Monday, March 30, 2009
Paperwork Problems Unmasked
Okay, my agency has finally spoke with our attorney in Russia and we have unmasked the problem. Russian children that are placed for adoption must be listed to two databases for nine months. One is a regional list (this would be like a state list for us) and the other is a national list centered in Moscow. This serves two purposes. One is help make sure no child trafficking is taking place and none of these children have been kidnapped. The second is to allow only Russians access to these children during this time. Well, somehow when our girl's paperwork was getting passed back and forth, Moscow listed her release date wrong. Not knowing this, our region went ahead and sent her referral info. to us as they have her release date as last December. (Which is correct beacuse she has been in state care since birth.) Well, now Moscow is refusing to correct the problem and says we can have her release paper in May. So, as of right now, we are expecting to travel in June. Our agency offered to find us another referral, but how do you stare at this little girl's picture for three months then just dump her? Also, I am not in this just to bring home some random kid as fast as possible. If she is meant to be ours, I will wait for her. So, we get to go to Russia during the most expensive time of the year. I am already looking for apartments, as hotels can run as high as $850 a night before taxes and fees and we obviously can't afford that! Our agency is currently trying to get some updated photos of our girl for us. They say it can take awhile, but I will let you know the minute I have them! Thanks again for your prayers. (I would keep at it, because after politics the posts can only go down hill from there!)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
DUMA: How A Bill Becomes a Law...Russian Style
Well, it has been almost a week since my last post and I still have no new adoption news. SOOOOO...Yep, you guessed it...another lesson on Russia. With a lot of unofficial talk of changing the way adoptions are processed in Russia, I wondered how long would it take for them to make drastic changes to their laws. Well, here is the answer...
Duma: How a Bill Becomes a Law...Russian Style
To help give a better understanding of how a foreign government works and to clear up some of the rumors related to the DUMA (Russian Parliament), we have put together this piece on how a Russian bill becomes a law.
A bill is introduced into either the Lower or Upper houses of the DUMA. For this example, assume it is the Lower house.
Every member of the DUMA is required to receive a copy of the proposal for review. A vote is taken as to whether or not the proposal warrants consideration. A "No" vote ends the discussion.
A "Yes" vote means that after a comments period (usually a minimum of 10 days), there will be a second round of discussions and a vote. The comments period is for DUMA members to do some fact finding and gather opinions.
If the second round of discussions results in a "No" vote, the discussion ends. If a "yes" vote is reached, then another waiting period begins. This time is used to examine the logistics of implementing the new bill and gathering further comments. At the end of this time period, the bill is presented for a third and final vote. Again, a "no" vote ends the discussion. A "yes" vote sends the passed bill to the Upper House.
Similar protocols take place in the Upper House. A "no" vote ends the discussion. A "yes" vote keeps things moving. Any bill passing both houses of the DUMA goes to the President’s desk for signing.
The President may sign the bill into law. The President may also veto the bill by refusing to sign. Should a veto occur, the bill is sent back to the Lower House of the DUMA. There the bill may be reworked to address the President’s concerns or a vote maybe taken to override the Presidential veto.
None of this should sound unfamiliar to those living in the United States. As you can see, nothing will happen overnight. It would be highly unusual that any bill effecting adoption would magically appear without warning. If you hear rumors or read discussions, the best thing to do is to contact your agency or FRUA. We will share what we learn.
See, I have already moved to lessons on politics...I told you to keep praying for us!
Duma: How a Bill Becomes a Law...Russian Style
To help give a better understanding of how a foreign government works and to clear up some of the rumors related to the DUMA (Russian Parliament), we have put together this piece on how a Russian bill becomes a law.
A bill is introduced into either the Lower or Upper houses of the DUMA. For this example, assume it is the Lower house.
Every member of the DUMA is required to receive a copy of the proposal for review. A vote is taken as to whether or not the proposal warrants consideration. A "No" vote ends the discussion.
A "Yes" vote means that after a comments period (usually a minimum of 10 days), there will be a second round of discussions and a vote. The comments period is for DUMA members to do some fact finding and gather opinions.
If the second round of discussions results in a "No" vote, the discussion ends. If a "yes" vote is reached, then another waiting period begins. This time is used to examine the logistics of implementing the new bill and gathering further comments. At the end of this time period, the bill is presented for a third and final vote. Again, a "no" vote ends the discussion. A "yes" vote sends the passed bill to the Upper House.
Similar protocols take place in the Upper House. A "no" vote ends the discussion. A "yes" vote keeps things moving. Any bill passing both houses of the DUMA goes to the President’s desk for signing.
The President may sign the bill into law. The President may also veto the bill by refusing to sign. Should a veto occur, the bill is sent back to the Lower House of the DUMA. There the bill may be reworked to address the President’s concerns or a vote maybe taken to override the Presidential veto.
None of this should sound unfamiliar to those living in the United States. As you can see, nothing will happen overnight. It would be highly unusual that any bill effecting adoption would magically appear without warning. If you hear rumors or read discussions, the best thing to do is to contact your agency or FRUA. We will share what we learn.
See, I have already moved to lessons on politics...I told you to keep praying for us!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Adopting from Russia
Here is the article form Adoptive Families that I was telling you to read.
Adopting from Russia
What's it like to adopt from Russia, and what changes may lie ahead? AF spoke with experts in the field. BY EVE GILMAN
Since Russia formalized an international adoption program in 1991, more than 50,000 children have found families in the U.S. The program ran smoothly through 2004, when Americans adopted an all-time high of 5,862 children from Russia. Although Russia remains one of the most viable programs, numbers have declined in recent years, to just 1,857 adoption in 2008.
The process calls for a high degree of motivation on the parents' part. Families must travel to Russia at least twice (it's becoming more common for parents to travel three times), and paperwork requirements can vary on a case-by-case basis. "Adopting from Russia is not like adopting from China, where you send in your dossier and that's it." says Kim Bernstein, manager of the Russia program for Wide Horizons for Children , in Waltham, Massachusetts. "In most regions of Russia, you continually update your paperwork until your child comes home." Judy Strigger, director of international adoption for The Cradle, in Evanston, Illinois, adds, "The program is very stable from an overall perspective, but in the day-to-day minutia, it's highly variable."
Russia's Orphans
Nearly 750,000 children in Russia are classified as orphans, though, as Berstein points out, "the vast majority still have legal connections to their birth families." And more of the children who are legally freed for adoption are staying in Russia as a direct result of the government's efforts to encourage domestic adoption, including a public relations campaign to debunk adoption myths and financial subsidies to Russian adoptive and foster families. The efforts have been successful on a large scale. "Last year, for the first time, more children were adopted by Russian citizens than by families in other countries," notes Tome DiFilipo, president and CEO of the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS). "I think that's a good thing for children."
Age and Health of Children
No one would dispute the idea that children finding homes in their country of birth is positive, but it changes the face of intercountry adoptions. "For families here, the big deal is that the number of kids available for adoption is decreasing. And the youngest, healthiest kids are being adopted in Russia," says Strigger.
"In the last year, we have seen a dramatic change in the health of the children who are available for adoption in Russia," adds Bernstein. "I don't think it would be an overstatement to say that nearly all of the kids have at least moderate health risks, beyond the standard delay in growth and development that we used to see."
Agencies are also seeing a change in the age and gender of children available for adoption. The agencies AF spoke with allow parents only to request a child younger than 18 months. Agencies are also less willing to permit families to specify gender. "We tell families that, the more preferences you have, the longer you'll wait," says Alla Goncharova, Russia program director for Adoption Associates, in Jenison, Michigan. Boys age three and older are most in need of adoption.
Parent Requirements
Married couples and single women can adopt from Russia. Russian law doesn't specifically prohibit single men, but few, if any, regions will approve them to adopt. Most agencies set eligibility limits regarding parents' ages based on the preferences of adoption officials in the regions they work in.
Social workers commonly indicate that a family "can parent a child with minor, correctable problems" in the homestudy. But Goncharova points out that a child may have undetected psychological or health complications. "We have to make sure the family can handle unpredictable problems" she says. When medical information is available, Stigger says that is must be taken with a grain of salt. "Some of what we worry about, like alcohol exposure, might not be on record because a mother's alcoholism isn't always known," she says. Medical terms are also used differently in the U.S. and Russia-or even in different regions of Russia.
Such concerns have led adoption professionals to call for a more careful approach to homestudies. The change is already underway. "JCICS is working with the U.S. government to develop specific homestudy language to indicate that parents are appropriately educated and prepared for any physical or mental health issues the child may have," says DiFilipo.
As part of the homestudy, adoption agencies must also verify the parents' fitness to raise a child. "Russia has gotten much more restrictive on health and mental history and criminal records," says Bernstein. She advises people with questions about their backgrounds to discuss the specifics with an agency. For years, adoption professionals have speculated that Russia will begin mandating psychological testing for prospective parents. Though several regions and adoption agencies require such testing, it's not yet stipulated by Russian law. Talk about closer scrutiny of parents was renewed in late 2008, after Miles Harrison, a father who caused the death of the toddler he'd recently adopted from Russia, was acquitted of charges. At the time this issue went to press, no one could predict what stricter guidelines might entail.
The Adoption Process
After turning in a dossier, families receive an "invitation to travel" and meet a child. If a married couple is adopting, both parents must make the trip. Russian law prohibits parents from receiving any identifying information about the child they are referred, so many parent travel "blind".
At the orphanage, parents are allowed to take photos and videos of the child, and ask questions. "We encourage our families to hire bilingual pediatricians in Russia to assist with a medical evaluation," says Goncharova.
Families generally wait two to five months to make a second trip, for their court date. It's hardly an idle wait, as most parents must gather additional information to present to the judge. The paperwork can be extensive, ranging from updating their homestudy based on the child's medical condition to submitting new documents.
Both parents must travel to appear in court and officially gain parental rights to the child. Russian law prescribes a 10-day waiting period after the court date before the new family can leave the country. Historically, nearly all judges waived this waiting period, but this is now very rare. The agencies AF spoke with noted that most of their families chose to fly home and make a third trip, due to the high expense of staying in Russia for those 10 days. (Moscow is currently one of the most expensive cities in world to visit, and families should figure $10,000 to $25,000 in travel expenses into a total adoption budget of about $40,000 to $55,000.) Only one parent needs to return for the third trip.
Every family must conclude their adoption journey in Moscow, to obtain the child's visa. U.S. Consular Affairs previously issued visas in two business days, but in March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services took over the procedure. At press time, it was unclear whether the timeline for the final step would lengthen.
The Russian adoption process depends heavily on the region the child is coming from. Some regions have been known to provide photos or brief medical backgrounds before the family's first trip. Some ask for excessive paperwork updates before the court date, others require one parent to remain in country for the 10-day waiting period. These variations, says DiFilipo, highlight why "it's critical that prospective parents utilize a service provider who is very familiar with the laws and procedures of the regions they work in."
Focus on Post-Adoption
Children adopted from Russia retain their birth country citizenship until age 18, and must be registered in the U.S. with the Russian embassy. Russia requires post-placement reports from adoptive families for three years after the child comes home.
In general, Russia has been looking more closely at post-placement. In the past decade, at least 15 Russian adoptees have died in the care of their new families in the U.S., and each case received media attention throughout Russia. Concharova notes a pattern-all of these tragic deaths took place less than a year after the child came home-that seems to call for better support for families through the transition, in addition to tighter screening of the parents' mental health.
Differences in Russian and American culture also cause friction. Stigger says that the not-guilty verdict in the Harrison case was confusing to Russians because their legal system doesn't allow for acquittal when something has clearly gone wrong. Attitudes toward child care also differ. "In Russia, it is normal for a new mother to take at least one year of leave, and the law provides for that. But in the U.S., most women take just two to three months. It's difficult for Russian to understand this," says Goncharova.
Aside from the expected tightening of parent and agency requirements, experts don't see dramatic changes on the horizon. DiFilipo says, "Our assessment is that Russia will continue to be a viable option-not for parents, but for children to find homes through international adoption." EVE GILMAN is the editor of Adoptive Families.
For more international updates visit adoptivefamilies.com/internationaladoption.
Adopting from Russia
What's it like to adopt from Russia, and what changes may lie ahead? AF spoke with experts in the field. BY EVE GILMAN
Since Russia formalized an international adoption program in 1991, more than 50,000 children have found families in the U.S. The program ran smoothly through 2004, when Americans adopted an all-time high of 5,862 children from Russia. Although Russia remains one of the most viable programs, numbers have declined in recent years, to just 1,857 adoption in 2008.
The process calls for a high degree of motivation on the parents' part. Families must travel to Russia at least twice (it's becoming more common for parents to travel three times), and paperwork requirements can vary on a case-by-case basis. "Adopting from Russia is not like adopting from China, where you send in your dossier and that's it." says Kim Bernstein, manager of the Russia program for Wide Horizons for Children , in Waltham, Massachusetts. "In most regions of Russia, you continually update your paperwork until your child comes home." Judy Strigger, director of international adoption for The Cradle, in Evanston, Illinois, adds, "The program is very stable from an overall perspective, but in the day-to-day minutia, it's highly variable."
Russia's Orphans
Nearly 750,000 children in Russia are classified as orphans, though, as Berstein points out, "the vast majority still have legal connections to their birth families." And more of the children who are legally freed for adoption are staying in Russia as a direct result of the government's efforts to encourage domestic adoption, including a public relations campaign to debunk adoption myths and financial subsidies to Russian adoptive and foster families. The efforts have been successful on a large scale. "Last year, for the first time, more children were adopted by Russian citizens than by families in other countries," notes Tome DiFilipo, president and CEO of the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS). "I think that's a good thing for children."
Age and Health of Children
No one would dispute the idea that children finding homes in their country of birth is positive, but it changes the face of intercountry adoptions. "For families here, the big deal is that the number of kids available for adoption is decreasing. And the youngest, healthiest kids are being adopted in Russia," says Strigger.
"In the last year, we have seen a dramatic change in the health of the children who are available for adoption in Russia," adds Bernstein. "I don't think it would be an overstatement to say that nearly all of the kids have at least moderate health risks, beyond the standard delay in growth and development that we used to see."
Agencies are also seeing a change in the age and gender of children available for adoption. The agencies AF spoke with allow parents only to request a child younger than 18 months. Agencies are also less willing to permit families to specify gender. "We tell families that, the more preferences you have, the longer you'll wait," says Alla Goncharova, Russia program director for Adoption Associates, in Jenison, Michigan. Boys age three and older are most in need of adoption.
Parent Requirements
Married couples and single women can adopt from Russia. Russian law doesn't specifically prohibit single men, but few, if any, regions will approve them to adopt. Most agencies set eligibility limits regarding parents' ages based on the preferences of adoption officials in the regions they work in.
Social workers commonly indicate that a family "can parent a child with minor, correctable problems" in the homestudy. But Goncharova points out that a child may have undetected psychological or health complications. "We have to make sure the family can handle unpredictable problems" she says. When medical information is available, Stigger says that is must be taken with a grain of salt. "Some of what we worry about, like alcohol exposure, might not be on record because a mother's alcoholism isn't always known," she says. Medical terms are also used differently in the U.S. and Russia-or even in different regions of Russia.
Such concerns have led adoption professionals to call for a more careful approach to homestudies. The change is already underway. "JCICS is working with the U.S. government to develop specific homestudy language to indicate that parents are appropriately educated and prepared for any physical or mental health issues the child may have," says DiFilipo.
As part of the homestudy, adoption agencies must also verify the parents' fitness to raise a child. "Russia has gotten much more restrictive on health and mental history and criminal records," says Bernstein. She advises people with questions about their backgrounds to discuss the specifics with an agency. For years, adoption professionals have speculated that Russia will begin mandating psychological testing for prospective parents. Though several regions and adoption agencies require such testing, it's not yet stipulated by Russian law. Talk about closer scrutiny of parents was renewed in late 2008, after Miles Harrison, a father who caused the death of the toddler he'd recently adopted from Russia, was acquitted of charges. At the time this issue went to press, no one could predict what stricter guidelines might entail.
The Adoption Process
After turning in a dossier, families receive an "invitation to travel" and meet a child. If a married couple is adopting, both parents must make the trip. Russian law prohibits parents from receiving any identifying information about the child they are referred, so many parent travel "blind".
At the orphanage, parents are allowed to take photos and videos of the child, and ask questions. "We encourage our families to hire bilingual pediatricians in Russia to assist with a medical evaluation," says Goncharova.
Families generally wait two to five months to make a second trip, for their court date. It's hardly an idle wait, as most parents must gather additional information to present to the judge. The paperwork can be extensive, ranging from updating their homestudy based on the child's medical condition to submitting new documents.
Both parents must travel to appear in court and officially gain parental rights to the child. Russian law prescribes a 10-day waiting period after the court date before the new family can leave the country. Historically, nearly all judges waived this waiting period, but this is now very rare. The agencies AF spoke with noted that most of their families chose to fly home and make a third trip, due to the high expense of staying in Russia for those 10 days. (Moscow is currently one of the most expensive cities in world to visit, and families should figure $10,000 to $25,000 in travel expenses into a total adoption budget of about $40,000 to $55,000.) Only one parent needs to return for the third trip.
Every family must conclude their adoption journey in Moscow, to obtain the child's visa. U.S. Consular Affairs previously issued visas in two business days, but in March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services took over the procedure. At press time, it was unclear whether the timeline for the final step would lengthen.
The Russian adoption process depends heavily on the region the child is coming from. Some regions have been known to provide photos or brief medical backgrounds before the family's first trip. Some ask for excessive paperwork updates before the court date, others require one parent to remain in country for the 10-day waiting period. These variations, says DiFilipo, highlight why "it's critical that prospective parents utilize a service provider who is very familiar with the laws and procedures of the regions they work in."
Focus on Post-Adoption
Children adopted from Russia retain their birth country citizenship until age 18, and must be registered in the U.S. with the Russian embassy. Russia requires post-placement reports from adoptive families for three years after the child comes home.
In general, Russia has been looking more closely at post-placement. In the past decade, at least 15 Russian adoptees have died in the care of their new families in the U.S., and each case received media attention throughout Russia. Concharova notes a pattern-all of these tragic deaths took place less than a year after the child came home-that seems to call for better support for families through the transition, in addition to tighter screening of the parents' mental health.
Differences in Russian and American culture also cause friction. Stigger says that the not-guilty verdict in the Harrison case was confusing to Russians because their legal system doesn't allow for acquittal when something has clearly gone wrong. Attitudes toward child care also differ. "In Russia, it is normal for a new mother to take at least one year of leave, and the law provides for that. But in the U.S., most women take just two to three months. It's difficult for Russian to understand this," says Goncharova.
Aside from the expected tightening of parent and agency requirements, experts don't see dramatic changes on the horizon. DiFilipo says, "Our assessment is that Russia will continue to be a viable option-not for parents, but for children to find homes through international adoption." EVE GILMAN is the editor of Adoptive Families.
For more international updates visit adoptivefamilies.com/internationaladoption.
Finally, Word From Russia
We have finally heard back from our agency regarding what the hold up is in Russia. Apparently, they are waiting for the "officials" (whoever that is) to produce some document that is necessary for foreigners to adopt our girl. Right now they seem to think it will take until the end of May to have everything in order, but are trying to get more info. from the regional officials for us. Hopefully, they will have a better idea for us sometime next week. I will let you know if I hear something next week...I'm not holding my breath!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
A Must Read
I just read a great article in Adoptive Families Magazine titled "Adopting from Russia" and I felt it would be great for everyone I know to read it too. This is one of the most current and accurate articles on Russian Adoptions I have read. Everyone keeps asking me for details on how everything works and this is it. I will try to find a way to post this article or at least a link to it, but in the meantime try to pick up an April Issue of Adoptive Families and check it out. (If you live close, you may borrow mine.)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
I called my agency...
...and asked them if they could at least give me an estimate on how much longer we could expect to wait. We have been waiting for 10 weeks now. They are contacting our coordinator in Russia as I write this and should have an answer for me by early next week. (I know that sounds like a long time, but St. Pete is eight hours ahead of us so communication is not the best.) I will let you know more as soon as I do. You had better pray hard for us because I am once again running out of things to post, so it is time for another Russian History lesson...
Also, as a quick reminder for those of you that recently accepted the invitation to read our blog...Do not share any of this information with ANYONE until our daughter is home. (See post titled "Going Private.") Thank You!!!
Also, as a quick reminder for those of you that recently accepted the invitation to read our blog...Do not share any of this information with ANYONE until our daughter is home. (See post titled "Going Private.") Thank You!!!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Still Nothing
Well, now we are at nine weeks and counting and still nothing! Oh, how I hope and pray it will be soon!!! As you know she was born in March, so I am really hoping we get to be there with her for her first birthday. Oh, I don't know how so many parents have done this before me. The wait is just awful. Her picture is hanging beside me, staring at me. Her little eyes are begging me to come and get her! I know I will be fine, but she is laying in some orphanage, bored out of her mind and I am still waiting to even visit her...it's just not fair. Please pray for us as this journey seems to drag on and on. Pray for ALL of the orphans laying in orphanages bored out of there minds waiting on someone to come and get them. Pray that more families would answer the call to welcome these children into their homes.
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