Archive for the ‘Russian adoptions’ Category

Adoption Options Receives Accreditation from Russia

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Adoption Options has great news to share with all of you.  We finally received our agency accreditation from Russia after 8 years of hard struggle.  We are pleased to announce that on February 1, 2010 Adoption Options, Inc. was officially accredited by the Ministry of Education in Russian Federation. 

For all of our families that are currently with completed dossiers nothing will change.  For those preparing for their dossiers, there will be slightly different paperwork that will be completed. 

We will continue to work with the Frank Foundation CAI as we always have.  We share a common mission with Frank Foundation CAI that binds us closely together.  While receiving our accreditation will not directly impact you, it does strengthen our political position in Russia. I hope that you share our excitement with this achievement and know that this strengthens our ability to help you complete your goal of adopting a Russian child.

 Warm regards, 

Brent E. Yoder, LCSW

Executive Director

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Foreign Adoptions-Russia

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Adoption Options is looking forward to be working in three new regions in Russia: Orel, Kemerovo, and Krasnoyarsk. These regions will require three trips for the prospective parents.

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Travel updates for Russia

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

1 family came home with their 18 month old boy from the Samara region this weekend

2 families successfully completed their first trips last week to meet an infant girl from Yekaterinburg and an infant girl from Rostov.

1 family is currently on their first trip in Rostov to meet an infant boy.   This is a blind referral. 

1 family is currently on their first trip in Novgorod to meet an infant girl. 

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8 doctor medical requirements in Russia

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Russian courts are now requiring adoptive parents to complete evaluations here in the U.S. prior to travel as well as an additional medical exam that will take place in Russia.  The exam is commonly known as the “8 doctor medical”.  An appointment will be made for you to go to a medical clinic in Russia to have the medical requirement completed. The appointment will occur on either the first or second trip, depending on the region you are adopting from.  The exam requires laboratory testing, which can be completed by your personal physician here in the U.S. prior to travel and brought with you to Russia.   Please contact Brent or Michelle for more details. 

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Currency regulations in Russia

Monday, December 7th, 2009

When traveling to Russia, parents will be asked to carry adoption related expenses in cash.  All fees should be paid in US $100 bills.  The bills should be in good, clean condition, have no visible markings, and printed after the year 2000.   Banks in Russia will not accept bills with tears, excessive wear, or ink and pencil markings.  If you have any questions, please contact Michelle. 

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Adoptions in Russia

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Two of our families have successfully completed court last week and are traveling this week to Vladimir and Samara to pick up their children.

Some families are traveling on trip#1 this week to Ekaterinburg and Rostov to meet their children.

We are looking forward to receiving referrals this month from the region of Yaroslavl.  This is a new region to Adoption Options.

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10-Day Waiting Period in Russia

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

The Federal government of Russia is encouraging all regions to stop waiving a 10-day waiting period for foreign citizens during the International adoption process. Many of our families now have to come back to the region after 10 days to pick up their child.

For more information,  please contact our office at (619) 294-7772.

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Russia children availability for adoption

Monday, March 30th, 2009

We have heard the rumor that Russia has stopped their adoption program or they are having horrible times, or that there are no children available. As with many rumors they are not true or have some partial truth that gets distorted. This is good time to adopt from Russia as long as you are flexible. The wait for infant girls can be long but for infant boys there is only a small waiting period. This past month our agency has had to decline several opportunities for boys because we did not have enough families. Even for an infant girl we have one region that it is likely that we can either get girls over 18 months almost immediately or younger girls within a few months. This particular region while having children readily available is a complex region that requires families to be flexible. If anyone wants to discuss availability please feel free to call us.

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Russia supports international adoptions to US

Friday, March 27th, 2009

The following is an excert from Moscownews.com:
Russia refuses to prohibit adoptions into the US19 Mar 2009, 12:11 PM Russian Parliament has refused to ban adoptions of its orphans by American nationals. The measure was suggested by a Communist MP, bitter about the December acquittal of a US father responsible for the death of his adopted son from Russia . Adoption into the US should be banned, even if temporarily, Nina Ostanina was quoted by Newsru.com website as telling the meeting of State Duma, the lower chamber of Russian Parliament. Between 1996 and 2008, 15 Russian children adopted by Americans died. In 14 cases through the fault of their new parents. At the same time, the US remains the largest adopter of Russian children; for instance, in 2007, 4,536 Russian children were adopted abroad, 3,468 of them into the United States . The projected bill was rejected by most MPs. Instead, a decision was made to develop a standard agreement between Russia and the adopting state, allowing to establish better control over the child’s life after the adoption. The issue of foreign adoptions stands sharp in Russia , where the number of orphans was estimated at 800,000 in October 2008. Of these children, 80 percent were so-called social orphans, rejected by their biological parents or taken from them by legal decision. But foreign help in this matter is regarded as controversial, especially in view of the recent case of American Miles Harrison, who was in December found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter of his 21-month-old adopted Russian son. Harrison left the child in his car unattended in hot weather, causing the child’s death from overheating. The acquittal was officially condemned by Russia ’s Foreign Ministry.

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