Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Friday, August 17, 2007
Russia Allows Citizens Time Off to Have Babies as Underpopulation Worsens
Russia Allows Citizens Time Off to Have Babies as Underpopulation Worsens
Yeeesh!!!
Thanks for the link Russian Adoption DVA
Between this and the Youth Wedding Camps I'm just speechless.
Yeeesh!!!
Thanks for the link Russian Adoption DVA
Between this and the Youth Wedding Camps I'm just speechless.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/06/08/003.html
Friday, June 8, 2007.
Thousands of Babies Left in Hospital Limbo
By Svetlana Osadchuk Staff Writer
photoOne of the rejected babies looking out the window at the Pskov hospital.
Seven hours after Kristina Smirnova, 17, gave birth to her son, the doctor came into her room and said she should hand the baby over to the state. "The baby is ill. He will not live more than a week. I think signing rejection papers is the only wise thing for a girl like you to do," the doctor said, Smirnova recalled.
Smirnova had the baby at the Motorshchiki maternity ward in the east Siberian city of Barnaul on the morning of Oct. 31, 2005. She had no identification papers, no relatives, no place to live and no money. She had spent the last year living with her boyfriend, the baby's father, but he broke up with her when he learned that his son was ill.But Smirnova refused to sign the rejection papers, sparking a 2 1/2-month struggle to prevent the boy from joining thousands of babies caught in a hospital limbo.
The babies, usually referred to as otkazniki, live in almost every children's hospital in the country. No accurate figures are kept because the babies themselves do not officially exist. The babies are only counted once they are moved to orphanages -- a process that by law should take no more than four months but in practice can take several years. While they wait, they are often neglected and sometimes abused. Hospital staff commonly advise mothers who are single, very young or struggling financially to give up their babies, even those who are healthy
photoSmirnova holding her son, Vladimir, whom doctors advised her to give up.
"If Beethoven's mother had been in one of our hospitals, they would have told her to give him up because she was from a poor family and ill with tuberculosis," said Igor Beloborodov, head of Maternity and Childhood Protection, a nongovernmental organization.
Mothers of sickly babies often heed the hospital staff's advice, including about 85 percent of those whose children are diagnosed with Down Syndrome, said Sergei Koloskov, head of the Down Syndrome Association. His wife was told to leave their daughter, Vera, at the hospital when she was diagnosed with the genetic disorder. She refused.
Ten years ago, Moscow health officials advised city maternity wards not to discourage new mothers by telling them that they would be unable to care for their babies. But that has not changed what people say privately.Smirnova was released from the Barnaul hospital after a week, but the baby was kept in intensive care. Each time she returned to check up on him, she was urged to sign the rejection papers."Doctors, nurses and even cleaning ladies told me that I was stupid to ask for my baby back," Smirnova said during a recent visit to Moscow to get medical treatment for her 19-month-old son.
Even though she had never seen the baby, she gave him a name -- Vladimir. The boy was the only relative she had in the world, she said. Her mother and grandmother died in her home village of Gordeyevo when she was 14. She tried for a few months to live with her father, who had divorced her mother and lived in another town with a new wife and their children. "I was a burden for them. I came back to my village and stayed with friends," she said. She met Vladimir's father in the neighboring village of Belmesevo, and they fell in love. Smirnova said she thought he was a reward from heaven for the loneliness she had felt after her mother's death. Many young women who give up their babies share similar stories, Beloborodov said. They are from poor families and are in relationships where they sought a substitute for parental love. They often live with landlords who would evict them if they had a baby. In Moscow, many babies are given up by mothers who came to the city from the regions seeking a better life, Beloborodov said.
The procedure to give up a baby is simple, said a spokeswoman for the family, maternity and childhood department of the Health and Social Development Ministry. A married or single mother just needs to write a statement on a blank sheet of paper that she wants to put her child up for adoption for financial reasons or "difficult family circumstances," the spokeswoman said. After the statement is signed, the child usually is placed in the nearest children's hospital until all bureaucratic procedures are completed.
About 460 rejected babies live in hospitals in the Moscow region and 250 live in hospitals in the Sverdlovsk region, according to a presidential administration report on child welfare issues. The internal report dated April 2007, a copy of which was obtained by The Moscow Times, gave no figures for other regions."The development of orphanages is neglected in many regions, so rejected babies are kept in hospitals too long," the report said. "As a result, they are deprived of walks outside and lie in bed for months. They are delayed in their mental and physical growth."In Yekaterinburg, the capital of the Sverdlovsk region, only about 20 of the 90 children living in hospitals are sick, said the city's health department.
Two cases of abuse have made national headlines this year. Yekaterinburg prosecutors opened a criminal investigation in January into a nurse suspected of taping babies' mouths shut to stop them for crying at the city's Infectious Diseases Hospital No. 15. In March, prosecutors in Orekhovo-Zuyevo, a town 85 kilometers east of Moscow, began investigating a hospital where children were tied to their beds with sheets. In both cases, hospital patients photographed the abuse with their cell phones and the pictures were shown on state television.The rejected babies are a burden to the children's hospitals, said Boris Altshuler, who advises ombudsmen Vladimir Lukin on the problem. Most hospitals do not allocate money to feed them or hire nurses to care for them. That means nurses typically visit their rooms three times a day -- to feed them and change their diapers. Some hospitals don't even have diapers, so the babies lie in wet sheets for hours, Altshuler said. Feeding is also a problem. Nurses rarely have time to hold a bottle of milk for each baby, so they put bottles into the babies' mouths and leave them; if a bottle falls out, the baby goes hungry. When mothers visiting their own children in the hospitals try to pick up the babies, they are often told, "Don't touch them. They will then get used to being touched and will cry after you leave," Altshuler said.Since hospitals are closed institutions in Russia, volunteers are not welcome as they are in the West, said Nadezhda Davydova, who volunteers at several Moscow hospitals under a special agreement with administrators. "The administration has no right to let in sympathetic people," she said. Davydova said she, other volunteers and children's rights activists were lobbying the government to place the babies in foster families and get them adopted.
"It is naive to think that the problem is bad nurses all around the country," Davydova said. In a rare exception, a Christian charity is paying for a new hospital ward for 40 rejected babies in the city of Pskov, about 20 kilometers east of the Estonian border. Initiative Pskov, a Protestant-sponsored group, is also covering the salaries of a team of specialists to care for the babies and help place them in families.By law, the babies can be adopted while still in the hospital. But information about them is entered into a national adoption database very slowly and is often incomplete.
Two years ago, prosecutors in the Altai republic fined a social services official for failing file information about a baby who had lived at a hospital for 18 months. Some children never recover from their months in the hospital without someone to walk them, talk with them and hug them, Altshuler said."When the time comes to decide whether to place them in a regular orphanage or one for the mentally disabled, they are at risk of being placed in the second. This means they will never go to a regular school," Altshuler said. Smirnova only got her son, Vladimir, out of the hospital when a friend helped her obtain a passport and rent an apartment. She receives 3,000 rubles per month from the state to care for the boy, who has neurological and heart problems. Doctors still advise her to give him up.Smirnova recently invited another young woman, Nastya, to move into the rented apartment with her. Nastya's sad story mirrors her own. She is expecting her child in August.
Friday, June 8, 2007.
Thousands of Babies Left in Hospital Limbo
By Svetlana Osadchuk Staff Writer
photoOne of the rejected babies looking out the window at the Pskov hospital.
Seven hours after Kristina Smirnova, 17, gave birth to her son, the doctor came into her room and said she should hand the baby over to the state. "The baby is ill. He will not live more than a week. I think signing rejection papers is the only wise thing for a girl like you to do," the doctor said, Smirnova recalled.
Smirnova had the baby at the Motorshchiki maternity ward in the east Siberian city of Barnaul on the morning of Oct. 31, 2005. She had no identification papers, no relatives, no place to live and no money. She had spent the last year living with her boyfriend, the baby's father, but he broke up with her when he learned that his son was ill.But Smirnova refused to sign the rejection papers, sparking a 2 1/2-month struggle to prevent the boy from joining thousands of babies caught in a hospital limbo.
The babies, usually referred to as otkazniki, live in almost every children's hospital in the country. No accurate figures are kept because the babies themselves do not officially exist. The babies are only counted once they are moved to orphanages -- a process that by law should take no more than four months but in practice can take several years. While they wait, they are often neglected and sometimes abused. Hospital staff commonly advise mothers who are single, very young or struggling financially to give up their babies, even those who are healthy
photoSmirnova holding her son, Vladimir, whom doctors advised her to give up.
"If Beethoven's mother had been in one of our hospitals, they would have told her to give him up because she was from a poor family and ill with tuberculosis," said Igor Beloborodov, head of Maternity and Childhood Protection, a nongovernmental organization.
Mothers of sickly babies often heed the hospital staff's advice, including about 85 percent of those whose children are diagnosed with Down Syndrome, said Sergei Koloskov, head of the Down Syndrome Association. His wife was told to leave their daughter, Vera, at the hospital when she was diagnosed with the genetic disorder. She refused.
Ten years ago, Moscow health officials advised city maternity wards not to discourage new mothers by telling them that they would be unable to care for their babies. But that has not changed what people say privately.Smirnova was released from the Barnaul hospital after a week, but the baby was kept in intensive care. Each time she returned to check up on him, she was urged to sign the rejection papers."Doctors, nurses and even cleaning ladies told me that I was stupid to ask for my baby back," Smirnova said during a recent visit to Moscow to get medical treatment for her 19-month-old son.
Even though she had never seen the baby, she gave him a name -- Vladimir. The boy was the only relative she had in the world, she said. Her mother and grandmother died in her home village of Gordeyevo when she was 14. She tried for a few months to live with her father, who had divorced her mother and lived in another town with a new wife and their children. "I was a burden for them. I came back to my village and stayed with friends," she said. She met Vladimir's father in the neighboring village of Belmesevo, and they fell in love. Smirnova said she thought he was a reward from heaven for the loneliness she had felt after her mother's death. Many young women who give up their babies share similar stories, Beloborodov said. They are from poor families and are in relationships where they sought a substitute for parental love. They often live with landlords who would evict them if they had a baby. In Moscow, many babies are given up by mothers who came to the city from the regions seeking a better life, Beloborodov said.
The procedure to give up a baby is simple, said a spokeswoman for the family, maternity and childhood department of the Health and Social Development Ministry. A married or single mother just needs to write a statement on a blank sheet of paper that she wants to put her child up for adoption for financial reasons or "difficult family circumstances," the spokeswoman said. After the statement is signed, the child usually is placed in the nearest children's hospital until all bureaucratic procedures are completed.
About 460 rejected babies live in hospitals in the Moscow region and 250 live in hospitals in the Sverdlovsk region, according to a presidential administration report on child welfare issues. The internal report dated April 2007, a copy of which was obtained by The Moscow Times, gave no figures for other regions."The development of orphanages is neglected in many regions, so rejected babies are kept in hospitals too long," the report said. "As a result, they are deprived of walks outside and lie in bed for months. They are delayed in their mental and physical growth."In Yekaterinburg, the capital of the Sverdlovsk region, only about 20 of the 90 children living in hospitals are sick, said the city's health department.
Two cases of abuse have made national headlines this year. Yekaterinburg prosecutors opened a criminal investigation in January into a nurse suspected of taping babies' mouths shut to stop them for crying at the city's Infectious Diseases Hospital No. 15. In March, prosecutors in Orekhovo-Zuyevo, a town 85 kilometers east of Moscow, began investigating a hospital where children were tied to their beds with sheets. In both cases, hospital patients photographed the abuse with their cell phones and the pictures were shown on state television.The rejected babies are a burden to the children's hospitals, said Boris Altshuler, who advises ombudsmen Vladimir Lukin on the problem. Most hospitals do not allocate money to feed them or hire nurses to care for them. That means nurses typically visit their rooms three times a day -- to feed them and change their diapers. Some hospitals don't even have diapers, so the babies lie in wet sheets for hours, Altshuler said. Feeding is also a problem. Nurses rarely have time to hold a bottle of milk for each baby, so they put bottles into the babies' mouths and leave them; if a bottle falls out, the baby goes hungry. When mothers visiting their own children in the hospitals try to pick up the babies, they are often told, "Don't touch them. They will then get used to being touched and will cry after you leave," Altshuler said.Since hospitals are closed institutions in Russia, volunteers are not welcome as they are in the West, said Nadezhda Davydova, who volunteers at several Moscow hospitals under a special agreement with administrators. "The administration has no right to let in sympathetic people," she said. Davydova said she, other volunteers and children's rights activists were lobbying the government to place the babies in foster families and get them adopted.
"It is naive to think that the problem is bad nurses all around the country," Davydova said. In a rare exception, a Christian charity is paying for a new hospital ward for 40 rejected babies in the city of Pskov, about 20 kilometers east of the Estonian border. Initiative Pskov, a Protestant-sponsored group, is also covering the salaries of a team of specialists to care for the babies and help place them in families.By law, the babies can be adopted while still in the hospital. But information about them is entered into a national adoption database very slowly and is often incomplete.
Two years ago, prosecutors in the Altai republic fined a social services official for failing file information about a baby who had lived at a hospital for 18 months. Some children never recover from their months in the hospital without someone to walk them, talk with them and hug them, Altshuler said."When the time comes to decide whether to place them in a regular orphanage or one for the mentally disabled, they are at risk of being placed in the second. This means they will never go to a regular school," Altshuler said. Smirnova only got her son, Vladimir, out of the hospital when a friend helped her obtain a passport and rent an apartment. She receives 3,000 rubles per month from the state to care for the boy, who has neurological and heart problems. Doctors still advise her to give him up.Smirnova recently invited another young woman, Nastya, to move into the rented apartment with her. Nastya's sad story mirrors her own. She is expecting her child in August.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Hope Fades for Reuniting Siblings
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
Time has run out for a family who sought special permission to adopt the older sister of their Russian son.
"Everything was denied," says Joan Knipe, the Scottsdale, Ariz., mother who asked the Department of Homeland Security for what is called "humanitarian parole" so Olga, the sister, could enter the USA.
The government grants that special kind of visa in rare cases for what it calls a "very compelling emergency."
Olga needed to be in the country by Friday, her 22nd birthday, to be eligible for adoption in Arizona.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Hope Department of Homeland Security Joan Knipe Olga
"It's over. She's completely aged out," says Knipe, whose adoptive son Ruslan, 13, yearns for his big sister. "It's tough for the family."
In a story last month, USA TODAY reported the efforts of Knipe and other parents to reunite biological siblings torn apart by international adoption.
Dozens of families have joined a non-profit group, Save Orphaned Siblings, to press for a change in immigration law, such as a visitor program, that would allow brothers and sisters to see each other for a few months each year.
"There may be a pathway in the immigration bill" now pending in the Senate, says Maureen Flatley, a Boston-based adoption policy consultant who is advising the families. She plans to discuss such a program, aimed at children under 18, with members of Congress.
"The kids are in limbo," Flatley says. She says U.S. adoption agencies have not done enough to keep siblings together, and now families are facing more obstacles in trying to adopt the siblings.
Russia is putting a hold on most adoptions by not renewing the licenses of American adoption agencies since issuing new, more demanding rules last year. China tightened eligibility, beginning this month, of Americans who can adopt. Guatemala received a U.S. government warning in March for suspected fraud and child smuggling. Those countries account for 70% of orphans who have come to the USA for adoption in the past five years.
Knipe and her husband, Steve Pettyjohn, say they would have adopted Olga Lukinova at the same time they adopted Ruslan four years ago, but they didn't know about her until too late in the process. They have since tried but failed to get tourist or student visas for her.
Olga looked after her brother for years in the orphanage after their birth mother died. To give him a better life, she signed off on his adoption.
Knipe says Olga is sickly and lives in a rural village in a condemned building without running water. She says she hasn't been able to reach Olga yet to tell her the final application was denied because phone lines are often faulty in the area.
Knipe says she will try to call again Friday, Olga's birthday.
Time has run out for a family who sought special permission to adopt the older sister of their Russian son.
"Everything was denied," says Joan Knipe, the Scottsdale, Ariz., mother who asked the Department of Homeland Security for what is called "humanitarian parole" so Olga, the sister, could enter the USA.
The government grants that special kind of visa in rare cases for what it calls a "very compelling emergency."
Olga needed to be in the country by Friday, her 22nd birthday, to be eligible for adoption in Arizona.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Hope Department of Homeland Security Joan Knipe Olga
"It's over. She's completely aged out," says Knipe, whose adoptive son Ruslan, 13, yearns for his big sister. "It's tough for the family."
In a story last month, USA TODAY reported the efforts of Knipe and other parents to reunite biological siblings torn apart by international adoption.
Dozens of families have joined a non-profit group, Save Orphaned Siblings, to press for a change in immigration law, such as a visitor program, that would allow brothers and sisters to see each other for a few months each year.
"There may be a pathway in the immigration bill" now pending in the Senate, says Maureen Flatley, a Boston-based adoption policy consultant who is advising the families. She plans to discuss such a program, aimed at children under 18, with members of Congress.
"The kids are in limbo," Flatley says. She says U.S. adoption agencies have not done enough to keep siblings together, and now families are facing more obstacles in trying to adopt the siblings.
Russia is putting a hold on most adoptions by not renewing the licenses of American adoption agencies since issuing new, more demanding rules last year. China tightened eligibility, beginning this month, of Americans who can adopt. Guatemala received a U.S. government warning in March for suspected fraud and child smuggling. Those countries account for 70% of orphans who have come to the USA for adoption in the past five years.
Knipe and her husband, Steve Pettyjohn, say they would have adopted Olga Lukinova at the same time they adopted Ruslan four years ago, but they didn't know about her until too late in the process. They have since tried but failed to get tourist or student visas for her.
Olga looked after her brother for years in the orphanage after their birth mother died. To give him a better life, she signed off on his adoption.
Knipe says Olga is sickly and lives in a rural village in a condemned building without running water. She says she hasn't been able to reach Olga yet to tell her the final application was denied because phone lines are often faulty in the area.
Knipe says she will try to call again Friday, Olga's birthday.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The Italian- A Russian Movie
The movie is called "The Italian". It is now coming to the US in limited release this month on the 19th.
It is the story of a 6 yr old boy in an orphanage in Russia who decides to find his birthmother after meeting an Italian couple that wants to adopt him and take him back to Italy.
This is the story of his journey. It is Rated PG-13. The Russian Language entry in the 2006 Academy Awards.
Movie Trailer
It is the story of a 6 yr old boy in an orphanage in Russia who decides to find his birthmother after meeting an Italian couple that wants to adopt him and take him back to Italy.
This is the story of his journey. It is Rated PG-13. The Russian Language entry in the 2006 Academy Awards.
Movie Trailer
An Article written by By: Boris Gindis, Ph.D. on the site International Adoption Articles Directory.
Italianetz: A Message That Hurts
This movie reminds me of a Russian “matreshka” (a nested doll) -- a Christmas-like happy-end story intertwined with Soviet-style propaganda, a sentimental fairy tale mixed with pieces of rough Russian reality. And like the bright colors and curvy shape that connect all elements of a matreshka, there is the image of a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy named Vanya to glue all the pieces together and to focus our attention to the movie for its 99 minutes length.
The plot is simple. Six-year-old Vanya lives in a Russian orphanage. He is about to be adopted by a couple from Italy – to become an Italian or Italianetz in Russian. So far, everything is real: international adoption is a fact of everyday life in Russia – since 1992, nearly 60,000 Russian orphans have been adopted in the US alone, about half of all children adopted abroad from Russia. From this point on, however, the fairy tale begins: Vanya decides to find his biological mother and stay in his motherland. Vanya goes through unbelievable adventures – all against the background of almost documentary quality realities of contemporary Russian life – and finally reaches his goal.
In the back of your mind you understand all this is unreal: a 6-year-old orphanage-raised child is not capable of such plans and deeds. But the wonder of art forces you to believe in what you see on the screen. Indeed, this is cinematography at its best: an authentic and intriguing screenplay by Andrey Romanov, the sophisticated work of cameraman Alexander Burov, and the fine direction of Andrey Kravchuk. And, most of all, the acting: Kolya Spiridonov in the role of Vanya reaches a new height of child performance in cinema. Like any genuine piece of art, this movie carries a message (or many messages).
So, what is the message of Italianate? As matreshkas of different sizes and colors carry different images, the movie brings various meanings to diverse audiences. In the US, this film will be watched with trepidation and excitement by a special group of moviegoers – those who contemplate or have completed adoption from overseas orphanages, particularly from Russia. For them the story of little Vanya will be a trigger for their own anxieties, expectations, and memories. Some will identify with what they see in the movie, some will be scared and upset by the heart-breaking harsh reality of Russian orphanages, but all will be mesmerized by the likeable image of the main hero.
But how many will be able to look at the movie through the eyes of those to whom this show is primarily addressed: the Russian viewers? In Russia, international adoption is a matter of bitter controversy. Amongst Russian politicians and population at large there is rather wide opposition to “letting children go.” This opposition stems mostly from wounded pride and offended nationalistic feelings rather than any logic or humanitarian values. The essence of this attitude is forcefully expressed by a security guard at the orphanage for infants where Vanya arrives to discover the whereabouts of his mother. The old man says, with intense passion: “We sell children for dollars. The country is falling apart.” Responding to these sentiments and in fact, reinforcing them through the power of art, the movie sends this message to the Russian audience: “The beautiful, smart, and compassionate Russian children are being taken away by foreigners with the help of greedy re-sellers, and society tolerates this state of affairs.” The evil force standing between Vanya and his dream of finding his mother is a ‘madam,’ – as the adoption facilitator (a middleman between prospective adoptive parents and a child) is known among the children in that orphanage.
This middle-aged, energetic, and at times ruthless woman (convincingly depicted by famed Russian actress Maria Kuznetsova) with a name suspicious to the Russian ear, Zhanna Arkadievna (very likely Jewish), is the only totally negative character in the movie. For her an adoption is a financial deal, and she seems concerned only about money. What is amazing to anyone familiar with the legal process of international adoption, “madam” (the word carries an acid connotation in the context of Russian culture) does not violate any Russian laws: everything she does is legal and approved procedure (except, perhaps, for the bribes she openly offers to police officers, but that is such a ‘normal’ thing in modern-day Russia that it is not perceived as a deviation from everyday routine). And still, she exemplifies the dark forces that take a Russian child from his mother(land).
It is interesting (and the movie is honest about this) that everyone in Vanya’s surroundings understands adoption abroad means an escape from the gloomy and desperate life to which orphans doomed in Russia. A chronically drunk director of the orphanage tells Vanya that misery now and jail in the future await him if he stays in his motherland; the leader of a youth gang “instructs” Vanya with a belt, whipping him mercilessly because he thinks that foreigners' failure to adopt Vanya may close this route for other children; all orphanage inmates, from the youngest to the oldest, envy Vanya and without hesitation would take his spot (and his close friend actually does). Ironically, the only real driving force for positive change in the fate of orphans is “madam” – she is the one who arranges initial meetings with prospective adoptive parents and manages the process of adoption. But the adoption facilitator is the only character who is painted in definitely dark colors.
While Vanya is just a phantom (a symbol of the treasure taken away from Russia), the other characters in the movie are very believable and are neither positive nor negative. The film's makers do not pass moral judgment on any character (but “madam”), treating episodes of child prostitution, lawbreaking behavior, and physical abuse as a matter of life. Again, the only character who gets no understanding or objectivity from the filmmakers is Zhanna Arkadievena – what a pity! This is a perfect example of misplaced anger: instead of pointing at society and people neglecting their most vulnerable and valuable asset – children – the creators of the film point at an adoption broker who is making money – yes, indeed – but at the same time helping children and providing them with what society denies them: security, love, and hope. Although not a sympathetic person by all means, objectively Zhanna Arkadievena is orphanage residents’ only hope!The biggest bewilderment promoted by the movie – almost in proportion to Soviet era propaganda – is Vanya’s likable image.
The movie tells us that life in an orphanage has not affected Vanya – he is smart, compassionate, brave, and goal-directed, unusually mature for his age. Any nation in the world would be proud to have him as its citizen. According to Russian nationalistic politicians, that is what Russia gives away to the foreigners! This is what Italy (USA, Germany, you name it) buys for its liras (dollars, marks), robbing Russia of its real treasure, symbolized by Vanya.Let's get real: a child who is reared in an orphanage simply cannot be like Vanya. Life in an orphanage is damaging to any child. Those families who have adopted from abroad have learned this the hard way. They have brought home children with developmental delays, lack of age-appropriate skills of daily living, often physically handicapped and sick, and almost always with emotional scars that take years to heal.
American adoptive families apply enormous resources: time, money, patience, and efforts in remediating and rehabilitating these children. Most international adoptees are flourishing in their new families only through the extraordinary scaffold provided by their adoptive families. The movie, with the powerful force of real artistry, plays into the hands of those ideology-driven nationalists for whom the “state-idea” is more important than the life of a particular child.
The message that the movie sends to its viewers in Russia hurts thousands of orphans and those who work for their release into a better life. International adoption is not a remedy for the problem of unwanted children in Russia, but it is a solution for individual children – to deny them such a chance in the name of a nationalistic idea is plain cruelty.
Article Source: International Adoption Articles Directory
Dr. Boris Gindis is a child psychologist specializing in psycho-educational issues of older internationally adopted children. He is chief psychologist at the Center for Cognitive-Developmental Assessment and Remediation, the lead instructor at Bgcenter Online School, the author of many publications on international adoption issues and frequent presenter at conferences and workshops.Tel. 845-694-8496
The Magazine Adoptive Families has a Review of this movie in the current issue.
Monday, January 01, 2007
New Russian Law Re: Number of Children in Home and Monitary Support
This is a copy of a post from a Russian Adoption Forum
Dear adoptive parents,
As always, I would like to keep families informed about legislation regarding Russian
adoption.The new law "About Additional Support of the Families With Children" was
passed in Russia last week. It is officially published yesterday, December 31, 2006, and came in
force today, January 1, 2007.This law stipulates that a family having a second, third, etc. child
(birth or adopted) will receive large financial support from the Government. The amount is
250,000 rubles (About $10,000) as a one time payment. It is a very big sum of money for
Russian families (for some low-income families it is equal to 19 years income). This amount will
be indexed proportionally to inflation and in 5 years it will be about 350,000 rubles.This law has
already made an impact on Russian society. Hundreds of people have already announced their
desire to adopt children. According to the Russian media, last week alone most orphanages had
visitors (Russian citizens wishing to adopt), which was more than for an entire year.Many
people that had previously abandoned their children already informed the orphanages that they
want to take them back into their custody.Although this law is not about international adoption,
it can impact international adoption. More children, especially children that are relatively
healthy, will likely be adopted by Russian families.Some women that were due to deliver babies
in December are delaying their labor by taking medications (that is of course very risky for
children). Some women took a risk to deliver their babies unsupervised at home, to conceal the
fact of childbirth and then will claim that the child was born after January 1, 2007.It is quite
probable that some people will adopt children only for their own personal enrichment, but this
is now a law and it will work for the advantage of Russian citizens.
Irina M. O'Rear
Russian AttorneyTampa, FL
www.russialegal.comhttp://www.russialegal.comirina@russialegal.com
Author: "Adopting In Russia: Your Rights And The Law" http://www.russialegal.com/en_book.html
Dear adoptive parents,
As always, I would like to keep families informed about legislation regarding Russian
adoption.The new law "About Additional Support of the Families With Children" was
passed in Russia last week. It is officially published yesterday, December 31, 2006, and came in
force today, January 1, 2007.This law stipulates that a family having a second, third, etc. child
(birth or adopted) will receive large financial support from the Government. The amount is
250,000 rubles (About $10,000) as a one time payment. It is a very big sum of money for
Russian families (for some low-income families it is equal to 19 years income). This amount will
be indexed proportionally to inflation and in 5 years it will be about 350,000 rubles.This law has
already made an impact on Russian society. Hundreds of people have already announced their
desire to adopt children. According to the Russian media, last week alone most orphanages had
visitors (Russian citizens wishing to adopt), which was more than for an entire year.Many
people that had previously abandoned their children already informed the orphanages that they
want to take them back into their custody.Although this law is not about international adoption,
it can impact international adoption. More children, especially children that are relatively
healthy, will likely be adopted by Russian families.Some women that were due to deliver babies
in December are delaying their labor by taking medications (that is of course very risky for
children). Some women took a risk to deliver their babies unsupervised at home, to conceal the
fact of childbirth and then will claim that the child was born after January 1, 2007.It is quite
probable that some people will adopt children only for their own personal enrichment, but this
is now a law and it will work for the advantage of Russian citizens.
Irina M. O'Rear
Russian AttorneyTampa, FL
www.russialegal.comhttp://www.russialegal.comirina@russialegal.com
Author: "Adopting In Russia: Your Rights And The Law" http://www.russialegal.com/en_book.html
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Mom Makes World Smaller For Russian Daughter
To Russia, with love:Mom makes world smaller for Russian daughter
By Cara Spilsbury , Staff writerDaily News of Newburyport
NEWBURYPORT - Isabel Fudge stretched every one of her little fingers in pursuit of the large plastic pumpkin pushed back on the kitchen counter, set purposefully out of reach of the 3-year-old.
Her Halloween loot sat just inside the hollowed jack-o'-lantern, and even her tiptoes weren't enough. So she pushed a stool against the counter, climbed up and found her prize - Skittles and popcorn - the perfect snack for watching "Dora the Explorer."
It is a very American scene, a life far detached from the Russian orphanage from which Isabel came. But thanks to the diligence of her adoptive mother, Isabel will one day know her heritage and may have a connection with her two brothers, who remain with 120 other orphans living at a school in Russia.
Isabel was one of the lucky ones out of more than 170,000 children in Russian orphanages to find a loving family. She was adopted by Newburyport resident Kristen Fudge and her husband, Geoffrey, in March 2004, a week before Isabel's first birthday, from an orphanage in Lobnya, Russia.
Kristen Fudge is using modern technology, networking and love to bring Isabel's two worlds closer together, while making the life of her two brothers a little brighter along the way.
Isabel's adoptive parents knew that she had two brothers in an orphanage somewhere in Russia, but no one was sure where. The Fudges have always been open with Isabel about her background, even if the 3-year-old might not fully grasp it yet.
When they returned home to the United States, Kristen Fudge was determined to find their whereabouts. She scoured the Internet, looking for clues about where they might be found. With the help of several Web sites and international groups, her sleuthing was successful.
Dimitri, 14, and Nikoli, 12, are healthy and happy in a clean orphanage in the small village of Tuchkovo, about 44 miles outside of Moscow. Fudge was pleased to learn there was a female cousin at the orphanage as well. She has also learned that Isabel's birth mother had another baby.
When Isabel learned about her brothers in Russia, she was full of questions.
"She asked, 'Mommy, are they at school?'" Fudge remembered. "And I said, 'Kind of, but they live there.' And then she said, 'I want to live in school, too!'"
With the help of an interpreter, Fudge made contact three weeks ago with the orphanage that housed her daughter's relatives. At 1 a.m., about 9 a.m. in Tuchkovo, she spoke with Natalia Gruzinova, the orphanage's director, and asked what she could do to help.
"She was overwhelmed," Fudge said. "She had never had someone contact them and ask what they needed."
The children at the orphanage in Tuchkovo are active in sports, arts, drama, music and many other activities. Including Isabel's family members, there are more than 120 orphans, all between the ages of 7 and 18. Of those, 38 of them are true orphans who do not have either parent.
Fudge found out that the orphanage was in need of supplies for extracurricular activities, such as coloring books, sports equipment, instruments, costumes and quilting fabric. Her first idea to raise money for the orphanage was to sell Russian-themed sachets on the Internet, but the endeavor did not take off like she had hoped. Then Fudge realized she could use the connections she already had to make a difference.
Fudge, a resource teacher at Kennedy School in Somerville, got her students involved. Twenty-five of them make up a group at the school called Operation Russia, and they meet every other Wednesday to plan monthly fundraisers for an orphanage full of children they have never met.
With their first fundraisers, a popcorn sale and a Halloween hat day, they have raised $425. They hope to send their first shipment of quilting fabric and costumes this month. Closer to Christmas, they want to find the orphanage a new Santa suit.
In Russia, Santa is known to children as "Father Frost."
The students of Operation Russia are learning Russian to become pen pals with some of the children in Tuchkovo. They also want to exchange art they created as a way to communicate in spite of the language barrier.
Fudge has sent pictures of Isabel to Dimitri and Nikoli, as well as MP3/CD players that made the boys scream with joy. Originally, she thought that all the siblings were taken away at the same time, but now it is unclear if the boys ever met their young sister.
Isabel was only 3 months old when she was removed, and although authorities like to keep related children together, she was placed in an orphanage by herself because she had not yet bonded with her brothers. But through the unrelenting work of her new mother, Isabel will now have the chance.
"She may want to make contact someday," Fudge explained, "or she may not. But at least we made the contact, so it's up to her."
For more information about locating relatives of internationally adopted children, visit www.saveorphanedsiblings.com or www.russianfamilysearch.com .
By Cara Spilsbury , Staff writerDaily News of Newburyport
NEWBURYPORT - Isabel Fudge stretched every one of her little fingers in pursuit of the large plastic pumpkin pushed back on the kitchen counter, set purposefully out of reach of the 3-year-old.
Her Halloween loot sat just inside the hollowed jack-o'-lantern, and even her tiptoes weren't enough. So she pushed a stool against the counter, climbed up and found her prize - Skittles and popcorn - the perfect snack for watching "Dora the Explorer."
It is a very American scene, a life far detached from the Russian orphanage from which Isabel came. But thanks to the diligence of her adoptive mother, Isabel will one day know her heritage and may have a connection with her two brothers, who remain with 120 other orphans living at a school in Russia.
Isabel was one of the lucky ones out of more than 170,000 children in Russian orphanages to find a loving family. She was adopted by Newburyport resident Kristen Fudge and her husband, Geoffrey, in March 2004, a week before Isabel's first birthday, from an orphanage in Lobnya, Russia.
Kristen Fudge is using modern technology, networking and love to bring Isabel's two worlds closer together, while making the life of her two brothers a little brighter along the way.
Isabel's adoptive parents knew that she had two brothers in an orphanage somewhere in Russia, but no one was sure where. The Fudges have always been open with Isabel about her background, even if the 3-year-old might not fully grasp it yet.
When they returned home to the United States, Kristen Fudge was determined to find their whereabouts. She scoured the Internet, looking for clues about where they might be found. With the help of several Web sites and international groups, her sleuthing was successful.
Dimitri, 14, and Nikoli, 12, are healthy and happy in a clean orphanage in the small village of Tuchkovo, about 44 miles outside of Moscow. Fudge was pleased to learn there was a female cousin at the orphanage as well. She has also learned that Isabel's birth mother had another baby.
When Isabel learned about her brothers in Russia, she was full of questions.
"She asked, 'Mommy, are they at school?'" Fudge remembered. "And I said, 'Kind of, but they live there.' And then she said, 'I want to live in school, too!'"
With the help of an interpreter, Fudge made contact three weeks ago with the orphanage that housed her daughter's relatives. At 1 a.m., about 9 a.m. in Tuchkovo, she spoke with Natalia Gruzinova, the orphanage's director, and asked what she could do to help.
"She was overwhelmed," Fudge said. "She had never had someone contact them and ask what they needed."
The children at the orphanage in Tuchkovo are active in sports, arts, drama, music and many other activities. Including Isabel's family members, there are more than 120 orphans, all between the ages of 7 and 18. Of those, 38 of them are true orphans who do not have either parent.
Fudge found out that the orphanage was in need of supplies for extracurricular activities, such as coloring books, sports equipment, instruments, costumes and quilting fabric. Her first idea to raise money for the orphanage was to sell Russian-themed sachets on the Internet, but the endeavor did not take off like she had hoped. Then Fudge realized she could use the connections she already had to make a difference.
Fudge, a resource teacher at Kennedy School in Somerville, got her students involved. Twenty-five of them make up a group at the school called Operation Russia, and they meet every other Wednesday to plan monthly fundraisers for an orphanage full of children they have never met.
With their first fundraisers, a popcorn sale and a Halloween hat day, they have raised $425. They hope to send their first shipment of quilting fabric and costumes this month. Closer to Christmas, they want to find the orphanage a new Santa suit.
In Russia, Santa is known to children as "Father Frost."
The students of Operation Russia are learning Russian to become pen pals with some of the children in Tuchkovo. They also want to exchange art they created as a way to communicate in spite of the language barrier.
Fudge has sent pictures of Isabel to Dimitri and Nikoli, as well as MP3/CD players that made the boys scream with joy. Originally, she thought that all the siblings were taken away at the same time, but now it is unclear if the boys ever met their young sister.
Isabel was only 3 months old when she was removed, and although authorities like to keep related children together, she was placed in an orphanage by herself because she had not yet bonded with her brothers. But through the unrelenting work of her new mother, Isabel will now have the chance.
"She may want to make contact someday," Fudge explained, "or she may not. But at least we made the contact, so it's up to her."
For more information about locating relatives of internationally adopted children, visit www.saveorphanedsiblings.com or www.russianfamilysearch.com .
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Did You Vote?
Things I Care About Today:
- California Gov. Race
Phil Angelides OR Arnold Schwarzenegger
2. I haven't even made it to Review Yet! CCAA probably has my file stuffed some dusty old cavern somewhere reminicent of Gringott's Bank.
3. I'm with her ----->
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Demonstrations In Moscow
Moscow Police Detain Ultranationalists Saturday, November 04, 2006 - 03:13 PM
MARIA DANILOVA Associated Press Writer MOSCOW
Police arrested hundreds of ultranationalist demonstrators who took to Moscow´s streets on Saturday, forcefully putting an end to the banned protest amid an increase in hate crimes in Russia, organizers said.
In Russia´s second largest city, St. Petersburg, police broke up a scuffle between far-right activists and antifascists. They detained dozens of ultranationalists for participating in a banned rally there, as well as a number of their leftist opponents, the Interfax news agency reported.
The decision by authorities in the Russian capital and other cities to prevent the far-right supporters from marching, and the subsequent police response, appeared to mark an effort to dispel accusations that the government is doing little to combat rising xenophobia in Russia.
Russia has seen an increase in hate crimes against dark-skinned foreigners, Jews and immigrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus. This year, 39 people have been killed in apparent hate crimes and a further 308 attacked, according to the Sova rights center, which monitors xenophobia.
A year after security forces failed to intervene as marchers celebrating a national holiday gave the Nazi salute and cried "Heil Hitler," Moscow police enforced a ban on marches, carting away demonstrators. Rights activists say authorities have done too little to halt anti-foreigner acts.
Police in one Moscow street encircled groups of young men and hauled them off into buses, said Lidia Mikhailova, a spokeswoman for Dmitry Rogozin, a nationalist politician who had been involved in organizing the event.
Mikhailova told The Associated Press that she had seen dozens detained in this way and, citing other witnesses, estimated that several hundred people were taken into police custody.
Interfax news agency quoted a law enforcement source as saying that police detained more than 200 activists. A police desk officer in Moscow, who did not give his name, denied there were arrests.
Several hundred police, some wearing black helmets and carrying truncheons, surrounded a central square where up to 1,000 people rallied near a Russian Orthodox convent. Demonstrators waved flags from radical parties while some held religious icons.
Triumphant music played over loudspeakers. At one point, many in the crowd stretched out their hands in a Nazi-type salute.
Demonstrators complained of the presence in Russia of dark-skinned migrants from other former Soviet republics, whom they derisively refer to as "blacks."
"I came here to remember that I am also a Russian man. I live well, I earn well, I have a family, but the blacks, they spoil my life," said a 32-year-old man who identified himself only as Pavel.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov forbade Saturday´s procession, saying that ultranationalists had used the Nov. 4 Day of People´s Unity last year to express extremist views.
"Don´t confuse German fascists with Russian patriots," said a banner held up by a young man with close-cropped hair.
Similar marches were also expected in several other Russian provinces.
Meanwhile, liberal politicians and rights group held an authorized counter-rally in Moscow to protest the rise of xenophobia and to promote tolerance. About 500 people gathered holding flags with the words "Russian Anti-Fascist Front" and banners that read: "I am Russian and therefore not a fascist."
The political and economic turmoil that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union generated hostility toward foreigners, especially millions of migrant workers. The trend has worsened in recent years despite a rise in incomes and political stability as authorities failed to crack down on extremist groups and hate crimes.
See also: Russia Blog/Crime
Friday, October 27, 2006
Find Birthsiblings of Children Adopted From Russia
With so much going on right now- I cannot formulate a big long post about finding my son's siblings. I hope to soon. ONLY if their mother is amenable to it. I will not post anymore personal info or photos unless I have her ok.
Anyway- this information is needed and I will write more about what you can do to find a child's birthsiblings or birthparents.
I wrote in this post about Natasha. She told me what is needed according to Russian authorities to find a sibling of an adopted child from Russia. An adopted sibling of an adopted child from Russia. Get it? Here goes:
- Write a short letter requesting to contact the other adoptive parents
- Mail the original letter and a translation of the letter to the address of the Ministry of Education supervising your particular region.
- The Ministry of Education will send a letter to you acknowledging receipt of your request.
- The Ministry of Education will contact the other adoptive parents.
- The Ministry of Education will send you a second letter with the decision of the other adoptive parents.
Unfortunately the process takes some time.
Natasha can do the research to find the right address for the corresponding Office of the MOE or Center of Guardianship and Adoption for your Region.
By the law Ministry of Education handles this type of request, and they are the only ones required by law to respond to your request.
Again, there is a link to Natasha's web site in the title.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Will Pushkin Square Disappear?
Once home to the 17th century Strastnoi convent, this square was the site of protests and poetry readings in the 1960s; and many demonstrations in the post-Soviet era. Recently it has been close in proximity to bombs and terrorist activity.
Developers say the building, blasting, tunneling and resurfacing beneath Pushkin Square will not have any visible impact on the statue or its surroundings -
Click on Title for full article from the Moscow Times.
*Pushkin is the National Poet of Russia*
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