Russian Adoptions Halted

My thoughts go out to the folks on pins and needles waiting to bring home their children as well as the kids in orphanages waiting to be brought out. Amy K, NJ

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]NCFA Confirms Russian Adoptions Rumor is FALSE: Adoptions ARE still being processed by the Russian Ministry of Education UPDATED 11:36am NCFA has confirmed with officials from the U.S. Department of State that the rumor of a suspension of intercountry adoptions from Russia to the U.S. is currently false. Intercountry adoptions are still being processed by the Russian Ministry of Education until further notice. We will announce further details as they become available.[/FONT]

Message from the U.S. Embassy Moscow Adoptions Unit We recognize that many prospective adoptive parents are concerned about the recent news reports citing a potential hold on adoptions of Russian children by American families. Please be advised that U.S. Embassy processing of I-600 Orphan Petitions and U.S. Immigrant Visas for adoption cases is continuing as usual. Russia has suspended the license of an individual adoption agency, but has not taken any broader action. We will update this website if any changes occur. If you have further questions or concerns, please email the U.S. Embassy adoptions unit at MoscowConsularR@state.gov.

Another Guatemala AP here just hopping over to let you know that all families are in my prayers. Don't lose hope - hopefully this meeting between the US and Russia will benefit all children and families and bring a quick resolution to this situation! Sending you all great big (((HUGS)))):grouphug:

I just got off the phone with my agency, and they confirmed that Russian adoptions are NOT halted at this time. And even if they do come to the decission to halt US adoptions the families in process would still be able to finish their adoptions and bring their children home. The report saying Russian adoptions were halted was not given by the ministry of education (they are the only people that can officially halt adoptions in Russia). This information was given to me directly from our agency!

Glad to hear things are not as dire as first reported. Best of luck to all of you that are waiting to bring your children home! Tracey

April 16, 2010 Adoption Notice U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs Office of Childrens Issues ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- The Department of State has received no information to confirm a suspension of adoptions from Russia to the United States. Our Embassy in Moscow and other Department of State officials are talking with Russian officials to clarify this issue. The Department of State is sending a high-level inter-agency team to Russia this weekend to meet with senior Russian officials, including officials from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Justice. The U.S. delegation will emphasize the importance of this issue to the United States, and will discuss our mutual concerns about how to better protect the welfare and rights of children and all parties involved in intercountry adoptions. Many thousands of Russian children have found loving, safe and permanent homes in the United States through intercountry adoption. Families in the United States have adopted more than 50,000 children from Russia. If you have completed an adoption in Russia and have an immigrant visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow: The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is continuing to schedule and issue immigrant visas for adopted children using normal processing procedures. Contact the Embassy at MoscowConsularR@state.gov to schedule an appointment. Please also stay in close touch with your adoption service provider. If you have a court appointment to finalize your childҒs adoption in Russia: Many adoption cases are continuing to move forward in the courts. We have heard of cases in which a court appointment has been postponed. If your court appointment is postponed by the court, please provide this information to us by email atRussiaAdoption@state.gov and MoscowConsularR@state.gov. We will work with the Russian authorities to try to resolve any problems. If you do not have a court date yet to finalize an adoption in Russia, but are in the process of adopting from Russia: Please stay in close contact with your adoption service provider, and check the adoption.state.gov website regularly for current information about intercountry adoption from Russia. The Department of States Office of ChildrenҒs Issues has established a special e-mail box for inquiries or comments about adoptions from Russia. Prospective adoptive parents with concerns about adoptions from Russia may send their questions to RussiaAdoption@state.gov.

To reiterate what a couple of other people have stated: There is NOT a halt on adoptions of Russian children by Americans. NOT a halt. Despite what all the major news outlets are reporting (and it seems that only ABC has retracted its story and corrected itself) it is NOT TRUE that adoptions have been suspended. Here's the confusion: A Russian Foreign Ministry Official declared that adoptions were halted and the news outlets ran with it. It is actually the Ministry of Science and Education (different entity) that makes decisions about whether or not adoptions are frozen. They have not declared them frozen. So they are not. Not yet. There is hope. I am one of those waiting to go to Russia in the very near future and I finally realized that I must listen to my adoption agency coordinator ONLY instead of TV and internet news. My coordinator is in direct contact with people who know what's really going on. Much more information will be available after the US State Dept meets with the Ministry of Education and Science on Tuesday, April 20. As of now, I am proceeding normally and getting ready for my trip. I urge all people in my same situation to not listen to the news. Trust your adoption agency. The news this past weekend and early this week about Russian adoption caused me to be a complete nervous wreck. I don't watch it, search it or listen to it anymore. I don't feel great but I feel calmer. Fellow families: We will get through this. We have to for the sake of our children. :grouphug: AGAIN: AT THIS POINT IN TIME, FRIDAY APRIL 16 AT 5 PM ADOPTIONS OF RUSSIAN CHILDREN BY AMERICANS ARE NOT FROZEN. DO NOT BELIEVE THE MEDIA.

Yes, I fear that it is true that adoptions have been shut down. We talked to our agency and they said that they are taking it day to day. There will be a meeting of U.S. State Dept officials and Russian officials early this week. No matter where parents are in the adoptive process, they can advocate. Here is information about that: [url=http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2904218/adopting_a_child_from_russia_latest.html]Adopting a Child from Russia? Latest Updates and Contact Info - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com[/url] or at this blog: [url=http://bookingalong.blogspot.com/2010/04/russian-adoption-updates-info-about.html]Associated Content and Other Writing: Russian adoption updates, info about closed adoptions[/url]

Please read my post because it has direct links to press briefings from the U.S. State Department where the press secretary has stated that there have been accounts of delays in the adoption process. There is to be a meeting early this week. As a parent who adopted from another country (Romania) I know how quickly adoptions can come to a halt. We got our child out only 10 days before they shut down for good.

AngelKisses reply is absolutely accurate. We talked to our adoption agency and they are asking those who want to adopt from Russia to consider a different country. Why? Because no one knows what the outcome of this will be and there are ongoing meetings. We still do not understand why they shut down adoptions in Romania (and they are still closed) but similar rumors were swirling before we got our son out. This situation is not yet resolved!

I read somewhere that this meeting between US and Russians officials has been postponed due to the volcanic ash closing air routes but can't seem to find an update.

My two cents, which is worth just that.. two cents, is that what we are seeing now is a lot of politics. There is understandably a large Russian public (and American as well as we too are upset over the TN situation) outcry, but I suspect that now the Russian government is going to leverage this to try and get a favorable adoption agreement. Who knows what thatll look like; IҒve seen all sorts of speculation but nothing definitive from a reliable source. Right now [url=http://www.adoption.state.gov]Welcome to Adoption.State.Gov[/url] says Russian adoptions are open. Similarly, the following was posted on the US Embassy in Moscows website: Message from the U.S. Embassy Moscow Adoptions Unit

We recognize that many prospective adoptive parents are concerned about the recent news reports citing a potential hold on adoptions of Russian children by American families. Please be advised that U.S. Embassy processing of I-600 Orphan Petitions and U.S. Immigrant Visas for adoption cases is continuing as usual. Russia has suspended the license of an individual adoption agency, but has not taken any broader action. We will update this website if any changes occur.

To all parents waiting....keep up your hope. I got stuck in 2006 during our second adoption. The unknown is so hard to deal with. Take each day one day at a time!

Having gone through an international adoption where we got our son out just 10 days before they closed for good, anything is possible. I urge all parents here, whether waiting on adoptions or already having adopted, to check this article for contact info (I posted a link but then the article hit news and change the URL): [url=http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2906256/adopting_a_child_from_russia_latest.html]Adopting a Child from Russia? Latest Updates and Contact Info - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com[/url] or <a href ="http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2906256/adopting_a_child_from_russia_latest.html">information here</a>