July 2010

July 15, 2010. Adoption Disruption. Disruption and dissolution of adoptions is a traumatic topic in the adoption community. Nationally the estimates for domestic adoption disruption run from 15 percent to 25 percent. We believe, based on anecdotal evidence, that the disruption and dissolution rate for internationally adopted children is significantly lower. Still we hope that all adoptive parents who feel that they are in a situation which is beyond their control will remember that there are people who will help, resources that are available to them and that they can always contact us at adoptionpolicy.org.

July 14, 2010. The Taraz Ten. Taraz is a district of Kazakhstan where ten children are basically being held hostage by local judges who disapprove of international adoption. These children were in the process of being adopted by U.S., German and other families. The families have fulfilled all the Kazakh requirements as well as all the adoption requirements of their home countries. The families have bonded with their children - one particular U.S. family has been in Kazakhstan since December 14, in order not to leave the boy they consider their son. We recognize the right of an independent judiciary, here and in Kazakhstan. However, we urge the Department of State to continue to work toward a diplomatic solution which will allow these children to come home. More Information.

July 13, 2010. Documents for Haitian Children with Humanitarian Parole. USCIS and the Department of Health and Human Services have now sent out the letters they have drafted to each individual sponsor/family of a Haitian child with humanitarian parole. These letters are vital for families in their quest to adopt their child/ren and obtain their child/ren's citizenship. We first want to thank again the many U.S. government officials who have worked so hard to help get these documents completed and distributed. We also want to urge any sponsor family of a Haitian child/ren with humanitarian parole who has not received these letters to contact their adoption service provider. Such sponsor families should also be free to contact us at adoptionpolicy.org.

July 12, 2010. Six Months Later. Today marks the six month anniversary of the devastating Haitian earthquake. The ledger has some pluses: the unprecedented U.S. effort to aid earthquake victims in the initial period after the quake, the outpouring of financial support from American families and of course, the humanitarian parole program which brought over 1000 children who in the process of being adopted by U.S. parents to this country. But the situation, as Deborah Sontag's article in the New York Times makes clear, remains bleak: "Only 28,000 of the 1.5 million Haitians displaced by the earthquake have moved into new homes, and the Port-au-Prince area remains a tableau of life in the ruins." Yet Haiti has faded into the shadows as new crises take front-stage. The challenge will be for all of us to keep our focus on helping Haiti while dealing with newer challenges. More Information.

July 8, 2010. Kazakhstan International Adoption Program On Hold. As of May, Kazakh officials in the United States stopped accepting new international adoption dossiers from potential adoptive parents. The Kazakhstani government explained their policy as a breather period necessary until Kazakhstan joins the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. While the Kazakh government has stated that it hopes that the implementing legislation will be enacted in September, Kazakhstan thereafter will need to enact Hague-compliant regulations for processing international adoptions. Therefore, no one can state when new international adoptions will begin in Kazakhstan. The State Department advises that "prospective adoptive parents should not attempt to initiate any new adoptions in Kazakhstan." We agree. More Information.

July 7, 2010. Hague Procedures Affecting Special Need Adoption in China. In rare cases, disruptions in adoption placements occur when prospective adoptive parents go to China. If the child has an undisclosed or much more severed medical need, Chinese officials have in the past given the PAPs a second referral. Under the I-600/A orphan process, it was possible for PAPs to complete the paperwork for the second child while they were still in China. As China and the United States are Hague Convention countries, only grandfathered families are using the I-600/A process. The transition to the Hague I-800/A process means, however, that in the case of a disrupted referral and subsequent second referral, the PAPs will have to return to the United States and process the second referral, received the I-800 and article 5 approvals and then return to China.

July 6, 2010. Chinese Delegation Update on International Adoption From China. The Australian Attorney General's office has just posted a briefing on the visit to Australia of China Center for Adoption Affairs officials in May. The news is not surprising but rather confirms what those of us following this subject have concluded. The Chinese officials stated that because there were very few healthy babies in need of international adoption, their emphasis will be on older children and children with special needs. Older, healthy children are now usually above 11 years old and many of the younger children have multiple or more serious specials needs. Waiting periods (now in excess of four years from LID to referral) will not decrease for non-special needs adoption, given that CCAA estimates there is a backlog of 20,000 dossiers worldwide. As previously reported here the Ministry of Civil Affairs has given CCAA increased responsibility for general child welfare in China. More Information.