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.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam, and Sol in Korea, is the most important and the longest of all festivals in Asian communities around the world. The date of the new year is determined by the lunar calendar, so festivities begin with the new cycle of the moon that falls between January 21 and February 19 and traditionally lasts for two weeks. Each year is named for one of 12 symbolic animals in sequence. The animals, in their sequential order, are the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar.

During this period, towns and villages are decorated with colored lanterns, floral displays, and brightly colored banners emblazoned with New Year greetings. Preparations traditionally begin in the home the week before the New Year, when families thoroughly clean their houses to symbolically sweep away all traces of misfortune. They also pay off debts, add a new coat of red paint to doors and windowpanes, and decorate the home with flowers. To avoid bad luck, parents warn their children to be on their best behavior and to avoid the use of vulgar expressions. On the evening before the New Year, families gather for a feast of special dishes. Each dish has symbolic meaning, signifying good luck and prosperity. At midnight, families light fireworks to attract the attention of benevolent gods and to frighten away evil spirits. The fireworks last until dawn, although celebrants may sporadically light more fireworks for the next two weeks.

On the first day of the New Year, people put on new clothes to symbolize the discarding of the old year and its misfortunes. Then they take gifts to friends and relatives. The gifts usually include special rice flour cakes and fruits such as kumquats and oranges.

Among the most spectacular festivities of Lunar New Year are the dragon and lion dances. As many as 50 or more people support long dragons and lions made from vibrant paper and cloth while dancing in processions down city streets. The dancers perform to the beating of gongs and drums, while other celebrants perform acrobatic displays. Some of the performers may occasionally reach up to take red money packets or fruits and vegetables hung from storefronts. The celebrations end on the 15^th of the Lunar month; this day is called the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival is an event in which merchants hang lighted paper lanterns outside their shops. Many of the lanterns rotate with the heat of the candles they contain. Children often parade through the streets during the lantern festival, carrying lanterns of various shapes and patterns

Leslie Zindulka, LCSW-R adoption Social Worker presents a workshop entitled Keys To School Success- from preschool through high school graduation. This workshop will focus on adoption related school issues, will teach participants how to handle school assignments, advocate for your child’s special needs and how to respond to common myths. Sponsored by the Adoptive Parents Committee Long Island chapter at their meeting on November 15, 2008.

Prospective adoptive parent(s) who file Form I-600A or Form I-600 prior to April 1, 2008, may continue to process their adoptions under the current orphan regulations, if the laws of the country of the child’s origin allow for continuation under the orphan regulations.   Note that some countries may require processing under Hague Adoption Convention rules regardless of when processing with USCIS was initiated.   In such cases, the adoption needs to be processed under the new Hague Adoption Convention procedures. 

The case of a Hong Kong-based Dutch diplomat and his wife, who relinquished their Korean-born daughter seven years after her adoption, claiming that she was “emotionally remote,” has generated outrage in Korea. Korean adoption officials are considering instituting a requirement that post-placement reports be filed with the country’s government, as well as tighter controls on private adoptions.