http://www.easternecho.com Torry Ann Hansen made international headlines last week when she returned her adopted son, Justin, to Russia. en-us Gryphon 2.3.1-dsw (pewabic)/Foundry5 Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:42:26 -0400 webmaster@easternecho.com http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/822 I absolutely agree. As a mother (and an adoptive one at that), I don’t understand how this could happen with (so far) no repercussions to the mother. Having children naturally or by adoption is a commitment, and not a decision to be taken lightly – nor does it come with a money back guarantee. And besides all that…what kind of person puts a child on a plane and sends them off to a foreign country with a note explaining the situation? Is that really the best answer she could come up with?? I can’t blame the adoption officials who are rethinking some of their processes…though, hopefully they won’t let one person who clearly isn’t cut out for parenting spoil the chances for other American families to be created through international adoption. Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:26:12 -0400 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/822 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/823 You are correct, the mother is guilty of child abandonment. My grandson, is extremely difficult, but we love and we would never think of doing anything to him. He is a beautiful child. My son, when he was young, got made at school and threatened to burn it down, he was in 2nd grade. Today he married, a father of two, and goes to church every Sunday. A lot of kids can be difficult at times, but they outgrow it. This mother needed to love that child, hold him, and help him grow into a good adult. She needs, send her to Siberia and bring the boy back. Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:26:24 -0400 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/823 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/824 I agree with a lot of what this article states, but as an adoptive parent – my child was adopted from Russia – the statement “According to the U.S. State Department, when a parent adopts a child, besides agreeing to care for the child until he or she is 18, they are assigned an adoption specialist who helps the family and the new child adjust. The social worker also monitors the family for potential problems”… is NOT true – if there is an “assigned adoption specialist” I’d like to meet them – in the 4 years since my adoption in Russia was completed, I have never even heard of such, and I would venture to guess that even if a social worker did visit, it was for the first of the 3 required updates which have to be filed with the Russian consulate after the adoption and it is more a formaility than a “true” visit from a social worker… I believe that this is a very sad situation and I pray that other children and parents will not have to pay for one overwhelmed individuals bad judgment… Mercy!! Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:24:20 -0400 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/824 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/825 I adopted a 6 y/o from Russia, she is now 11. They told me up front that children instutionalized in Orphanages will have developmental problems, so I expected that. She also had nutritional defecits and at age 6 wore a size 18 months to 3 in clothing. These are children that never owned anything to call their own, slept on tiny cot like beds, were locked away from bathrooms at night, were never allowed to go to the refrigerator to get a snack, and never experienced the love, kindness and attention that family born children get from parents. Who wouldn’t have emotional problems under those circumstances. After adoption they experience post traumatic stress effects too. Post-instutionalized children must be treated with love and care. My daughter also has Fetal Alcohol Effects..drinking during pregnancy is common in Russia..so that means she has further cognitive delays. But she is my daughter, I love her, and whatever problems she may have are things that I will help her deal with no matter what I have to do. Her future is the important thing in my adoption. After the adoption it is standard procedure to have a Social Worker (the one you had do your pre-adoption home visit, so it is a person of your choice) do post adoptive evaluations at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years. This is to help evaluate and deal with any problems. Adoption agencies also recommend you take your child to a medical specialist pediatrican, psychologist etc. There are also specialists available, usually in bigger cities, in adoptive medicine that can help assess a child and steer parents toward services. Adoption is not about the parents and their wish for a ‘perfect’ fantasy child….it’s about the CHILD, a child that has already experienced the effects of abandonmen, and his/her need for a loving kind family that will love and take care of him/her no matter what. A family that will be like his/her rock of strength and help him/her deal with his problems, no matter what the extent of them. That poor, innocent little boy being bounced back and forth internationally country to country, from people (adults who should know better—I can’t call them “family”) to orphanage. How scared, hurt and painful he must feel. I can’t imagine how horrified he must have felt being put on an international flight (16 hours or so) all alone. (I also can’t imagine why the airline allowed a small child to travel alone on that long flight. Why did they even let him board?)These are scars to his psyche that will last a lifetime. His welfare is the important issue in this mess. I don’t blame the Russian government for feeling he’d be safer and better cared for than he was by these people back in the security of an orphanage. The horrible thing is that they may have ruined the chances at Russian adoption for many loving families who would be willing to take any child no matter how imperfect. Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:06:18 -0400 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/825 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/826 I very weary to believe that Russia with 740,000 orphans in its “system” is capable of providing full physical and psychological records of all their orphans to perspective parents. It is no hidden knowledge that most of these children are kept in dreadful subhuman living conditions. Many are born with birth defects due to an irresponsible lifestyle the birth mother might have had or the environmental conditions she might have lived in. Orphanages are often in poor conditions due to a lack of government funding. These children lack medical and nutritional care not to mentioned emotional loving care. I do not condone Torry-Ann Hansen’s actions, but I can certainly understand why she did it. Russia is up in arms about this whole situation, threatening to freeze all adoptions… demanding that Ms Hansen be held accountable for the abandonment, neglect and supposed abuse of this 7 year old russian child. Well… what about the abandonment, neglect and abuse of the 740,000 orphans in their system? Who in Russia is held accountable for their suffering? I do hope that our U.S. government doesn’t get persuaded into any adoption treaty… Russia shouldn’t have any legal say over Americans who adopt. They should busy themselves in prosecuting the thousands of dead-beat parents that so easily abandon their children. I’d rather they cease adoptions to the U.S. then to be bullied into a bureaucratic treaty. Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:42:26 -0400 http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/comment/view/826