Russia Considers Suspending Adoptions to US
EmailRussia’s Foreign Ministry has proposed suspending adoptions to American citizens until an accord is signed between the two countries that would allow authorities to better monitor the welfare of adopted Russian children in the U.S.
If the measure is enacted, it would not be the first time the Russian government has suspended adoptions to the United States.
The country reportedly put a temporary stop on adoptions to the U.S. in 2010 after a Tennessee woman put her 7-year-old son on a plane back to Russia for allegedly being violent. The boy, who was unaccompanied, arrived in his home country with a letter pinned inside his pocket.
“This child is mentally unstable,” the adoptive mother, Torry Hansen. wrote to the Russian Ministry of Education. “He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues/behaviors. I was lied to and misled by the Russian orphanage workers and director regarding his mental stability and other issues.”
Hansen faces a lawsuit for child support brought by her adoption agency. The case is scheduled to go to trial in May.
Last November, Michael and Nanette Craver were convicted of involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal conspiracy in the death of their adoptive son, Nathaniel, 7.
The couple was released based upon time served, igniting an uproar in Russia that landed them on the country’s most wanted list, Russia Today reported.
U.S. citizens have adopted nearly 50,000 Russian children in the past two decades, according to the Associated Press.
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keep your own friggin kids and raise them yourself.
Posted by: john | February 12, 2012, 11:17 am 11:17 am
Good for them I wouldnt send any kids to this miserable broke down country either. They have a better chance in Russia than they do here under Obama..
Posted by: Barry | February 12, 2012, 1:40 pm 1:40 pm
There has been a long-standing issue of lack of full disclosure regarding the history of many of these children on the part of the Russians. Once adopted by American parents, many have been found to have severe emotional/mental disturbances and violent tendencies (classic symptoms of severe attachment disorder due to severe abuse, neglect, and/or abandonment, often in VERY early life). And high rates of fetal alcohol spectrum affects can complicate matters.
Adoptive parents, such as those mentioned in this article, have found themselves faced with a child who refuses to bond, is anti-social and violent, threatens others, even kills family pets (aka a SOCIOPATH).
In seeking help, they have encountered a blank wall of indifference from both the Russian AND the U.S. system (your kid…YOU deal with it). If they resort to locking the child in his or her room at night to prevent him/her from carrying OUT the threats to kill everyone in their sleep or burn the house down, they are charged with child abuse. If they try to give them BACK, they are maligned as terrible parents.
I think it is a good thing a hold has been placed on these adoptions. There is a REASON so many of these children have been abused or even killed in their adoptive homes, and it is NOT that American adoptive parents are so terrible. A disproportionate number of these Russian children are severely disturbed before they ever reach this country, having been abandoned by their mothers, possibly following harmful prenatal exposures, and dumped in orphanages which fail to provide the nurturing and socialization they need to not develop into sociopaths.
Posted by: RAVEN | February 12, 2012, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm
There was an interesting article in the NYTimes I believe about a Russian kid who was adopted and had quite a few emotional issues–it turned out he suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and suffered severe development problems in utero–as a result he was extremely violent, unresponsive, etc. When it was discovered what he was deficient in, the family is doing everything they can to accommodate him. I think perhaps the adoptions should be suspended until Russia is better able to take care of the system, and help those pregnant mothers carry babies to a safe and healthy term, and to provide nuturing and bonding environments for children in orphanages.
Posted by: Bea | February 12, 2012, 5:49 pm 5:49 pm
If there’s one thing we can count on in Russia, it’s less than full disclosure. As my dad liked to say:
“after you shake a Russian’s hand, you better count your fingers”.
Posted by: mitch Eisenman | February 12, 2012, 6:24 pm 6:24 pm
As the adoptive mother of two Russian children, I am very sad about this news. My children would have suffered greatly if they had been left in the orphanage. I hope that the Russian government remembers that the vast majority of the children who have been adopted are doing well here with loving parents who are doing everything in their power to provide good homes for them.
Posted by: Chris | February 24, 2012, 12:22 am 12:22 am