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. 

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

 Joint Council has continued to advocate for a rational and child centric transition to the Hague Convention in Guatemala.   

• includes a strong ‘grandfather’ clause,
• designates April 30 2008 as the effective implementation date of the Convention,
• allocates $5 million Quetzales ($650,000 USD) for the creation of the Central Authority,
• allocates a percentage of the total government budget for child welfare services
• creates a new government entity to act as the Central Authority in Guatemala,
• provides for private non-profit accredited entities to provide services to children,
• allows single potential adoptive parents to apply for adoption,
• and creates a functional process by which children can find a permanent, safe and loving family.

The new legislation is scheduled to be introduced to Congress early next week.  In line with our mission of advocating for the right of each child to a permanent family, Joint Council will continue to work with our colleagues in Guatemala towards a positive and child centric implementation of the Convention.