Russia threatens to stop adoptions to USA (parents, meeting, first time)
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Sad but not surprising. Always felt that there was a strong anti American sentiment when we adopted and each publicized case involving American adoptive parents puts adoptions at risk. I always knew that Russia was a ticking time bomb and eventually, something like this would happen.
I'm glad to see increased funding to the orphanges. It still doesn't solve the problem of children living in an institution environment during their formative years. Very sad and the children just suffer. I noticed the article mentioning Russians being able to visit adoptees. I wonder if this would be a Russian official or the biological parents? I suspect it would be a Russian official, almost like a Russian social worker. That could make it very interesting in many ways. There were some big parenting differences between the Russians and the American parents. When we showed them a photo album of our house, we were grilled with questions and lot of them. I can't remember all the specifics but some of them were a bit strange. I do remember one parenting disagreement we had. When we adopted our kids, it was in the middle of the heat wave and temperature were in the 90s. Very uncomfortable, especially with no air conditioning. In spite of the heat, they were swaddled in layers of clothing and sweating profusely. When we brought our own clothing for our son, we got some very grim frowns from the Russians on how we were dressing him. The poor kid was sweating, his skin was a mess full of skin lesions, etc. First thing we did was to take some layers off of him. We certainly got some comments about not dressing them warmly enough. This was a fairly persistent comment. Imagine a Russian social worker coming to our home and seeing kids running around in bare feet, flip flops the way the kids do. Summer time is even worse where they are half dressed jumping in and out of the pool, dog running around barking, etc. I can hear the comments now---poor children are freezing to death and not given enough clothes.... I'm sure that we would pass with flying colors if a Russian official visited but during the adoption process, they were very, very critical and looked at everything with a critical eye. Every minor detail.
Thanks for posting No Kudzu. My heart goes out to the waiting parents and if their adoptions were anything like ours, we waited for several years.
There is an anti-American sentiment that lingers long after the Cold War in all of the former USSR countries. And, we have the dubious and horrible distinction of being the only foreign country that adopts from Russia that has beaten several children to death and in one case, sent the child back to Russia!
Russia and other E.E. countries also have a tabloid press that rivals that of Great Britain. Because they can not wrap their heads around the idea that people, unrelated by blood or ethnicity, could ever love a child as their own, there are all sorts of outlandish tales believed by even well educated Russians and Ukrainians.
One is that the children are being adopted so that their organs can be harvested! The other is that they will be eaten.
My personal opinion is that it is in the nature of Russia to threaten such things. It is also in their nature to be pragmatic. Adoption generates money. Americans travel to Russia several times in most Oblasts. They spend money. It's good for the economy. And Russians (and Ukrainians) will not adopt older children. All of this is part of their culture.
I do not think that Russia will close.
I DO think that the US, with it's huge Fundamentalist Christian adoption population, needs to enact some sort of legislation that bars fanatics who want to literally "beat the devil" out of their kids, from adoption. These people are wildly attracted to adoption because it is a way to convert children to their brand of extreme "Christianity".
Sadly Sheena I think you are right. To close adoptions to US because of a few isolated horror tales is one thing but because of politics is something all together different. The countries which are closed, Cambodia, Vietnam, Guatemala closed because of corruption in their system which includes baby snatching, selling, trafficking.l Not because of politics between the involved countries like Russia is proposing.
The really sad thing is no matter when they decide to close, there will always be some families already in the process who will never be able to bring their children home. My heart breaks for those children and those families. Let's just hope it is all a bunch of saber rattling at this point.
NK, I think it is. Russia flexing it's muscles. I am old enough to remember Khrushchev and the "scary shoe incident". When he took off his shoe and slammed it on a desk at a UN meeting bellowing "WE WILL BURY YOU!"
It's my hope that it's one of those. And for the sake of those children and families, I hope that I am right.
Very disconcerting - but this is not the first time Russia has threatened something like this.
It should be pointed out that different regions in Russia have their own sets of rules and regulations governing adoption, and some regions are notoriously difficult places from which to adopt, requiring multiple trips by would-be adoptive parents with months of waiting in between trips, lots of red-tape-ridden paperwork, etc., thus discouraging many from considering such a lengthy, costly effort. Not good for all those children who wait, either...orphanages and institutions are not good environments for children, although they may be considerable improvements over living in abusive, neglectful families.
Let's hope this is again just politicizing something which should be beyond politics, and that things will settle down and the best interests of the children will become paramount.
Very disconcerting - but this is not the first time Russia has threatened something like this.
It should be pointed out that different regions in Russia have their own sets of rules and regulations governing adoption, and some regions are notoriously difficult places from which to adopt, requiring multiple trips by would-be adoptive parents with months of waiting in between trips, lots of red-tape-ridden paperwork, etc., thus discouraging many from considering such a lengthy, costly effort. Not good for all those children who wait, either...orphanages and institutions are not good environments for children, although they may be considerable improvements over living in abusive, neglectful families.
Let's hope this is again just politicizing something which should be beyond politics, and that things will settle down and the best interests of the children will become paramount.
Exactly my thought, Craig. They do this a lot.
What people must know about Foster "Care" and adoption in these countries, is that it is not as improvement, as compared to international adoption.
The reality is this. The children who are fostered or adopted in Eastern Europe are not treated as part of the family. They are farm workers, maids, and worse. Indentured servants. At eighteen or sixteen they are booted. It makes the countries look good. That's about it.
I am not picking on these countries. I happen to love the people of Eastern Europe. I enjoy travel there. The governments are another matter and this is steeped in tradition, nationalism and pride. Add a worship of blood relations.
Not good attributes when thinking of the rights of children.
Russia is using the poor orphans as pawns in a political argument is all. It's very sad.
Pawns? So please explain why these Russian children are beaten or killed their adoptive parents in the U.S.? Correct that banned adoption. The parents apparently some sort of compulsive hostility to Russian children.
NK, I think it is. Russia flexing it's muscles. I am old enough to remember Khrushchev and the "scary shoe incident". When he took off his shoe and slammed it on a desk at a UN meeting bellowing "WE WILL BURY YOU!"
It's my hope that it's one of those. And for the sake of those children and families, I hope that I am right.
For the sake of these children is good. They will be better with the Russian parents than to be in the American hornbeam.
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I'm sure that we would pass with flying colors if a Russian official visited but during the adoption process, they were very, very critical and looked at everything with a critical eye. Every minor detail.
