Russia's U.S. Adoption Ban: Moscow's Ombudsman Seeks To Reassure American Parents

MOSCOW — Russia's ombudsman for children's rights sought on Thursday to reassure American would-be adoptive parents that they will be allowed to take their children back to the United States. But some Americans with court rulings in their favor say they're still in legal limbo.

A Russian law banning adoptions by U.S. citizens was rushed through parliament in December, and sped to President Vladimir Putin's desk in less than 10 days in retaliation over a U.S. law calling for sanctions on Russians identified as human-rights violators.

Tens of thousands of people rallied in central Moscow on Sunday to protest the law, which the demonstrators said victimizes children to make a political point.

All such adoptions must be approved by a Russian court, and U.S. families hoping to adopt 52 children had won such rulings before the ban went into effect. But two of these families have told The Associated Press that authorities in Russia are still refusing to turn over the children.

Children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said Thursday that Russia would honor the court decisions but did not elaborate on the timeline or say what the families should do now. "All the children who have been approved to be adopted will be able to leave for the U.S.," he said.

Astakhov vehemently defended the new law, saying that it would not be revoked "however big the protests are."

Dozens of American families are in legal limbo because of the ban.

Brian and Rebecca Preece and Jeana Bonner, whose adoption of children with Down syndrome had received court approval, have been in Moscow for days, but officials this week refused to turn over children to them, citing the new law.

Astakhov on Thursday blamed local officials for the bureaucratic cul-de-sac that's been created and quoted his conversation with them. "What are you doing?" he said. "You're making a scandal. There are court decisions in place – go and enforce them."

But Brian Preece, who is waiting to adopt a 4-year-old boy, told the AP on Thursday that they have still not received any news from Russian authorities. "They've been quiet to us," he said.

The Russian government says there are 654,000 children without parental custody in Russia and 105,000 of them live in orphanages.

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Comments

[merceisa]

06:04 PM on 01/20/2013

Dear, Russian Citezen
I'm one of the families in the middle of this political nightmare. For you information I'm not buying a kid. I paying for every document to be legalize and translate, medicals expenses here and Russia. It isn't cheap. Also you country is no doing this for free.
If you society is perfect, why my baby girl was rejected 20 times before to offer her to us in adoption.For me she is perfect but not her birth parent. You are trying to believe that this world is perfect but it is not. Ideology is not reality. I was there and I know the situation of my girl and others kid that are waiting to have a family( Russian or American).

[Russian Citizen]

10:11 AM on 01/25/2013

there is no perfect society i this world. And there is no ideology in Russia. It even stays in Constitution. What Ideology do you mean? Who is telling you are buying a kid? There are thousands of people who are very nice and have all rights to adapt a kid. And you are one of them. But as you said, the society is not perfect. And there are a lot of people in USA and in Russia who make huge money on it. it doesn't depend on your nationality, it depends on people and their moral values. In our society money is everything. If we talk about procedures people need to have in order to adapt a child, it's everywhere. In some countries it's even more complicated. Recently Vietnam did the same and commented like: they cannot even see after what is happening with children, because the American side doesn't allow it. This situation concerns a lot of nice people as well, but also a children market. But I don't see any reason to discuss here like communism or ideology or that "russian people will ship their babies". Its ignorant and stupid. And nobody gonna call you a baby buyer. As, I hope, you already understood.

[Russian Citizen]

08:19 PM on 01/18/2013

Dear judges of Russia
you people have no idea what is gong on here. You have never been in this country and make your statements from what you saw and read in media. How pathetic it is to judge a country that you have never visited and to judge people and their life you never experienced. I hope that one day you will analyze that all media come from the same investors with clear purposes: demonizing Russia. It was during the cold war, it's happening after. Get your bottoms up and go traveling. You will see how "poor" and "communist" Russia is. Read more. No, not NYT. Better Brzezinski, John Perkins. You see then how the government of your country participated in the chain of events that brought a lot of countries and the Soviet Union to collapse. The Russian Federation has almost no external debts left and how is the next american generation to survive? 13 blrd debt. Educate yourself before commenting and please don succumb "agenda setting". Lack of culture in Russia)... That was probably the funniest comment I read here). alcohol is the most popular topic on Russia in all american media...) When I lived in the USA (Ohio, California) I had no idea that people drink so much alcohol))) I woud say you are much further than Russians). Dear judges: come to Russia. I or my friend from the USA will give you a tour. Make sure you are not zombied by media.

[KeyserSoze1966]

08:03 AM on 01/18/2013

Here is what happens to adoption when you over regulate it.

Adoption shortage. Vladimir Putin’s decision to prevent Americans from adopting Russian children worsens a shortage of children for adoption. According to the U.S. State Department and reported in USA Today, “Adoptions by Americans from abroad are plummeting to a 20-year low after peaking at nearly 23,000 in 2004.” In 2011, the number of adoptions from abroad fell to 9,319. The number of U.S. kids being adopted is also falling. In 1971, the U.S. had 90,000 infant adoptions. In 2007 that number was less than 20,000. The only good news is that more children are being reunited with their birth parents. But the main reason for the far fewer adoptions is a decrease in the number of Americans wanting to adopt, and the high cost of adopting. The number of children waiting for adoption has fallen 20 percent since 2004, to 104,236, but that’s still five times the number of annual adoptions. Most of these kids are in the country’s (broken) foster care system, and will simply “age out” and start living on their own before being adopted.

[Kat Gloome]

01:04 PM on 01/17/2013

In case no one noticed, Russia has never been a success when it comes to human right (disabled ones especially); orphaned children, or animal rights for that matter.
Has anyone ever wondered why Russia is such a violent, unproductive country? Well because the culture is different where violence & alcoholism are considered the norm. The government does not care for the people. Greed & wealth is the only thing that matters in most cases & it’s quite sad if not one of the saddest things ever.

No one speaks out or act out against the “ruler” as they contain the ultimate power, including taking a life & not being punished for it. So no one dares to speak. Fear is the ultimate silencer.

Until the culture evolves, things will never change & that is something we simply have to accept. Russia had a miss-communication/falling out w/ USA over something dumb I’m sure, & now the orphaned children are being victimized & used to prove a political point; sad. Those children live in horrific conditions & simply want love & attention as any child would & deserves. Being adopted by a family from the USA would be MORE than a dream come true!

[SouthrnPrincess]

01:22 AM on 01/18/2013

Are you from Russia or do you have family there? I'm just interested because of all the points you made. Communism is a terrible form of government to live under and people who try to be cute and say they are socialist or communist or whatever really have absolutely no clue what its like to live in a true communist country. It's an endless cycle of spying on each other and living in fear

[Russian Citizen]

09:05 PM on 01/18/2013

hi SouthrnPrincess, if you want to talk about communism or whatever we could talk about it. but I got a feelin you wont get he information you are used to get). anyway if you are interested I am from Russia and I can answer your questions about the bloody regime or people spying on each other)))). I said that to my mom, she is like LOL).

[Russian Citizen]

07:51 PM on 01/19/2013

)))) When I was in the USA the question was like: oh, u bought this Tshirt in America, its probably so cold in Russia! )))

I come from Krasnodar, its 15 + C , 59+ F right now! Yes, right now)). Russia is not only Siberia (where they have up to 40+ C in summer, and it's not anomaly). In Voronezh, Kursk it's 0 C now. It's 18- C in Moscow, which happens, but last year I was there in winter, it was 0 C. It depends. It's 12- C in Vladivostok and it's 9 - C in Chelyabinsk, 9- C in Ekaterinburg and 10- C in Saint Petersburg TODAY. (In summer its hot in the 'northern capital', like 35 +C). Today t's 10+C in Sochi, 1+ C in Volgograd. I guess its not a big difference to weather in some states of America. Well, its not Cali, but its not something outstanding. Its winter. but if you come in summer the asphalt is melting: its more than 45 in shadow, we prefer staying in house with air conditioning). I personally get tanned just going out for a short time). My friends from Novosibirsk had 30+ C in summer last year. Every year they (as we, in south) have problems with forest fires. It is not hot because of global warming or sth, its just summer, it was always like this).

[Russian Citizen]

08:49 PM on 01/18/2013

This is a very interesting statement about 'unproductive and violent' country, also 'alcoholism is considered to be a norm'. I would rather ask for facts, but probably wont get more than links of other sites with other articles. May I still ask you to point it out?

Thank you

[Kat Gloome]

12:23 PM on 01/23/2013

Why don't you go there and live there for a while and you'll have all the facts you need =)

As for links, take a gander at this recent incident and be the judge of whether on not the people & culture are reasonable, civilized and or logical; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/sergei-filin-attacked_n_2501175.html#slide=more275559

This is simply one of many events that can be statistical. As far as facts go, you can't believe everything you read, but you can get a good idea of what really transpired.

Thank you.

[Kat Gloome]

12:55 PM on 01/23/2013

And judging by your User Name (totally missed that prior to reply) looks like you have lived or are living there. And if by chance your experiences are better than most Russian citizens, power to you. But on thing that cannot be denied is that majority of people are oppressed & would leave if given the chance.

[KDMac]

12:20 PM on 01/17/2013

Time to Adopt American.

[senordee42]

05:30 PM on 01/17/2013

Get a clue, dude, and show some sensitivity to people who have committed to adopting a child from Russia who may have recently had their whole family plans turned upside down. Do you actually KNOW what the process is like to adopt domestically? Are you aware of how difficult it can be, how time consuming it can be, and how heartbreaking it can be because the laws here strongly favor birthparents over adoptive ones? Show some class and save your sarcasm for other topics.

[KDMac]

05:37 PM on 01/17/2013

I've adopted 'domestically' (not my favorite expression, as my son is not a wine or a cat), so yes, I'm very familiar with the process.  You don't necessarily get a white infant, but older and browner kids need forever homes, too.

[KeyserSoze1966]

07:54 AM on 01/18/2013

Feel free. Maybe if you start and lead by example more Americans will get adopted.

[KDMac]

08:22 AM on 01/18/2013

I already have.  We adopted our son when he was four, and he is now nine.

[Historyleansleft]

12:07 PM on 01/17/2013

How about the mail order brides...they still good for shipping?

[Kat Gloome]

03:36 PM on 01/17/2013

That will always be "good for shipping" in RU & other countries that have the mail-order brides system.

[Kat Gloome]

12:42 PM on 01/23/2013

What I meant to say is, as long as there is a demand, there will always be a supply.

[jannas2cents]

11:29 AM on 01/17/2013

This demonstration is almost unprecedented in Russia. Who would think so many Russians would dare to protest against Putin, one of the most powerful men on the planet, and he's not one to forgive those who disagree with him. Such a protest means there are many Russians who want to see these orphaned children adopted into homes where they'll be loved and cared for. I'm at a loss to explain why 19 of the 60,000 Russian orphans adopted by Americans have died or the circumstances of their deaths, but I would like to know what happened.

[KeyserSoze1966]

12:03 PM on 01/17/2013

Let me explain to you why 19 children died out of 60,000.

Because no process is perfect.

The infant mortality rate (kids that die under the age of 5) is 7.6 deaths per 1000. The infant mortality rare in Russia is 12 deaths per 1000.

These deaths are from health issues and accidents and children being murdered.

The "adoption regulatory advocates" (adoption haters) comments on the 19 deaths are devoid of reality.

I really wish we lived on a planet where children were not abused nor neglected nor died. But that planet doesn't exist. And to expect it to exist is having an expectation that is devoid of reality.

[jannas2cents]

04:47 PM on 01/18/2013

If 19 out of 60,000 children living with their "natural" parents had died of illness, accidents or some other cause, it would no doubt go unnoticed. But if some Russian official was ordered to retaliate against the US for our charges of Russia's poor record of human rights violations, I suppose this was a way of retaliating. I suspect these adoption rights will be restored if diplomatic relations with Russia can be improved. Given that's it's certainly in the best interests of the US to maintain friendly, diplomatic relations with Russia rather than having this country as an enemy, it wasn't exactly diplomatic to publicly criticise and accuse them of these human rights violations, espcially given what the US is doing in Guantanamo and in other secret US prisons in eastern Europe. Let's hope for the sake of these orphaned children that adoption rights can be restored DIPLOMATICALLY without further US accusations of any wrongdoing in Russia. Our two countries must agree to disagree in order to have some semblance of world peace.

[ima062002]

12:35 PM on 01/17/2013

Like people here. Not all are psychopaths. They are ill prepared, especially for children with issues, have unrealistic expectations, are overwhelmed and lack the ability to find help (either because they are not aware that they need it or they can't afford it).

I met a mother of Russian twins, about five years old at a children's play space once. She yelled at the kids and seemed close to a nervous breakdown. We got talking (after I said to her "it ain't easy hu?" to show some compassion) and was surprised and saddened when I learned she was in this state because she figured that after 3 months in the US these kids should be well adjusted and speak more English!!! I urged her to get in contact with an adoption support group (I incidentally had helped a local one with their website) and tried to reassure her that their behavior was - while annoying - normal. I always wondered what happened to them.

[gotclue]

10:37 AM on 01/17/2013

Russians do not have any shame. They would rather ship their babies than confront their government and demand to reform their abysmal child care system. This is part of their mentality:we know it is wrong but we'd rather sit and drink vodka than mess with our government.

[jannas2cents]

11:32 AM on 01/17/2013

It's a dangerous thing to mess with the Russian government, and especially so with Putin. A female rock group of girls in their 20's made the mistake of mocking him in their act and have been imprisoned for it.

[KeyserSoze1966]

07:56 AM on 01/18/2013

Magnitsky's fate was worse.

[Russian Citizen]

09:12 PM on 01/18/2013

wow, I have just learn about my mentality and about sitting and drinking vodka. Oh, mom, why didn't you ship me to the USA? Sir/Madam Gotclue says its part of your mentality! Thank you oh, profound reader of Huffingtonpost. This gonna be a joke at work on Monday).