Another US/Russia Bilateral Agreement Update

From our agency today:

Articles have been recently released from various news outlets regarding the status of the Bilateral Agreement. The articles seem to indicate that the outcome of the Agreement includes that single persons and homosexual persons will not be allowed to adopt from Russia. Please note that nothing official has been released by the US or Russian governments with regard to the content/terms of the Agreement. While it is possible that these items may be included, nothing is final until the Agreement is signed into law in both countries.

Please visit the US Embassy in Moscow website for the current official statement regarding the Bilateral Agreement: http://moscow.usembassy.gov/st_adopt072610.html

Visit the JCICS website for their most current statement: http://www.jcics.org/Russia.htm

Once the text of the Agreement is actually finalized by the two parties involved in creating the agreement, it will be sent for further approval by Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Prosecutor General’s Office. After that, it will be sent to the Russian government and on to the Duma to be approved as law. According to Russian officials it will be complete by the end of the year.

In the meantime, activity seems to be picking up in Russia as an agreement draws near. We have been told by our agency that our region will (finally) be inviting one of the four families assigned to our region to travel in August or September of this year. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to wait for our first trip invitation!

US/Russia Bilateral Agreement Update

We have learned that the US and Russian officials are meeting this week to review the Bilateral Agreement again. We anticipate that there will be no complications or opposition. On the Russian side, once the Agreement is complete, it will be sent for review/approval to several Ministry offices as well as to the Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow. Then it will go before the Russian Duma (Parliament), where it will hopefully be signed into law. It is believed that this could be finalized by the end of the year. At this point, we know only one of the terms of the agreement: There will be no more independent adoptions allowed in Russia. Adoptions may only be completed by agencies accredited in Russia (our agency is one of them).

We do have some potentially good news from our agency: our region has indicated the possibility of a first trip invitation in August or September for one of the four families currently waiting to travel. That means we have a 25% chance of still traveling this summer! Our region had previously been on hold since April when the Russian goverment decided to pursue an agreement with the US before continuing with international adoptions. We remain hopeful and ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers as we wait!