Trusting God

We found out on Friday with the rest of the world that a 7 year old boy was returned to Russia by his adoptive mother like unwanted parcel. She had her mother put him on a plane, unaccompanied, and paid a man $200 to meet him at the airport in Moscow and "return" him to the Ministry of Education with only a note to explain she did not want to parent him anymore. Not surprisingly, Russian officials were outraged and have threatened to put a freeze on all Russia-U.S. adoptions. Like the rest of us, they could not believe someone would be so cruel to a young child. Especially one of their own. As they should, Russia is taking this very seriously. However, for families like mine who are in the middle of an international adoption, this means more red tape and more waiting. Click here to read a statement from the Joint Council on International Children’s services sent to us by our agency:

Joint Council Statement on Current Events in Russia
As for the actions of this mother, I am having a hard time believing that she did not know the risks involved in adopting this child. The training we received from our agency specifically addressed all possible issues and disorders associated with adopting and parenting a "waiting" child. We were required to undergo 10 hours of pre-adoption training and our social worker spent hours preparing us for what to expect when we bring our child home. There is no way to enter this process without knowing that these children often come with emotional and/or developmental problems, especially at 7 years old. We were informed to expect some issues and that the older the child, the more severe the issues could be. It does not mean that every child adopted internationally comes with severe emotional or behavioral problems, but that it is prudent to be prepared for the worst. Our agency provided excellent training and preparation for dealing with sensory integration disorder, reactive attachment disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome, and many other problems common among children who are adopted internationally. While I am not sure who is at fault (the mother, her agency, or her social worker), it is clear that she did not have realistic expectations going into this adoption. You cannot expect a 7 year old boy who was taken from his birth family at age 6, put in an orphanage for a year, then taken to a foreign country where he has had his name and identity changed and was given a new "mommy" not to come with psychological issues. Even without the training required for adopting internationally or guidance from a qualified social worker, logic says that a child in this situation would have problems.

That said, we still believe we are called to adopt this little girl from Russia and that God has uniquely equipped us to be her parents. We knew going into this that there would be obstacles and we are belieiving our all-powerful God to work out this seemingly huge problem. Less than a year ago, our agency was blacklisted by Russia for incompliance on post-adoption reporting requirements (along with hundreds of other U.S. agencies as part of Russia's attempt to tighten the process and filter out the "bad" ones). We worried then what would happen, but it was resolved without any impact on our process. If God could see us through that, He can see us through this. Nothing is too big for our God. And His heart is for the orphan. He does not want to see the hundreds of thousands of orphans in Russia lose their opportunity for a forever family any more than we do. So, we will trust God and wait ... again.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers as we wait to bring Hope home from Russia. We should hear something from our agency this week about how the current situation will impact our adoption, so please check back soon!!

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 3:14