Upcoming US-Russia Bilateral Adoption Talks

In the wake of the Artyom Savaliev affair, the United States of America is sending a delegation to Moscow to begin talks around how to continue international adoptions between the two countries. The initial meeting was originally scheduled for April 20, but last week's travel disruption in Europe forced a delay. Now, the two parties will meet for the first time on Thursday, April 29. According to a Russian-language news article, this is a preliminary meeting in which the Russian delegation will present a draft treaty to the American team, with a followup meeting scheduled for May 12.

With this stage set, let's explore what's on the table and what's at stake in these upcoming discussions.

In the days following the initial news reports about Artyom Savaliev's return to Russia, the Russian foreign ministry made it clear that they want to see a bilateral adoption treaty signed and implemented between the US and Russia. In fact, they went so far as to say that adoptions between the two countries would be suspended if such a treaty was not signed. While the idea of a bilateral adoption treaty is not new (Russia has been working on them with other countries for some time), the US has previously resisted it, saying that Russia should instead ratify the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, which it signed in 2000.

So, why would Russia be pushing for a specific bilateral treaty when they have already signed the Hague Convention? They've never specifically defined which parts of the Hague Convention they have a problem with, but in today's article, they mention wanting certain legal guarantees that are not part of the Hague Convention. For example, they want legal guarantees about the specific screening process for potential adoptive parents. They also want guarantees that Russian children adopted to the United States will maintain their Russian cultural awareness, including their Russian language, if they were old enough at the time of adoption to speak it. Additionally, they want the ability to engage in prosecution of individuals who harm children adopted from Russia (remember-- they remain Russian citizens even after adoption). See this Russian-language news article about an interview with President Medvedev's Childrens Rights advisor to get a sense of the mindset of the Russian officials.

The Russian officials apparently have produced a draft bilateral treaty as a starting point for this week's meeting. The US delegation has not indicated their expectations for the discussions, except that they plan to "discuss our mutual concerns about how to better protect the welfare and rights of children and all parties involved in the intercountry adoption processs," as posted in a notice on the US Department of State's Intercountry Adoption website.

The carrot for the US, in Russia's eyes, is that intercountry adoptions from Russia to the US can continue with the right agreement. The stick is apparently that the US must enter a bilateral treaty. But the Russian Foreign Ministry, which has been saying that adoptions to Americans will be suspended if the US does not enter such a treaty, has no power on its own to do such a thing, because that would require a change to Russian federal law. So, is it an idle threat?

As it turns out, the State Duma, which is the lower chamber of Parliament and the starting point for legislative action to modify Russian federal law, took a bill into committee on April 24 (three days ago) to require that all international adoptions in Russia may be completed only when there is a treaty established between Russia and the receiving country. This bill, No. 364094-5, seeks to modify the Russian Family Code federal law. It is presently in committee and must be approved in three votes before the full State Duma before it can proceed in the lawmaking process, which ends with the President's signature. No votes before the State Duma are presently scheduled. While nobody can say how long it would take to move this legislation through the process, the mere fact of its presence means that the Russian authorities have the means to back up their threats.

Perhaps in the next few days we will hear more about the talks between the Russian and US delegations. I am hopeful that they will be able to reach an agreement and that an interruption in adoptions can be avoided.