The Duma

All,

Just wanted to inform you of a major answer to prayer. The duma turned down the amendment to impose a temporary moratorium on the adoption of Russian children from America. Praise God!

The next significant event connected to our adoption is The Council on Accreditation meeting on Thursday, September 15. They will decide which agencies will be reaccredited to move forward with processing international adoptions. Two of the umbrella agencies that our agency works under are expectantly waiting for the decisions which will be made by this council. Please pray for these meetings on the 15th.

Thank you so much for walking with us!

Love,

John and Beth

State Duma tells government to protect children adopted by foreigners

09/09/2005 15:53

MOSCOW, September 9 (RIA Novosti) - The government must take measures to protect Russian children adopted by foreigners, Russia's lower chamber of parliament said in a statement Friday.

"Parental violence against adopted children has become more frequent," the State Dua's statement said.

In the United States, 13 adopted Russian children have died from parental violence, including an 8-year-old boy who died of starvation in August.

The deputies expressed their concern that they learn about these facts only from press reports.

"Other instances of physical or psychological violence against Russian children, citizens of Russia, could be unknown," the deputies said.

The State Duma is also concerned over the fate of about 64,000 Russian children adopted by foreigners and living outside Russia. The deputies say the adoption process is becoming increasingly commercial and criminal.

They are asking the government to ensure that orphaned children be placed in Russian families as a priority.

The State Duma turned down an amendment by Deputy Nina Ostanina from the KPRF faction to impose a temporary moratorium on the adoption of Russian children by the citizens of those countries where Russian children died at the hands of their adoptive parents.

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Paperwork part two

All,

We trust this email reaches you in good spirits and you are doing well. We are just nearing the completion of our second round of paperwork for the adoption. It should complete the court documents that will be presented when we arrive to adopt the boys. We have told many of you of the political climate in Russia, and some we have missed. We will try to recap the basics here.

It has been reported that at least 13 adopted Russia children have been killed in the US by their adoptive parents. The three most recent cases (IL, NC, and MD) have been publicized widely within Russia. This has cause a political outrage towards Americans adopting russian children. Controversy flow in Russia over the issue but fundamentally there are other forces at work that may not be in the best interest of the children. One senior Duma lawmaker called for a moratorium on US citizens adopting children in Russia.

The Ministry of Education (the group who oversees adoption) made a statement against the moratorium but for law changes regarding independent adoption and home study content. Recent reports indicate that a desire to place a moratorium on independent adoptions and to insist that "bilateral agreements on inter-state cooperation regarding child adoption would be the most effective instrument of protection for Russian children adopted by foreigners." We interpret this to imply a desire for an international treaty.

This option would effectively create a moratorium on US adoptions in Russia because the US has already signed into law the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, the US implementation of the Hague Convention on International Adoption. "The United States has signed the Hague Convention but has not yet ratified. Ratification will occur when the instruments of ratification are deposited at the Hague." It is unlikely that another treaty would be signed.

So again we are at the point of total helplessness. So we are asking you to cover this situation in prayer. Specifically, the draft parliamentary inquiry will be review at a session of the Duma on September 9.

Please pray that
wisdom and discernment would prevail on the part of the Russia leaders
the bilateral agreement would be dropped from the draft
the lawmakers would act in the best interest of the Russia children
the gates of adoption would open wide for those waiting for children from Russia
those working on our behalf in Russia would be protected
our paperwork would be complete and nothing else would be asked for
we could complete our adoption before year end
we would have peace throughout the process

We love you all and thank you for walking with us during this journey.

John and Beth

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