Intercountry Adoptions to U.S. Parents Growing Increasingly Difficult by David Tobenkin Carl and Dawn Westervelt expected a very special reason for expressing gratitude this past Thanksgiving Day. Little Edith, a tiny girl born five weeks premature and given up by her agricultural worker mother into an orphanage, would be joining them from more than 4,000 miles away in Russia. ìSheís a cutie. She has brown hair, brown eyes,î Dawn said of Edith, whom the Westervelts have nicknamed Edie. ìWhen I saw her in the orphanage, she had her hair up in scrunchies, and she was lightweight and a little undersized. But she went right to me. She looked up into my eyes for a good long time. We knew she would thrive in her new home, that our family would love her to death, and sheíd soak it up.î Everything was ready: The Westervelts were approved as adoptive parents, all the paperwork was prepared, and a Russian judge was prepared to grant custody. And little Edie could hardly have found a more appropriate family: Dawn is a former nurse, both of the Westerveltsí sons were born premature, giving Dawn and Carl experience with the special developmental challenges that poses, and both of them lost their mothers e arly in life. Then disaster struck. The accreditation of the Westerveltsí Russian adoption agency expired. The body charged with accrediting Russian adoption agencies had earlier been eliminated, and hence their agency could not renew its accreditation. In November, the judge refused to approve the adoption without a certification that only an accredited agency could provide. Thanksgiving came and went. Little Edie did not arrive. The Westervelts assumed the delay reflected a bureaucratic snafu that would be quickly resolved. Hopes began to build for a very special Christmas with the arrival of little Edie, and presents for her were placed under the Christmas tree. But then Christmas came and went and little Edie did not arrive. Now after a wait of 19 months, seemingly endless paperwork, and expenditures of more than $15,000, the Westervelts wonder when, if ever, little Edie will be joining them and how she is faring. ìWhen we last saw it, the orphanage was in good condition and she was getting good care, but we hear now that the orphanage is 50 percent over its normal occupancy level because of these delays,î Carl said. ìThe person who was our guide and translator lost his full-time job. People specialized in the process there are not employed right now. The last report was that Edie had gained no weight and was only a miniscule bit taller.î The Westervelts are not alone in their plight. Many families like them attempting to adopt from Russia and several other countries that are leading providers of foreign orphans to U.S. couples are facing new difficulties because of bureaucratic obstacles or in some cases because of absolute bars on adoptions and rising nationalism. Adoptions of foreign children by U.S. couples like the Westervelts have steadily grown in recent years. In 2004, the number of immigrant visas issued to orphans coming to the United States was 22,884, compared to 21,616 in 2003, and just 7,093 in 1990, according to the U.S. Department of State. The annual total has increased almost every year over the past 14 years. Some now wonder, however, if the growth trend may come to an end this year and, in fact, reverse itself because of the adoption situations in Russia and a number of other countries. ìIn recent years, weíve seen that international, intercountry adoptions have risen year over year,î said Lee Allen, spokesman for the National Council for Adoption. ìWeíre concerned that in some parts of the world the trend will be to slow down this year. This reflects a trend toward nationalistic ideologies in countries of Eastern Europe, as well as bureaucratic delays.î He said the conditions for foreign adoptions in Russia, the second largest donor of children to U.S. adoptive parents in 2004, and in Romania may be the most grave. Allen said Russia was currently only providing a third of the normal number of visas for children coming to United States and that thousands of children have been affected. Allen added that people fear this is the beginning of a broader trend in Eastern European countries because of standards imposed by the European Union. Romania, formerly one of the largest sources of adoptable children, in June 2004 passed legislation cutting off all foreign adoptions except those by grandparents living abroad. Child orphan visas have fallen from 1,122 in 2000 to 57 in 2004. Belarus announced that it will not accept any new adoption applications in 2005, and in January increased the period during which adoptive parents must wait to see if their child is adopted by a Belarus native from three to six months. Likewise, visas for Vietnamese adoptive children, which numbered 766 in 2002, have dwindled to less than a tenth of that number in 2004 after a new decree on international adoptions imposed requirements on international adoptions, including that there be an agreement between Vietnam and other countries regarding international adoptions before they can take place. However, a U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it is too soon to draw overall conclusions on adoption trends, given that each countryís circumstances are unique and that past interruptions in the flow of adoptions from foreign countries proved to be temporary. ìIím not sure that the premise that thereís a trend toward increasing difficulty for foreign adoptions is correct,î he said. ìWe really donít know what is going to happen in 2005. We know that certainly the trend in recent years has been toward increasing numbers of adoptions. And that occurred despite other events in the past that have interrupted the normal processing of adoptions. ìFor example, there were similar concerns in 2003 with Guatemala when they attempted to adhere to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption,î he continued. ìThat was a good thing because the Hague treaty is designed to improve the processes for intercountry adoptions, but the way they did it abruptly changed their processing procedures without providing transition. Then the accession to the convention was challenged internally and ultimately the Guatemalan constitutional court rejected accession to the treaty. During that whole period, there was a lengthy period where legal status of foreign adoptions, and the procedures for them, were not clear, and where there was a lengthy waiting time. Nonetheless, from 2003 to 2004, the numbers of adoptions increased. So itís difficult to predict at any point in the year where the trend will be.î Indeed, reading the tea leaves for international adoption trends is difficult. To begin with, most foreign children adopted by U.S. couples come from a relatively small number of countries that comprise a motley assortment of varying sizes and geographic locations with seemingly little in common. In 2004, the top 15 leading adoption source countries were, in order: China, Russia, Guatemala, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, India, Haiti, Ethiopia, Colombia, Belarus, Philippines, Bulgaria, Poland and Mexico. That spans 7,044 orphan immigrant visas for children from China to 89 from Mexico. Allen said the unifying factor is that all of these countries generally have had procedures that help facilitate adoptions by foreigners. Although the situation of adoptive parents stuck in the middle of a slowed-down or halted adoption process, like the Westervelts, is serious, all sides concede that if there were enough good families for the adoptive children in their countries of origin, it would be better that they remain there. Most countries that allow intercountry adoptions first try to place orphans with extended family, then with unrelated families in the same region, then with other citizens elsewhere in the country, and only then with foreign parents. Still, the State Department official said that although the best interests of the child have played a large part in recent procedural changes by some countries, rising national pride has also played a role. That is particularly the case for countries making economic advances such as Romania, he said, noting that no country particularly wishes to be perceived as unable to provide for its orphans. Nor does any region. The State Department official said the European Union has encouraged the Romanian government, which is attempting to join the EU, to avoid large exports of children as a matter of regional pride. Foreign adoptions have also aroused opposition in Russia. One prominent Russian opponent of foreign adoptions, a Communist Party deputy, last year called Russia ìa dirty country that sells its children.î The United States itself allows adoptions of U.S. children elsewhere, and a number of its childr en have, for example, been adopted by Canadians. In Russia, the adoption delays led the National Council for Adoption (NCFA) and a coalition of adoption agencies to take the extraordinary step of publishing an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian newspaper Izvestia in February. The letter detailed the plight of families like the Westervelts and urged Putin to take action to address the problem. In addition to the continuing accreditation issue, the letter said another bureaucratic obstacle is slowing the process for foreign adoption of Russian children, pointing to release letters that indicate when a child becomes eligible for international adoption. Russia, like most countries, requires that Russian citizens be given the first opportunity to adopt Russian orphans. However, prospective adoptive parents are experiencing very long delays in obtaining the release letters indicating that the waiting period has expired. A written response from the Embassy of Russia acknowledged that delays have occurred, but said recent changes may help to address the concerns raised by NCFA. The statement said that on March 10, the Russian government adopted a decree that transferred the authority to issue licenses to foreign adoption organizations and monitor their activities to the Ministry of Education and Science. ìThis agency now has full powers to address relevant adoption problems and is already up and running,î the statement said. ìThe Russian leadership has always been conscious of the importance of international adoption of Russian orphans and have taken practical steps to protect their rights and legitimate interests, as well as monitor their living conditions and well-being in adoptive countries. ìSurely, such delays could have occurred, but they were largely due to the government reform and introduction of a new legal framework governing adoption. However, now that the new government decree is in force, we are confident that the mechanism regulating these issues will be activated.î However, it appears that a formal extension of the waiting period for making Russian children available for international adoption will slow the availability of such children prospectively. In December 2004, the Russian Parliament passed an amendment to the family law that lengthened the required time on the federal databank for orphan eligibility for international adoption to a total of eight months. The Russian Embassy statement said, ìMembers of the State Duma believe that this measure was the result of a growing number of adoptions performed in violation of Russian laws, as well as numerous cases of abuse of Russian children in their foreign adoptive families and, accordingly, the need to ensure their proper protection and monitor their living conditions.î The NCFA letter also said there are reports that new legislation requiring a bilateral treaty for international adoption may soon be proposed in the State Duma, the Russian lower house of parliament. The letter claimed such legislation would severely disrupt international adoption from Russia and would actually conflict with the multilateral Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, which both Russia and the United States have signed, but have not ratified. The statement from the Russian Embassy downplayed such concerns: ìWe do not have a bilateral adoption agreement in place with the United States, and, at this stage, we do not see a need for one. As for the proposals to legally limit international adoption occasionally put forward by certain members of the State Duma, they by no means suggest that we backtrack on our strong commitment to international norms in this area.î Publishing the open letter was a high-stakes gamble. President Putin has been quick to take umbrage at foreign efforts to influence what he perceives as Russian internal matters. For families like the Westervelts, that translates into real concerns about retaliation, about hearing the dreaded ìweíve misplaced your fileî from Russian adoption officials. The State Department official said that so far as his office could tell, the Russian adoption slowdown ìdoes not reflect a political decision. Itís caused by changes in Russian organizational processes, so far as we can tell. We are pressuring the Russian government for resumption of normal processing speed.î In Romania, which confronted horrifying scenes of neglected children in state orphanages after the fall of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, the situation is more complex than first meets the eye, the State Department official said. ìRomania in 2004 passed a law that effectively prohibited all adoptions save to Romanian grandparents living abroadódespite the fact that the United States very strongly and at the highest level urged them not to do that,î he said. ìSince that legislation was passed, the U.S. government has urged the Romanian government to resolve cases in the pipeline. The Romanians havenít said how they will deal with those in the pipeline.î With respect to Vietnam, where the government imposed a requirement for bilateral adoption treaties with the countries of the parents, the State Department is actively discussing with the Vietnamese government conditions under which adoptions could continue. ìThe two countries are negotiating a bilateral adoption treaty, and they hope it will be signed this year,î Embassy of Vietnam press attachÈ Ngoc Chien Bach said. Sometimes, orphan visa cuts reflect concerns about child trafficking, such as in Cambodia, where orphan visas fell from 402 in 2000 to a negligible number in 2004. ìThere was real evidence in late 2001 of egregious fraud and trafficking of kids,î the State Department official said. ìIn recent cases, the adoption facilitators pled guilty in federal court. That led the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to impose a moratorium on adoptions to protect the children and adoptive parents. Thatís still in effect.î The recent tsunami in Southeast Asia has generated a wave of inquires on adoptions of orphaned children. The State Department has urged prospective U.S. parents not to seek adoption from those countries to allow time to match parents and children who were dislocated or place true orphans with extended family or other countrymen. Many governments from affected countries have been proactive in attempting to set up relief for the orphans. ìThere are maybe 872 orphans from the tsunami as of Feb. 10 and practically every one will be taken care of by a new foundation established by our king,î said Thai Ambassador Kasit Piromya. ìThis foundation is going to build four schools in [six southern provinces] affected by the tsunami. That will include dorms, infirmaries and schools with teachers. Construction of these has already started by military. They will be looked after until university age even if they are not adopted. We anticipate that Thai families will be able to adopt most of the kids. If they cannot accommodate all of them, American families can apply and we can send applications to the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security to consider them as possible parents.î In India, the issue of tsunami-related orphans is not a large one. ìThere was not a large number of children who became orphans, so we have had no change in our adoption policy as a result of the tsunami,î said Gautam Bambawale, press minister of the Embassy of India. Although the improved treatment of orphans in some key countries and improved standards for adoption through the Hague Treaty are positive developments for orphans in general, it does little to help those adopting couples and orphans left in the lurch of existing policies. The Westervelts say their concerns over little Edie are growing, but that they are maintaining hope. ìThe emotional part of it is very challenging,î Carl Westervelt said of Edie, who is now 20 months old. ìEdieís brothers are excited, pray for her every day, and ask about her often and about when will we bring her home. I have a Blackberry and I keep looking at it hoping it will be a call telling me theyíll allow me to bring my daughter home.î David Tobenkin is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.