Older Child Adoption

Russia allows adoption when it is in the best interests of the child. Russian officials do not like to have sibling groups split up, however, they will allow it when it is best for the children. To adopt a child, who has reached ten years of age, it is necessary to have the child’s permission. While there is no law to this effect, regions say 52). This “unwritten” rule is not strictly applied and is barely a rule at all. Singles of either gender are permitted to adopt, although men seem limited to boys only. Regions can also have their own “rules.” One region does not allow you to adopt a second child within a year of the first adoption, if the two children are unrelated. Another region has no limit for couples, but won’t let a single parent adopt unrelated children at all. Some judges frown at single fathers. In Irkutsk a single father has no chance at all, but in Tyumen they do.

There are very few young sibling sets available for adoption in Russia. enough for a sibling or, more likely, a half sibling to be born and identified as being related to the first child. Most families who wish to adopt an infant and a toddler find that it’s easiest to adopt unrelated children to achieve this goal.

Cases where young siblings are available would be where there is a birth of twins, or where parental rights were terminated because of abuse or neglect, or the parents have died. These are a minority of cases. Yet if your heart is set on adopting twins, and you are willing to wait, then there is always a chance that of this, most people who want to adopt young children adopt unrelated children.

For unknown reasons, more boys than girls appear to be available for adoption. This does vary by Region, however it generally is true. The wait time for a girl can be longer. One reason that is given for there being more boys is that Russian women think that a daughter will more likely take care of them in their old age. Also, Russian men still have a problem with the idea of raising another man’s son.

For the most part, the children are healthy. By this I mean that once brought over to the United States and given proper vitamin enriched foods, medical attention, and love, Russian children respond like any American child. Many do have developmental and speech delays and some have mild attachment issues, but with speech therapy and stimulation they respond favorably. The severe attachment problems that were seen in some of the early Romanian adoptions do exist, but only a minority of children have these issues. almost evenly divided between girls and boys with girls holding a slight edge. Couples adopted 89% of the children, single mothers 10%, and single fathers totaled 15,000 in 2000.