Russia to suspend children adoption by U.S. citizens

Newborn baby Pyotr who is the symbolic 7 billionth inhabitant on Earth sleeps with a picture drawn by his elder sister lying beside him in a regional perinatal centre in Kaliningrad of Russia, Oct. 31, 2011.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday signaled that Moscow may temporarily suspend adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens following a series of mistreatment allegedly committed by American adoptive parents.

In a statement posted on its website, the ministry listed a string of cases about U.S. adoptive parents’ abuses of Russian children, saying that it is necessary to make some amendments to Russian laws to introduce stricter criteria for foreign adopters.

“Regarding incessant series of crimes in the United States against adopted Russian children, Russian Foreign Ministry believes that the adoption procedures for the U.S. citizens should be suspended until the Russian-U.S. adoption deal, signed on July 13, 2011, comes into force,” the ministry said.

Under the adoption agreement, Russian monitors are allowed to visit homes of adopted children in the United States. The deal also stipulates several important points, including psychological testing of the adoptive parents and obliges adoptive parents to work with only accredited adoption agencies.

The agreement will come into force only after the Russian State Duma, or the lower house of parliament, ratifies it and both sides determine the actual mechanisms for enforcement.

Russia is one of the largest providers of foreign adoptions for U.S. families.

news@theasian.asia