Adoption Papers Go Through for Children from Russia, for the Last Time

Russia's ban on foreign adoptions has taken effect, but the country has allowed a few final adoptions to the US to go through.

ABC describes that 52 adoption papers for families from the United States had been left hanging, when the new legislation was passed as they were being finalized. Approximately 24 cases have been approved so far, with the rest still being looked over.

Robert and Kim Summers were united with Preston, the 22-month-old boy they adopted. He was able to leave Russia on Sunday, when the couple traveled there for him.

“We decided we were going to bring this baby home, no matter what it took,” father Robert says.

They took a trip to Kaluga, to pick up the boy from an orphanage. They had scheduled to return on January 11, but Preston's documentation was not approved.

He could not be issued a passport right away, due to legal issues with the date of his adoption. The Summers finalized proceedings before January 1, though, and were eventually allowed to take their son with them.

They had to plead with officials to issue a passport for the child. The same applied in many cases, with parents complaining about bureaucracy standing in the way of the documents being filed.

Children's Rights Commissioner for President Putin, Pavel Astakhov, made public the fact that, if the adoptions were finalized before the beginning of the year, the parents were allowed to pick up their children. Problems arose among those dealing in public relations, at a low level.

As we reported a week ago, a visually impaired teenager from Russia criticized the adoption ban through an open letter to Putin.

“Among the orphans, there are many disabled children who live a short life because of their congenital diseases and die at the age of 20 at best.

“Our families won’t adopt children with grave congenital disorders; such children require modern healthcare facilities which are nonexistent in Russia,” Natalya Pisarenko wrote.