A pair of 15-month-old twins was returned to a St. Petersburg adoption authorities by an unidentified man, the city’s child ombudsman said on Tuesday.It may well be that the current anti-American adoption sentiment in Russia is merely manufactured for domestic political consumption, as this article argues, but boy, American adoptive parents are sure making it easy for them. . . .
“The twins were left on the doorstep of the Moskovskaya Zastava adoption authority. An unidentified man brought them in a baby carriage and left quickly,” St. Petersburg child ombudsman Svetlana Agapitova said.
The babies were adopted by a St. Petersburg resident last October. The adoptive mother, however, faced legal problems after a probe revealed that she failed to notify authorities about her dual Russian-U.S. citizenship as well as having an American husband.
The woman was originally advised to get a letter of consent from her husband before the adoption. It was unclear how she was able to document the adoption without her husband's involvement.
“However, she decided… to abandon the twins. Moreover, she decided not to do this in person,” the ombudsman said.
A probe has been launched and the woman was put on a wanted list. The babies are currently under medical supervision in a children's hospital.
Talking about adoption, birthparents, abandonment, race, and China with my kids. That's not all we talk about -- but reading this blog, you'll think it's all we do!!!!!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Adopted Twins Returned to Russian Agency's Doorstep
And wouldn't you know it would involve Americans:
I think there is a lot that is unclear about this article, the citizenship of the woman in question and whether or not her American husband even wished to parent these children.
ReplyDeleteOne truly has to wonder how this adoption took place without scrutiny of her marrital status, dual citizenship, etc....I think perhaps there is a bit of scapegoating going on too.
With that being said, its appalling these babies were returned by some unknown person and abandoned once again.
Tragic; but it seems to me this is less of an American AP issue and more of a flawed Russian adoptive system issue. Where is their transparency and follow up as they encourage Russians to adopt domestically?
Just my 2 cents.
She's Russian with a US passport and he's a native of Ukraine who is now a US citizen who wasn't even a apart of the adoption process.
ReplyDeleteHow is this a reflection of US adoptive parents and not Russian?
its a stretch to call this story a reflection of American adopters. Pretty soon you'll need to change the name of this blog to Anti adoption talk.
ReplyDeletei like it - anti adoption talk - new blog name for you!
ReplyDeleteTrue, the woman was a native Russian, and the story is she allegedly adopted without the knowledge or consent of the husband (Ukrainian born). Maybe they both became US citizens, who knows. The Russian media likes to stir the pot regarding US adoptions, it has done this for at least the past 10 years that I have been involved in the Russian adoption community. Many of their stories don't hold up factually, either. Some papers I've seen quoted are the equivalent of the US tabloids, not exactly NY Times level of journalistic integrity.
ReplyDeleteAgain, this is a huge stretch by the Russians to say "another example of those bad American adopters" when sorry, they are FSU citizens first and this seems like it wasn't even a legitimate adoption in the first place.
She is only "American" through marriage to the naturalized husband. Since adoption for Russians is free, but big bucks for Americans, it's easy to see why she adopted under her Russian passport as a completely Russian citizen. She allegedly forged the husband's signature on all the documents.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, maybe she thought she'd surprise him with twins and he flipped out, making her then abandon them back to the baby home. Very little about this story is American, nor does it reflect on America at all. They didn't adopt via USCIS and probably heard they couldn't bring the babies back to the US, which might be another reason for abandonment.
What morons these parents are, and also those in Russia charged with finding families for these babies. Miserable fail.
Oh, I see! This doesn't have anything to do with America and Americans because these adoptive parents aren't REALLY Americans. They're merely naturalized citizens, and she's really only a citizen because of her relationship to him.
ReplyDeletePerpetual foreignners, huh? Like my children, born in China and American citizens by virtue of their relationship to me. Like my mother, born in France and an American citizen by virtue of her relationship to my father.
Got it. Second-class citizens. Not REALLY Americans.
@ Malinda,
ReplyDeleteYou fail to see that these actions aren't due soley to their being Americans, but Americans with Dual Citizenship, so any actions should be attributed to their being BOTH Americans and Citizens of the former Soviet Union.
Don't attribute their actions to ALL US adoptive parents without implicating Russian too.
Maybe domestic adoption in Russia have their problems and not just those pesky "Americans" who feel that they are entitled to adopt.
You really shouldn't post about intercountry adoption from FSU if you don't really understand the issues. These adoptions don't fit into your cookie cutter ideology.
Sheeze!
It is also a bit of a stretch to apply the concept of perpetual foreigner to someone who was born and raised in another country and who comes to the US with Dual Citizenship. By that fact that they do not denounce their country of origin they would be both a national and foreign national.
ReplyDeleteQuite different than questioning a US citizen who was born and raised in the US just because of the way they look or speak.
Anyway, the women adopted the twins domestically in Russia so it was a foreign adoption. If she wanted the children to have dual citizenship also, she would have needed to adopt through the US. Sounds like she was trying to pull a fast one. I don't know how she ever though that Russia much less the US would allow this.
Not getting the defensivness about wheter they were American or not.
ReplyDeleteThe point is that is getting lost in all of this is that there are 2 babies that have been abandoned TWICE...double the internal truama, double the lack of self confidence and just a travesty all around.
The point is that ADOPTION with all its "gift giving",money changing hands to attain a abay tends to be about the parents no matter what country they are from. All the failed adoption that happen in ALL countries are a travesty to the child and opens up the dialoge regarding ETHICAL adoptions. The defensive posturing of the aparents never ceases to amaze me.
It is so depressing to see how the children are seen as 2nd rate..the image of the parents and the countries are what counts right?
If a child NEEDS to be adopted, because of the most aweful reasons, they should stay withing their own family if possible, then within their own country if possible ..when all possiblities are exhausted THEN the child can be "put on the open market" sarcasm intended.
When children are abandoned by ther adoptive parents the parents should be fined severly to pay for the continued care this child will need.
She (adoptive mother, whatever her national status is/was!) was trying to pull a fast one pure and simple.
ReplyDeleteThis is not posturing or defensiveness but gosh, does that mean everyone time someone pokes (and Malinda does so quite often!) at American AP's(even when the article has nothing to do with us!), we simply must roll over and ignore such pesky things as...oh, I don't know...the REAL facts surrounding this dubious adoptive parent, her true citizenship and the shades of disfuctions within this particular adoption?
Oh, okay then! Thanks for the clarification and for shutting down any other perspective or dialogue.
Good to know.
P.S. Malinda, nice try. This has nothing to do her being a perpetual foriegner(she's living in Russia for petes sake!) and I think you know that perfectly well.
The only person I see getting defensive is the author of this blog.
And for the record, I too agree that its these children who truly should be the focus of this article and travesty. I agree with Anon. #1 who said it and Anon 1:16, who understands the true tragedy is being lost to sensationalized headlines, postering and personal agendas.
What a pity.
Oh, I see! When my children and I lived in China in 2007, I was still an American,having been born here, but they suddenly were not REALLY American!
ReplyDeleteCan't you see the unconscious bias you reveal with the quickness with which your mind turns toward discounting their American-ness? It's not like it's a sin, but why, when someone points out that you might be suffering from a narrow view of nationalism -- something that can harm ALL internationally adopted children -- do you get so defensive?
Malinda,
ReplyDeleteWithout her to be to ask directly, we have no idea how she identifies herself.
Frankly I know many folks who are living here and absolutely don't consider themselves Americans.
They like America, came for a purpose but remain loyal to their homeland.
Why do you presume we all suffer from narrow or misplaced nationalism? We don't even KNOW the facts about this woman's status......it may be that your view of perpetual foreigness is alive and alive; I don't dispute that; but how does it apply here?
All we are asking for is careful analysis, of any situation.
Not rash, jump to the defensive, presumption of bias reaction.
If you asked this woman, you might be surprised and this has nothing to do with our adopted children here at home. Period.
You didn't post this article as a follow up to your "Lin" post but are using it now in an effort to substantiate your own point of view. That's fine, its your blog...but let's be honest please.
"Oh, I see! When my children and I lived in China in 2007, I was still an American,having been born here, but they suddenly were not REALLY American!"
ReplyDeleteI don't think anybody would dispute your children's Americaness because even though they were born in China there were raised in the US. Living in China for six monthsBut, I'll bet there were Chinese in China who questioned their Chineseness.
This woman was born, raised and living in Russia and adopted as a Russian with no mention of her husband or US citizenship. No one is questioning her being an American, we are questioning her being representative of US adoptive parents in your eyes and in the eyes of Russia.
If you can't see that, then you don't understand the issues here.
Yes I agree with everyone here, that the real tragity is two children being abandoned twice and will now end up in an orphanage again. But then that wasn't the point of the blog entry, instead, it was those pesky Americans adoptive parents again.
My good gosh, the defensiveness of anyone even inferring that an American AP may not be the saint with a halo around her head. WOW.
ReplyDeleteI think this blog owner does a fine job of showing ALL sides of adoption, not just the sides you want discussed (you know, about the almighty adopter and how perfect they think they are).
I especially like this comment...
"It is so depressing to see how the children are seen as 2nd rate..the image of the parents and the countries are what counts right?"
Depressing indeed.
Thanks for the heads up, Malinda.
ReplyDeleteIt is really horrifying to see how people fail to notice the bias they are promulgating towards THEIR OWN CHILDREN (assuming all these anonymous commenters are as defensive as they are because they are international adopters).
When "criticism of bad adoption practices = "anti adoption," what does that say about people who are pro-adoption?
That's probably too difficult for the anonymous chorus to wrap her/their heads around...