There are more questions than answers regarding the recent adoption failure which had the young Russian boy returned to Russia unaccompanied. But one thing is clear: blame goes to both countries. It's time very pointed questions are put to all the responsible parties involved:
(1) Why didn't the single American mother adopt an American child? Didn't she qualify under
U.S. adoption rules?
(2) Why didn't she take the boy to a mental health professional? Her occupation as a regular RN
does NOT equip her to function as a psychiatric professional.
(3) Did the Russian adoption agency withhold vital information from the would-be mom?
Are they lying now, expressing "outrage" at such a charge?
(4) To the three Russian families eager to adopt "Justin"--where WERE you when he was languishing in an institution? And by the way, why ARE there so many Russian children in
orphanages needing parents?
(5) What were the airlines thinking, transporting the boy on connecting flights, one ten hours
long, with no supervising adult? Were they really following the law as they claim?
More troubling questions surely exist, but I have to agree with the Russian authorities who
want to end these transatlantic adoptions. There are reasons, not particularly positive ones,
why many Americans seek overseas adoptions.
Just one thing, though: Russia could do a better job with their own in-country adoptions.
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Does the high occurances of alcoholism have anything to do with the number of kids in the orphanages & the mental problems that many of the kids have? Problems that many adoptive parents find out about after they have brought the child home.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, you're right, Russia has always had an alcohol problem, exacerbated by high poverty rates. According to AOl News (July 2nd), Peter Savodnik reporting, their average yearly per capita income is just under 10K.
I felt justified in criticizing this nurse
for being uninformed (-most well-read people
are acquainted with Russia's social and financial problems), incompetent as well (if she really IS a nurse, didn't she have psychosocial professionals to resort to? In fact, had she BEEN informed she should have talked to these professionals FIRST before taking such a serious step.)
Thanks for commenting, Anon. I still stand by my piece; I think I covered most of the pertinent issues.
I posted in April, you commented in May....
Now that it's July, already some of the horrifying details of this story are being forgotten: when "Grandma Nancy" dumped him
at the airline, he had TWO flights unchaperoned,rather than the one Aol reported yesterday.
I wish Justin/Artyom the very best. I also
wish people would be more careful with alcohol and sex, especially when they're poor,
because poverty-stricken drunks make poor parents indeed, whether in Russia or America.