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!