U.S. to urge Russia to continue adoptions after boy's return

(News Terupdate) - Top officials from the U.S. State Department plan to travel to Moscow this week to push Russia to allow adoptions by U.S. families to continue.

The trip comes after a U.S. family sparked outrage by sending an adopted 7-year-old boy back to Russia alone. Officials in Moscow have threatened to halt all adoptions by U.S. families.

"We were certainly shocked, as was everybody, about the return of the child. We are hoping to work with the Russians to continue the adoptions of children," said Michael D. Kirby, principal deputy assistant for consular affairs. "We have had over 50,000 children adopted from Russia. The vast majority are doing great here in the United States."

The woman who returned the boy, after adopting him last year, said he showed violent and psychotic behavior and that officials in Russia had given no warning.

"I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends and myself I no longer wish to parent this child," Torry Hansen wrote in a note in the child's backpack. She added that Russian orphanage workers "lied to and misled" her about the boy, Artyem, who was renamed Justin Artyem when the family adopted him last year.

In a phone call with CNN, Hansen's mother Nancy Hansen said the boy "had a hit list of people he wanted to hurt." Number one on that list: his American mom, who Nancy says threatened to "kill her for the house."

The last straw, the adoptive grandmother said, came last week when the family caught the boy trying to start a fire in the home.

A Russian psychologist who visited the boy Friday in a hospital in Moscow, where he was under evaluation to check his health, described him as "very friendly" and communicative. Galina Semya said she saw no aftereffects of psychological trauma, but "he doesn't quite understand why he's here."

When kids are adopted abroad, there are normally several stages of adaptation, including one involving cultural shock, in which children can start behaving aggressively, she said. Normally, children get over the stage after several months, she said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in an interview with ABC News, called the boy's return a "monstrous" act.

Kirby, speaking to CNN's "American Morning," said, "We have to talk about how we can follow up after the children are adopted. First, are the parents properly screened in the process? Are the agencies that are screening them doing all that they could do to ensure that they are prepared to be new parents?"

The agencies should make clear to parents "that children come in all kinds -- some are easier to cope with and others are more difficult," he said.

He added that U.S. officials must also work with the Russians "to make sure that the children themselves are also fully understanding what is going to happen to them as they move to a new country in a strange place."

Russia has suspended the license of the U.S. group involved in the adoption, the World Association for Children and Parents. The group, in a six-page response on its Web site, said it "conducts a careful investigation of each family" before placing a child with it and requires a minimum 10 hours of training. The group also said it conducts numerous post-placement visits with families and makes resources available for dealing with adjustment difficulties.

"If WACAP has any indication that a child is not safe or a family is having difficulties, WACAP makes every attempt to assist them," the statement said. Also, "If there is a desire to dissolve the adoption, advising WACAP will give the child an opportunity for another family."

The group also says it has been documented that single parents can provide excellent homes for children.

Kirby, in the CNN interview, said there are many Russian families who may have the chance to adopt the boy, or he may be placed with another American family. As an adopted child from Russia, the boy has citizenship in both countries.

In Bedford County, Tennessee, where Hansen lives, a criminal investigation is under way, though authorities said they don't know if any laws were broken in the case.

Sheriff Randall Boyce said authorities are still trying to work out a meeting with Hansen and her mother. State Department officials told him they are not aware of any federal laws broken either, Boyce said, adding that officials in Bedford County are trying to unseal the boy's adoption records to research the adoption.

Chuck Crawford, attorney general for the district, said officials have not determined whether the case constitutes child abandonment, but if there was it took place at the airport in Washington, where the boy boarded the plane.

Torry Hansen did not respond to requests for comment.

Tricia Henegar, attorney for the Hansens, said she hoped to meet with the sheriff Monday, though she did not expect the adoptive family to come to the meeting.

Families in the United States have adopted 14,079 children from Russia in the last five years, including 1,586 in 2009, according to the State Department. Russia is the third most popular country for U.S. families adopting children internationally, behind China and Ethiopia.

Source : CNN

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