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INFERTILITY   ADOPTION   POST-ADOPTION   FAMILY TREE   Adoption Resource Central    Heart of Adoption Articles to inspire   You can order Family Helper publications		Russia slowdown while agencies accredited BY ROBIN HILBORN, Family Helper editor
		(June 1, 2000) Editor Harriet Fancott writes in AFABC's Focus on Adoption, (June/July 2000) that Russian adoptions are on hold until further notice; only adoptions now before the courts in Russia will proceed. She cites the Moscow Times of Apr. 22, 2000: the government has decreed that only accredited agencies may represent adoptive parents. It will take months to accredit agencies. There are some 80,000 children available for adoption in Russia, many with special needs. In 1999 foreigners adopted 6,200 of them. 208 came to Canada (88 to Ontario; 74 to Quebec; 33 to B.C.). AFABC, www.bcadoption.com, hfancott@bcadoption.com Russia slows for new applicants [17 May 2000 ] -- New adoption regulations in Russia look like slowing down adoptions from Russia for months, while agencies are accredited. The last slowdown in Russian adoptions was in 1996, when new 1995 adoption legislation was being implemented. Pat Fenton of the Adoption Council of Ontario reports that officials of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services notified ACO that Russia has introduced new legislation, effective April 20, 2000 and adoptions from Russia are now on hold while the implications of the new legislation are studied. MCSS is not accepting any new applications for adoptions from Russia. Only adoption cases now before the courts in Russia will be processed. About.com, http://adoption.about.com/library/weekly/aa051500a.htm Adoption Council of Ontario, www.shelluser.net/~n/aco, aco@adoption.ca Two trips to Russia needed -- Cynthia Teeters of Eastern European Adoption Coalition (EEAC) wrote in April that there is no talk of a moratorium; parents who have accepted referrals will be allowed to complete the adoption. On May 10 the Russian government will start accrediting adoption agencies. Families will have to make two trips to Russia, the first to identify a child, the second to complete the adoption. Some regions in Russia already require two trips. EEAC, http://eeadopt.org, cynthia@eeadopt.org ________________________________________ You may reproduce this item with the credit: "Source: Family Helper (www.familyhelper.net)"