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In March 2009, I wrote a news article about Russian adoption for Minnesota Christian Chronicle.
The article is posted at the newspaper's web site, I think.
I have written four news articles for MCC.
International red tape can hamper adoption
by Jeannette Murdock Corn
STILLWATER—Eight-year-old Vitaly Brown lives with his parents and three older siblings in a cheerful yellow house in Stillwater, Minn. Most days, horses graze in the pasture and kittens play on the porch. The family’s terrier, Dallas, sleeps in a corner of the living room while Vitaly completes school with Cathy Brown, his mom.
Vitaly smiles broadly, exposing permanent teeth that are coming in on top. In fluent English, he talks about sleepovers, family trips, and friends. He has been in the U.S. for three years and looks like a typical American boy; but when asked if he remembers Russia, he nods. He recalls the red trucks and house fire on the night his birth mother died, and he remembers the orphanage.
“What do you remember most?” Vitaly’s thirteen-year-old sister Jennifer asks.
“Soup, soup, soup,” Vitaly says, rolling his eyes. “In the orphanage, it’s all we ever ate.”
Cathy Brown describes the orphans’ home as old but “not dirty,” with sunny rooms and yellow walls—a throwback to the 1950s. Run by the Russian government, it housed 75 children.
Brown remembers Vitaly as a little guy who tugged at her heart. She and her husband, Gary, had been praying about adoption for several years and had considered other children, but when they saw a video of four-year-old Vitaly, they knew that “he was the one.”
The Browns adopted Vitaly through Plymouth-based European Children Adoption Services (ECAS) in a process that took 12 months.
The adoption required “awful” amounts of paper work, extensive medical exams, and an inspection of the Browns’ home. The adoption cost $33,000, including a $7,000 loan.
Nevertheless, Gary and Cathy Brown were determined to complete the process. “We had three children but knew we had room for one more,” Cathy explains. Realizing they could not help the entire world of homeless, needy children, the Browns decided to help “just one.”
The process
Carol Wahl manages the Eastern European adoption team at Children’s Home Society and Family Services (CHSFS), a St. Paul-based international adoption agency. She travels to Russia twice a year and says that it has good orphanages by international standards. In the United States, Russian adoptions peaked at 6,000 in 2004. In 2009, numbers are down, but Americans continue to adopt Russian children. Since Children’s Home Society began its work in Russia in 1994, 350 Minnesota families and 650 families across the U.S. have adopted Russian children through CHSFS.
The adoption process begins with an adoption study, sometimes called the home study, which is conducted by the adopting family’s home state. The study evaluates the adopting family and prepares them for adoption. The study includes home inspections, financial evaluations, medical examinations, and criminal background checks.
The second step is approval by the BCIS—the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration.
When U.S. hurdles have been crossed, the adopting family prepares a dossier for Russian government agencies, and the dossier usually requires additional medical and background checks. Russian officials, for example, were concerned about the health of the Browns’ biological children, who were 14, 12, and 10 when Vitaly was adopted.
Russians think three children are “already a lot,” so they have a hard time understanding why a foreign family would want a fourth child, and they want to make sure the adopting family does not have a sick child who will take an organ, such as a kidney, from the Russian child.
The Browns were also required to photograph their home and provide educational details. “In Russia, education is key,” Cathy says.
The dossier is translated into Russian and reviewed by Russian courts. If it is approved, the American family receives a preliminary child referral, which means that Russian agencies send a photograph of an available Russian child and information about the child.
If the American family accepts the referral, the next step is a trip to Russia to meet and officially accept the child. This trip requires visas, passports, airline tickets, and hotel stays in Russia. If all goes well, it lasts three to five days. The adopting family signs official papers and comes home to await a court date.
Typically, families wait two to five months before making their second trip to Russia. The second trip lasts two to four weeks and often includes medical examinations in Russia. After officially adopting the child, the family must wait 10 days for a court hearing. The Browns were permitted to take Vitaly during their 10-day wait; it was a favor families do not always receive.
After the adopting family appears in Russian court, they travel to Moscow with the child for two or three days to obtain a visa, passport, and other official documents from the U.S. embassy. Since Russia is a large country, the distance from the city of adoption to Moscow can be significant.
Overall cost
The adoption process takes six to 18 months and is costly, with some families spending $35,000 to $45,000. Wahl says adopting families turn to various fundraising methods, including silent auctions and community garage sales.
American couples adopting from Russia do not usually have long-term problems with their children, but Russian orphans are exposed to numerous caregivers, and a few find it difficult to attach to adoptive families. “I’ve heard stories of other families having problems,” Brown says, “but Vitaly has lots of friends and is doing really well. I am grateful he adapted so well.”
Published by Minnesota Christian Chronicle — March 2009
Minnesota Christian Chronicle (763) 746-2468 • MCC is a part of the Christian Examiner Newspaper Group •
The article is posted at the newspaper's web site, I think.
I have written four news articles for MCC.
International red tape can hamper adoption
by Jeannette Murdock Corn
STILLWATER—Eight-year-old Vitaly Brown lives with his parents and three older siblings in a cheerful yellow house in Stillwater, Minn. Most days, horses graze in the pasture and kittens play on the porch. The family’s terrier, Dallas, sleeps in a corner of the living room while Vitaly completes school with Cathy Brown, his mom.
Vitaly smiles broadly, exposing permanent teeth that are coming in on top. In fluent English, he talks about sleepovers, family trips, and friends. He has been in the U.S. for three years and looks like a typical American boy; but when asked if he remembers Russia, he nods. He recalls the red trucks and house fire on the night his birth mother died, and he remembers the orphanage.
“What do you remember most?” Vitaly’s thirteen-year-old sister Jennifer asks.
“Soup, soup, soup,” Vitaly says, rolling his eyes. “In the orphanage, it’s all we ever ate.”
Cathy Brown describes the orphans’ home as old but “not dirty,” with sunny rooms and yellow walls—a throwback to the 1950s. Run by the Russian government, it housed 75 children.
Brown remembers Vitaly as a little guy who tugged at her heart. She and her husband, Gary, had been praying about adoption for several years and had considered other children, but when they saw a video of four-year-old Vitaly, they knew that “he was the one.”
The Browns adopted Vitaly through Plymouth-based European Children Adoption Services (ECAS) in a process that took 12 months.
The adoption required “awful” amounts of paper work, extensive medical exams, and an inspection of the Browns’ home. The adoption cost $33,000, including a $7,000 loan.
Nevertheless, Gary and Cathy Brown were determined to complete the process. “We had three children but knew we had room for one more,” Cathy explains. Realizing they could not help the entire world of homeless, needy children, the Browns decided to help “just one.”
The process
Carol Wahl manages the Eastern European adoption team at Children’s Home Society and Family Services (CHSFS), a St. Paul-based international adoption agency. She travels to Russia twice a year and says that it has good orphanages by international standards. In the United States, Russian adoptions peaked at 6,000 in 2004. In 2009, numbers are down, but Americans continue to adopt Russian children. Since Children’s Home Society began its work in Russia in 1994, 350 Minnesota families and 650 families across the U.S. have adopted Russian children through CHSFS.
The adoption process begins with an adoption study, sometimes called the home study, which is conducted by the adopting family’s home state. The study evaluates the adopting family and prepares them for adoption. The study includes home inspections, financial evaluations, medical examinations, and criminal background checks.
The second step is approval by the BCIS—the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration.
When U.S. hurdles have been crossed, the adopting family prepares a dossier for Russian government agencies, and the dossier usually requires additional medical and background checks. Russian officials, for example, were concerned about the health of the Browns’ biological children, who were 14, 12, and 10 when Vitaly was adopted.
Russians think three children are “already a lot,” so they have a hard time understanding why a foreign family would want a fourth child, and they want to make sure the adopting family does not have a sick child who will take an organ, such as a kidney, from the Russian child.
The Browns were also required to photograph their home and provide educational details. “In Russia, education is key,” Cathy says.
The dossier is translated into Russian and reviewed by Russian courts. If it is approved, the American family receives a preliminary child referral, which means that Russian agencies send a photograph of an available Russian child and information about the child.
If the American family accepts the referral, the next step is a trip to Russia to meet and officially accept the child. This trip requires visas, passports, airline tickets, and hotel stays in Russia. If all goes well, it lasts three to five days. The adopting family signs official papers and comes home to await a court date.
Typically, families wait two to five months before making their second trip to Russia. The second trip lasts two to four weeks and often includes medical examinations in Russia. After officially adopting the child, the family must wait 10 days for a court hearing. The Browns were permitted to take Vitaly during their 10-day wait; it was a favor families do not always receive.
After the adopting family appears in Russian court, they travel to Moscow with the child for two or three days to obtain a visa, passport, and other official documents from the U.S. embassy. Since Russia is a large country, the distance from the city of adoption to Moscow can be significant.
Overall cost
The adoption process takes six to 18 months and is costly, with some families spending $35,000 to $45,000. Wahl says adopting families turn to various fundraising methods, including silent auctions and community garage sales.
American couples adopting from Russia do not usually have long-term problems with their children, but Russian orphans are exposed to numerous caregivers, and a few find it difficult to attach to adoptive families. “I’ve heard stories of other families having problems,” Brown says, “but Vitaly has lots of friends and is doing really well. I am grateful he adapted so well.”
Published by Minnesota Christian Chronicle — March 2009
Minnesota Christian Chronicle (763) 746-2468 • MCC is a part of the Christian Examiner Newspaper Group •
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