Russia Moves Closer To Banning Adoptions By American Families
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Russian parliament has passed a bill that would bar American parents from adopting children from Russia. President Vladimir Putin says he'll be deciding within the next two weeks whether to sign the bill into law.
Some Delaware Valley families, meanwhile, think the Russian measure is shortsighted at the very least (see related story).
Carol Schmidt, co-president of the Pennsylvania chapter of Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption ("FRUA") -- shudders to think what life might have been like for her older son, adopted at age four with a host of learning and behavioral issues.
"If he was left in the orphanage, I would suspect he wouldn't get the proper health care," she tells KYW Newsradio. "He'd be put on the streets, probably at age 14 or 16, turn to alcohol."
She says her FRUA chapter's 75 members are mostly thrilled with the families they created through Russian adoption, though it takes work: a year or more for the process, and then years of special care since the majority of the children have disabilities.
Schmidt says a ban on American adoptions would sadden and disappoint parents and would harm Russian children.
"There's so00 many children in orphanages," she says.
