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It's a bit more to it than that however. Russia has been losing population to immigration for quite some time now, along with a declining birth rate there is pressure to keep russians in russia.
Believe me there is no shortage of Russian children lingering in their orphanages who are a drain on their already stressed services. A lot of Russian "orphans" suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome which has devastating effects on these children. So many are older too which can make adoption even more difficult.
We looked into adoption from Russia in the 80's as well as early 2000's. For many reasons we adopted from Korea and Vietnam where drugs and alcohol are not such a problem, especially for women. Still it saddens me that children and families have to suffer because of the actions of some irresponsible and naive adoptive parents in the USA.
As a parent of two adopted Russian children, I find this quite sad and will only hurt the children. I love how the media latches on a few very high publicity cases which indeed are tragic, ignoring the thousands and thousands of children who have found happy homes. I'm mad at the irresponsible parents but I'm also a bit disgusted with Russia's hard stance on this and their knee jerk reactions as well. This seems to be an ongoing thing in reaction to some specific case that seems to happen each year. Each year it seems to get harder and harder for adoptive parents.
The plight of many of these kids is really, really sad. I remembering walking visiting the orphanage with their 120 kids. As we walked by, these kids would stare at us with big eyes. More than a few would say, "Mama? Papa?" It was heartbreaking. The Director of the orphange told us that many of the kids there were not adoptable either--either the parental rights had not been terminated, there were siblings involved, or a myriad of other issues. There are many of these kids languishing in orphanages and many of these kids won't be adopted, even with the desire to keep Russians in Russia. As no kudzu said, many of the adoptable kids are passed over for a variety of reasons. Many Russians want the little babies too leaving the older ones open to foreign adoptions.
My heart goes out to these children and my heart goes out to the adoptive parents who may have been waiting for a few years like we did. The Russians seem to forget that many of these kids do get adopted into loving homes.
One edit: For three years after adoption, we were required to have a homestudy done. Visits mb the social worker, pictures, etc. All of this had to be notarized, apostiled and sent back to Russia. We did this faithfully each year. Not sure what the requirements are in other countries but we complied. I wonder if these were read by the Russians? I was always proud of how our kids were flourishing and thought that they would be happy too. We even sent updates back to the orphanage with some money as well.
Last edited by Jaded; 06-09-2013 at 05:25 PM..
Reason: edited per request
Very sad. My niece was adopted from Russia at the age of two and she is one of the loves of my life. We have always been hopeful that if another sibling of hers ended up in the same orphanage that we would be allowed to adopt him or her too. Always some buttmunch that has to screw things up for everyone else.
I think that older children are still available for adoption. Last time I checked. My heart breaks every time another country closes.
Neighboring Ukraine is a good alternative to Russia, and they are less costly. I have been participating in a orphan hosting program, and have visited Ukraine on several occasions. It's a beautiful country, with many children who are seeking adoption.
All children from Eastern Europe do not have FAS or it's more subtle sister FAE. Some do, but not all. I applaud parents who are raising children with this complex and entirely avoidable disorder. I have a friend who has three children from Ukraine. All three are bright healthy interesting kids, with talent in the arts and gymnastics. One girl has FAE. (fetal Alcohol Effect) This is not noticeable in her facial features. She is doing well in school now that her parents have her in private school.
It should be noted that having facial traits associated with FAE does not necessarily mean that an individual will also have learning difficulties and emotional problems. It all depends upon the amount of alcohol consumed by the pregnant mother, and when during the pregnancy this consumption occurred as to what gets affected. In some cases, a child may have very strong FAE facial traits but be unaffected otherwise, while in other cases, a child may have few or no facial traits, yet demonstrate learning difficulties, problems with emotional control, impulsivity, etc. All completely avoidable, of course...but given the prominence and ready availability and low cost of alcohol in most of eastern Europe, FAE/FAS is a huge problem not only for orphaned children, but for society in general.
BTW, most of Russia is open to international adoption once again. Requirements vary from one area to another, however. In most cases, two trips are required and the process is lengthier than that of Ukraine, but shorter than that in Bulgaria. Baby house orphanages are fairly good in terms of physical care of young typical children and children with mild special needs, such as Down syndrome, but most kids with special needs generally are sent to very poor adult level mental institutions around age four or five, when typical kids get moved on to detsky doms, or children's home orphanages (this also includes children with physical special needs who are cognitively typical).
There are lots of beautiful eastern European children waiting for families...I hope readers considering international adoption will consider them.
It's a bit more to it than that however. Russia has been losing population to immigration for quite some time now, along with a declining birth rate there is pressure to keep russians in russia.
But keeping unwanted children, possibly in orphanages, that is helping anything? I don't think so. It might be a good idea for them to ask, why are people leaving and try and fix the problem. I don't care what country it is, kids deserve a decent home with two parents that love them and can take care of them or certainly a loving parent...A mommy and daddy is still the best. If this means opening the door to families from other countries, so be it...The biggest problem, often isn't the fault of the adopting parents but the less than honest authorities in the countries the babies are born in.
But keeping unwanted children, possibly in orphanages, that is helping anything? I don't think so. It might be a good idea for them to ask, why are people leaving and try and fix the problem. I don't care what country it is, kids deserve a decent home with two parents that love them and can take care of them or certainly a loving parent...A mommy and daddy is still the best. If this means opening the door to families from other countries, so be it...The biggest problem, often isn't the fault of the adopting parents but the less than honest authorities in the countries the babies are born in.
This is understandable but selfish.
What is happening now, at least in Ukraine, the country that I have worked in the most; is that children over the age of seven are being put into foster homes.
They are little more than indentured servants. They labor and don't go to school. It is sad.
There are children available for adoption and hosting that have nothing wrong with them other than the fact that they are over the age of six.
We are hosting two this summer and two in the winter with a view to adoption. It is nowhere near as expensive as people seem to think.
sheena12, so glad you are hosting - I hope your little "guests" will prove to be your children.
Other beautiful, typical children with no or very minor special needs also are overlooked by would-be adoptive parents who have their hearts set on adopting a baby - only because such children are part of sibling groups.
At present, Ukrainian children without special needs who are not part of sibling groups are not eligible for international adoption until they are five years old. Ukraine is trying increase domestic adoption, certainly a laudable goal - but one of the results is that thousands of beautiful children languish in the orphanages and institutions, rather than finding families who happen not to be Ukrainian. I wish Ukraine instead would increase tax benefits for domestic adoption or provide other incentives that would get the kids into loving families, domestic or foreign, sooner...
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