing of I-600 Orphan Petitions and U.S. Immigrant Visas for adoption cases is continuing as usual. Russia has suspended the license of an individual adoption agency, but has not taken any broader action. We will update this website if any changes occur. If you have further questions or concerns, please email the U.S. Embassyadoptions unit at MoscowConsularR@state.gov.
April 17th, 2010
April 16, 2010
Adoption Notice
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues
April 16, 2010
The Department of State has received no information to confirm a suspension of adoptions from Russia to the United States. Our Embassy in Moscow and other Department of State officials are talking with Russian officials to clarify this issue.
The Department of State is sending a high-level inter-agency team to Russia this weekend to meet with senior Russian officials, including officials from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Justice. The U.S. delegation will emphasize the importance of this issue to the United States, and will discuss our mutual concerns about how to better protect the welfare and rights of children and all parties involved in intercountry adoptions.
Many thousands of Russian children have found loving, safe and permanent homes in the United States through intercountry adoption. Families in the United States have adopted more than 50,000 children from Russia.
If you have completed an adoption in Russia and have an immigrant visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow:
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is continuing to schedule and issue immigrant visas for adopted children using normal processing procedures. Contact the Embassy at MoscowConsularR@state.gov to schedule an appointment. Please also stay in close touch with your adoption service provider.
If you have a court appointment to finalize your child’s adoption in Russia:
Many adoption cases are continuing to move forward in the courts. We have heard of cases in which a court appointment has been postponed. If your court appointment is postponed by the court, please provide this information to us by email at RussiaAdoption@state.gov and MoscowConsularR@state.gov. We will work with the Russian authorities to try to resolve any problems.
If you do not have a court date yet to finalize an adoption in Russia, but are in the process of adopting from Russia:
Please stay in close contact with your adoption service provider, and check the adoption.state.gov website regularly for current information about intercountry adoption from Russia.
The Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues has established a special e-mail box for inquiries or comments about adoptions from
Russia. Prospective adoptive parents with concerns about adoptions from Russia may send their questions to RussiaAdoption@state.gov.
April 17th, 2010
No suspension of adoptions from Russia
State Dept: No suspension of adoptions from Russia
(AP) – 1 day ago
NEW YORK — The U.S. State Department says there has been no suspension of adoptions of Russian children by Americans.
Reports of a suspension circulated Thursday based on comments in Moscow from a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman. He was reacting to the case of an American woman who sent her 7-year-old adopted son back to Russia on a plane by himself.
The U.S. State Department’s consular affairs office, however, says it has confirmed with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Embassy in Washington that adoptions are still being processed. The office says there has been no suspension.
A U.S. delegation plans to meet with Russian officials next week to discuss a possible adoption treaty. Russia says such a treaty much be signed if adoptions to the U.S. are to continue.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
April 15th, 2010
Russian Adoption Updates
Russia, April 15, 20010:
During a press conference today, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko stated that intercountry adoptions with the United States have been suspended until a bilateral agreement with the United States is signed.
At this time, the Ministry of Education (the ministry responsible for intercountry adoption) has not confirmed the suspension nor issued a statement. The MoE MUST confirm this statement for the suspension to be truly active.
A delegation from the U.S. Department of State, lead by Ambassador Michael Kirby, will travel to Moscow and conduct meetings with Russian officials on April 20, 2010.
April 10th, 2010
Russia Eyes U.S. Adoption Freeze After Boy Sent Back
By REUTERS
Published: April 9, 2010
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Friday it planned to suspend adoptions of its children by U.S. citizens after an American woman sent her adopted son back to Moscow on a plane with a note disowning him.
Artyom Savelyev, 7, arrived alone at a Moscow airport on Tuesday with a typed letter asking the Russian government to annul the adoption on the grounds that the child was mentally unstable, officials said.
President Dmitry Medvedev denounced the episode as a “monstrous deed,” and called for an agreement with U.S. authorities laying down American parents’ duties in such cases and creating a system to monitor the children’s treatment.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went one step further, saying U.S. adoptions of Russian children would be halted until such a deal was reached.
“The way he was treated was beyond immoral,” Lavrov said in an interview with state-run news channel Rossiya-24. “We have made a decision that the Foreign Ministry will insist on freezing all adoptions by U.S. families until Russia and the U.S. sign an interstate treaty setting out adoption terms.”
Russia is the third largest source of foreign adoptions to the United States with 1,586 in 2009, according to the U.S. State Department.
Artyom was adopted from an orphanage in Russia’s Far East in 2009. After six months, his adoptive mother decided he was not fitting in and bought him a one-way ticket to Moscow.
“The child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues. I was lied to and misled by the Russian orphanage,” said the note, which was shown on Russian television. “For the safety of my family, friends and myself, I no longer wish to parent this child.”
Television pictures showed the fair-haired Artyom nervously waving at a line of cameras. He was undergoing tests at a Moscow hospital on Friday as authorities considered who would take care of him, officials said.
“A VERY BAD FAMILY”
Medvedev said Artyom “fell into a very bad family.”
“It is a monstrous deed on the part of his adoptive parents…(It) is not only immoral but also against the law,” Medvedev told ABC News.
“We should understand what is going on with our children, or we will totally refrain from the practice of adopting Russian children by American adoptive parents.”
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. government was “obviously very troubled” by the case, but hoped that it would not preclude future adoptions.
“If Russia chooses to suspend these adoptions, these are Russian citizens, that is Russia’s right. We would like to see these adoptions continue but we understand the concern that Russia has, we share that concern,” he told a news briefing.
U.S. officials would work with both Russian officials and international adoption agencies to strengthen protections for such children, he added.
Russia’s top investigative body said it was probing Artyom’s adoption to see if any law had been broken. The Kremlin’s ombudsman for children’s rights, Pavel Astakhov, said Artyom had been mistreated by his adopted mother.
Artyom was met at a Moscow airport by a tour guide who had been paid $200 (130 pounds) by his adoptive mother to “deliver him to the Education Ministry like a parcel,” Astakhov said. The ministry runs the country’s orphanages and is responsible for adoptions.
The U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle said U.S. authorities would also check if a crime had been committed.
Russia tightened its adoption process after several Russian children died at the hands of abusive parents in the United States. The additional procedures caused a sharp fall in numbers of U.S. adoptions from a peak of 5,862 in 2004.
(Writing by Conor Humphries; additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Editing by David Stamp)
February 18th, 2010
The Children of Haiti Need Our Help
On January 12 in the course of only 30 seconds, thousands of children joined the hundreds of thousands Haitian children already living without a permanent and safe family. These children became part of a global crisis – an estimated 30 million children growing up without parents – vulnerable to slavery, prostitution, gangs, exploitation, and trafficking. Yet our government has no focus on finding families for orphaned children worldwide.
We should have acted yesterday…we must act now.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee have before them The Families for Orphans Act; a bi-partisan bill that would create a State Department office and more importantly a “Champion for Orphans”. This Champion and the Office would build capacity in countries to enable families to raise their children at home or be adopted by loving parents first in their own country or else in another.
Growing up in a family is a basic human right. The United States has a rich and successful history of protecting such rights all over the world. When we have stepped forward to provide leadership in an area of great social need, the difference has been measurable. The orphans of the world need this type of leadership and they need it now.
Four Things You Can Do?
1. Let Your Voice Be Heard
Call or e-mail to your Members of Congress asking them to become Co-Sponsors of the Families for Orphans Act. You can find your Representative at www.house.gov and your Senators at www.senate.gov. Feel free to use the following text as a guideline:
“As one of your constituents I am requesting that you support the “Families for Orphans Act” by becoming a Co-Sponsor of the legislation now. We would be better prepared to respond to the needs of orphans in Haiti if the leadership it calls for was already in place. We ask that you stand up for the millions of children around the world growing up in orphanages without the love and support of a permanent family. For information on becoming a Co-Sponsor, please contact Senators Landrieu or Inhofe or Representatives Watson or Boozman.”
2. Demand Action
Call or email the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Ask them to pass the Families for Orphans Act.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Phone: (202) 224-4651
Chairperson’s Email: click here
House Foreign Affairs Committee Phone: (202) 224-4651
Chairperson’s Email: click here
3. Speak with One Voice
Sign the Families for Orphans Act petition. To sign click here.
4. Get The Word Out
Have a blog? A Facebook page? Do you Tweet? How about an email account? Send this Call To Action to those who care about children.
On behalf of children living without a permanent and safe family
Rebecca Harris
Government Relations and Communications Manager
JCICS
January 21st, 2010
Haiti: News from JCICS
The tragedy for children in Haiti continues. Please help us help them. Children are facing dehydration, airborne disease, trauma and victimization. Many are without their parents, a place to live or even someone to give them comfort. And for those children being adopted, the challenges are no less great. Safe transportation to the U.S. Embassy, few adults to move or care for large groups of children and a chaotic process with little information or resources…it’s beyond words.
For first-hand on-the-ground reports and information on the latest efforts, please visit our Be The Answer blog. It’s our best and fastest way to get the word out.
Please consider making a donation so we can continue our work for children. 100% of all donations goes directly towards our programs and services. Here is where you money goes…please donate today. Whether you can donate or not, thank you for continuing to be a part of our community and service to children in need.
- Coordinating emergency response in Haiti
- Creating and distributing a critically important database of families and orphans used to
- identify children and get emergency relief to them
- update and inform adoptive parents,
- update and inform aid & relief organizations, US government efforts and Members of Congress
- Creating and distributing a database of orphanages used to:
- direct emergency relief and transportation to the orphanages
- provide instructions regarding immigration to the US
- update and inform adoptive parents,
- inform aid & relief organizations, US government efforts and Members of Congress
- Raising awareness with the public and with government decision makers
- Educating and informing government policy makers including the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security
Please Donate Today…click here.
November 30th, 2009
South Korea
Overview:
Overview South Korea has had an adoption program for over 50 years. There are rumors that the program may close within the next 5 years, but those are just rumors at this time. The reason for this rumor is that Korea truly would like to end international adoption and is strongly encouraging the populace of Korea to adopt their orphaned children.
At this time, however, Korea remains a rock-solid program. The children are placed in foster families at birth, received excellent medical care and a social background of the birthparents is available. In addition, Korea requires the very least amount of paperwork from adoptive families. For families that qualify, Korea is an excellent choice.
Love The Children has an excellent South Korea program for married couples of a minimum of 3 years and you must be under 45 years old at the time of referral.
November 20th, 2009
Find My Family:Sensationalized Adoption Series
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| In the most exploitive and disparaging-of-adoption media effort yet, ABC will air a sneak peak’ of their new series Find My Family on Monday, November 23rd. With a sensationalized and soap-opera style, ABC will take viewers into the lives of adoptees and birth families in their Search to be reunited.With the tagline ” Some people have spent their whole lives searching for the one thing that matters most… Their wish will now come true. Let’s find your family, producers completely discount any worth of the adoptive families who have loved and raised these children. Instead the show emphasizes the loss of a child’s Real family’ as the one-and-only central issue of all adopted children’s lives.The entire premise of this show is upsetting on so many levels. I encourage every family of an adopted child to prepare mentally for the public reaction, and the reaction of their children who may find themselves the sudden center of assumptions about their needs, desires, and personal feelings on their adoption.
This new series is being heavily promoted on ABC. Created by the producer of Extreme Makeover, Find My Family is laden with emotional angst and tearful moments meant to increase ratings and viewership. Unfortunately, the general public’s opinion and understanding of adoption is largely shaped by the media. ABC’s exploitive new series will focus on the most extreme issues in adoption, and is sure to have an effect on how our children’s teachers, extended family, and friends view and accept adoption. For years, the adoptive community has sought to rectify the past vilification of birth-parents as people who gave away their children. Birth parents are now widely recognized as the First Parents of children, deserving of love, respect, and understanding. It is in no one’s best interest to turn the tables and begin to portray adoptive families as second-class, or less-than’ a family created biologically. This new series is a step back for everyone. |
March 4th, 2009
The Importance of Post Adoption Reports
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Post placement reports, also known as post adoption reports, update the country of your child’s birth on the well being of your adopted child. These reports are critical and essential to the stability of an international adoption program. The reports insure the country of adoption that your child is being well cared, loved, and provided for. Countries that allow international adoptions have a responsibility to follow the adopted child and ensure that they are being cared for. Foreign governments take this responsibility very seriously. Recently, Russia announced a long list of agencies that have not complied with the post placement obligation of Russia. These “blacklisted” agencies are banned from conducting homestudies for parent wishing to adopt from Russia. The new restrictions for homestudy agencies has caused delay and heart ache for many families in the international adoption process. Parents that do not complete the post placement reports are ultimately putting the futures of countless children at risk. Please respect the rules of your child’s birth country and complete the post placement reports. If not, the adoption programs could close and children many children will miss the miracle of being united with families. |
Naturally, parents that are in the international adoption process are focused on one thing, bringing their child home. However, it is important to remember that the international adoption process does not end with the homecoming of your adopted child. It ends many years later upon the completion of your post placement obligations.