Schumer calls on Russia to process pending US adoptions

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Russia to allow American families who have already begun the process of adopting a Russian child to complete the adoption.

At the end of last year, Russia banned all U.S. adoptions of Russian children, but the law allows Russian officials and courts to allow pending adoption to be finalized. Schumer said Tuesday that until a long-term agreement is reached to lift the ban, that the Russian government should allow the few pending adoptions to go through.

“Allowing adoptions that have already begun to go forward is the best thing to do for both the families and the children,” Schumer said. “Our two countries need to work out a long-term solution to ease this ban, but in the short term, we need to ensure a way that these parents, who have already met and formed a real connection with their children, can bring them back to the United States.”

There are 884 U.S. adoption cases that remain open at various stages of the adoption process with Russia, and in nearly half of those cases the prospective parents and adoptee have met.

Schumer said U.S. parents have likely already spent on average more than $50,000 for visas, travel and the adoption, so they at least deserve to have the process concluded.

He said he has also urged the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey I. Kislyak to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to reconsider the ban.

---