MOSCOW (RIA Novosti commentator Olga Sobolevskaya) - Foreigners adopt more children in Russia than Russians, although law envisages priority of Russian adoptions.
In 2004, foreigners adopted 9,600 children, while Russians only 7,400.
These figures were voiced at a press conference in RIA Novosti by the Education and Science Ministry, which deals with these issues. The press conference was devoted to the murder of an adopted Russian girl in the United States in early July. Vika Bazhenova died after being beaten by her American foster mother. She is the 13th Russian child killed by American adopters since 1996.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which allows international adoptions, was ratified by the Soviet Union, and Russia inherited it as its legal successor. "Russia does not object to international adoptions," underlined Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinksy. "Many Russian children find favorable conditions in foreign families and live well. But we cannot ignore cases of abuse of Russian children by foreign adopters. Under law, the Russian state should control the situation of adopted children."
Since 1992, foreigners have adopted 63,200 Russian children and Russians -
157,000. As many as 178,000 orphans remain in the database.
Inspections of the Prosecutor General's Office have shown that some international adoptions are made with law violations, for example, via unaccredited agencies that are not responsible for a child they give for adoption. Future foster parents do not always provide valid documents.
So Russia advocates introduction of an independent psychological expertise of adoptive parents and a special pedagogical training for them. Very often families turn out to be unprepared to raise children with physical or mental disorders. It is necessary to sign international bilateral agreements that would spell out control over adopters and their responsibility for children and would take into account cultural and ethnic subtleties of raising them, says Yekaterina Lakhova, head of the Russian parliament's Committee for the Affairs of Women, Family and Children.
Fridinsky says that very often even accredited agencies use mediators, which is prohibited, and the latter get paid, although adoptions in Russia are free. The "price" of a child may amount to $15,000 and more. Foreigners are sometimes ready to pay as much instead of being put on the waiting list in their home countries. However, an average Russian family cannot afford to adopt a child at such a "price." Another violation made by some agencies is that they do not compile lists of adopted children and do not monitor their situation in new families.
Since 1993, the number of orphans adopted by Russians has reduced almost by half, while of those taken by foreigners has soared almost sevenfold. Lakhova says that the reason is not only social and economic difficulties that hinder domestic adoptions. "In 1998, we began to accredit international adoption agencies. Now there are about a hundred of them, and some 200 are not accredited," she explains. "They have expanded into regions. Simultaneously, parliament worked out amendments that limit Russian citizens' ability to adopt."
She admits that the adoption procedure for Russians remains too complicated and long. Russian families that adopt children should be given serious economic incentives, as is done in some regions, she adds.
Mass media could also help by producing efficient social advertising and a special TV program about orphans. Radio programs have already appeared. There are websites of young families with adopted children where they exchange experience. Still, a lot remains to be done to ensure that a majority of Russian orphans stay in Russia.
