Unwrapping the Fate of Independent Adoptions

Winston Churchill is often quoted as having said, "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest." That was in 1939; not much has changed since then. His statement certainly rings true about the status of independent adoptions in Russia.

For the sake of those who are new to Russian adoptions, let's start at the top. For most foreigners adopting in Russia, there are two routes that may be pursued in completing an adoption. One route is to use an agency that holds a permit from the Russian government to represent you and act on your behalf during interactions with the Russian authorities. This is commonly called an "agency adoption." The other route is to represent yourself to the Russian authorities, sometimes with the assistance or backing of an adoption agency. That is commonly called an "independent adoption."

People living in some European countries, including the United Kingdom and Ireland, have no choice of adoption agencies holding a Russian Permit, so all of those adoptive parents who choose Russia are forced to adopt "independently."

Unfortunately, many of the Russian authorities responsible for adoptions have a problem with independent adoptions. They believe, rightly or wrongly, that independent adoptions leave Russian children vulnerable to abuse and neglect. The children, after all, remain Russian citizens following adoption. Therefore, the Russians feel a need to monitor their upbringing to ensure their safety.

But why is that any more difficult with independent adoptions than with agency adoptions? The answer lies in the mechanism that the Russian authorities use to monitor the lives of Russian children adopted by foreigners. Following adoption, foreign adoptive parents are required by Russian law to submit post-placement reports (PPR) about the lives and upbringing of their children. These PPR's are typically prepared by the social worker that completed the adoptive family's home study, and they are usually sent through the adoption agency that helped the family complete the adoption. In totally independent cases, the social worker or family sends the report directly to the Russian authorities.

But sometimes the Russian authorities don't receive PPR's. What then?

When a family uses an adoption agency that holds a valid Russian Permit for Adoption Activity, the Russian authorities can suspend the agency's permit if that agency's families fail to send in PPR's. This acts as an accountability mechanism by using the agency's legal standing to pressure adoptive families to complete PPR's.

When families adopt "independently," there is no permit for the Russian authorities to pull when PPR's are late or missing. For years, this has vexed the Russian adoption officials. Last month, they tried a new and different tactic, which was to publish a list of the home study providers and social workers whose families were believed to have late or missing PPR's in one or more regions. They instructed Russian regional officials not to accept new adoption dossiers from families presenting home studies or PPR commitments written by agencies on that list. As you can imagine, that created quite a stir in the adoption community and created havoc for families waiting for referrals or court dates. Many of the home study providers have been working to get the missing PPR's submitted (or, in many cases, re-submitted) in order to get their names cleared.

Nonetheless, Russian officials remain concerned about "independent adoptions" in Russia. One of the loudest voices speaking against them is none other than Alina Levitskaya, who is the official in the federal Ministry of Education and Science (MoE) who oversees national adoption policy. From the very beginning of her tenure in 2006, she has announced repeatedly that the Russian government was seeking to create legislation to "close the loophole" in Russian law that allows families to adopt independently. Just last week, she renewed calls to end independent adoptions in Russia. But such a change cannot happen overnight, as it would require a change to Russian federal law.

For now, independent adoptions remain technically lawful in Russia. However, whether an independent adoption can be successfully completed in many regions is another thing entirely. I have read reports on Russian adoption forums indicating that many regions are making it difficult or impossible to proceed independently.

So, it appears that we will have to wait and see how the riddle, mystery, and enigma of the fate of independent adoptions is unwrapped. But one thing is clear, its fate rests squarely in the hands of those who are driven by Russian national interest.