One Year

It seems that Russia has decided to honor the bilateral agreement reached last year, and delay putting the ban on adoption by Americans until January 2014.

This is great news!  There are nearly 50 American families who have already completed all the legal steps of their Russian adoptions -- their children have been assigned to them legally by Russian courts -- who have been holding their breaths for the last 2 weeks for fear that they would not be permitted to bring their children home.  They will now be able to do so.  There are hundreds of other families at various stages in the process, who will also (hopefully) be able to complete their adoptions.

This is also a window of opportunity for the rest of us.  One year.  One year in which to complete a home-study, submit a dossier, and make 3 trips to Russia to bring home a child before the gates shut.  Yes, there are many needy orphans elsewhere in the world, including here in U.S. foster care.  A year later they will be.... a year older.  A year later, Russian orphans will no longer be eligible for adoption by Americans.  Americans have consistently adopted more Russian children than any other country.  Being wealthier on average means that we can better afford the costs of adoption than most Europeans.  We have extensive medical and educational facilities for addressing the special needs of most adoptees. 

Let us take action in 2013 -- reach out to our communities, and support families who are willing to take this leap -- maybe even take this leap ourselves!  Let's see how many Russian orphans can be rescued this year.

And who knows, the law might just be amended or abolished in the meantime.