Russia has historically been in the top three countries in popularity among American adoptive families along with China and Guatemala. In 2006, Americans adopted 3,706 Russian children. Russia is not the only country changing it's international adoption policies. China's new stricter guidelines took effect May 1, 2007 and Guatemala is working to comply with the Hague Convention on Inter country Adoptions. (The State Department does not recommend adopting from Guatemala(2007)).
Current Status
History
In 2005, Russian adoptions by American parents slowed by a third. This is reportedly due to the battle between child care agencies and politicians, which has come to a head after the recent deaths of Russian children who have been murdered by their foreign adoptive parents. Since 1990, when Russian adoptions were made open to foreigners, 15 children have been murdered. The Education Ministry, which oversees the adoption of Russian children by foreigners, has been heavily scrutinized by the State Duma(lower house of the Federal Assembly, the parliament of the Russian Federation) after the mistreatment, abuse, and murder of Russian children by U.S. adoptive parents. The State Duma has accused the Education Ministry of being corrupt and making money off of the sell of Russian children. Russian adoptions and the Russian adoption process has been under investigation more than once.
Some reports estimate 700,000 children wait to be adopted in Russia.
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