Do you know this?

There are approximately 18000 parents registered with CARA, while the number of children in the Government's adoption pool is less 1800.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Possible fallout after the adopted Russian boy's abandonment

As hard as it is to hear about a 7 year old Russian boy being abandoned for no mistake of his, it is not very comforting to see petitions circulating (and media being bombarded) to say that there are so many successful adoptions from Russia. It may be the fact but it is ill timed. Life itself is like that – One bad apple can spoil the entire basket.

I read reports saying that the adoptive mother (who sent the child back to Russia) may not have broken any US laws. How sad is that? Here is a child who has been adopted from Russia and I am assuming that the child became an American citizen (if he didn’t, then there’s another question to answer as to why wasn’t the child being given an American citizenship?). If so, how is that the authorities are saying that the adoptive mother may not have broken any US laws? If so, can we blame the Russians for considering halting their inter-country adoptions?

If abandoning an adoptive child doesn’t amount to violation of any US laws, I can say for sure that every country will be within their right to reconsider their inter-country adoption policies to the United States. Petitions to suggest that there are so many successful adoptions seem to smack in the face of this abuse to ignore it as an 'aberration'.

What is needed now is to ensure that this little boy receives justice and then review US policies on inter-country adoptions in regard to abandonment. If it is true that adoptive parents cannot be held accountable for abandoning their adoptive children, then there’s a major challenge for every stake holder of adoption to deal with.

US is a signatory to Hague convention on inter-country adoptions. Article 5( c ) states this: HAVE DETERMINED THAT THE CHILD IS OR WILL BE AUTHORIZED TO ENTER AND RESIDE PERMANENTLY IN THAT STATE. If need be, laws need to be amended to ensure that the adopted child to the US receives the same and equal rights just like any biological children.

I read quite often (on online lists) that there are so many Americans wishing laws being amended in other countries. Now the world will be watching how the Americans will respond to this crisis before they make their next move. Ball is in the US court.

1 comment:

Lynda said...

Something went horribly wrong. No child deserves to be sent back to an orphanage, ever. There are many other ways to deal with problems that can arise. I have not had time to read through all the articles to get the full story of this case, but at one point I read that a child adopted from Russian has citizenship with both Russia and the US. Maybe in some bizarre way the mother thought the child would be ok going back as he still had citizenship there also. Could the citizenship issue make it legal for the parent to do this? Was it also legal on the Russian side? I really don’t know. It would be strange as he would still be a minor. In no way am I saying this was the right thing to do.
Changes need to be made so this doesn't happen again.

It is very very sad that this happened, but would be even sadder if it turned adoption into a closed door for other children, as they are the main victims then who wait for parents who may never arrive.
I personally hope other countries will show mercy (in spite of those who do wrong) to those who would like a chance to give a loving home and a chance to love a child unconditionally.