American Torry-Ann Hansen SENDS BACK Adopted Russian Son Artem

[deepimpact2]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_531477.html

ussia should freeze all child adoptions with U.S. families, the country's foreign minister urged Friday after an American woman allegedly put her 8-year-old adopted Russian son on a one-way flight back to his homeland.

Artyom Savelyev arrived in Moscow unaccompanied on a United Airlines flight Thursday from Washington, the Kremlin children's rights office said Friday.

The children's office said the boy, whose adoptive name is Justin Hansen, was carrying a letter from his adoptive mother, Torry Hansen of Shelbyville, Tennessee, saying she was returning him due to severe psychological problems.

"This child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues," the letter said, according to Russian officials, who sent what they said was a copy of the letter to The Associated Press. The authenticity of the letter could not be independently verified.

The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Beyrle, said he was "deeply shocked by the news" and "very angry that any family would act so callously toward a child that they had legally adopted."

The boy is now in the hospital in northern Moscow for a checkup, Anna Orlova, spokeswoman for Kremlin's Children Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov, told The Associated Press.

Orlova, who visited Savelyev on Friday, said the child reported that his mother was "bad," "did not love him," and used to pull his hair.

Savelyev was adopted late September last year from the town of Partizansk in Russia's Far East.

He turned up at the door of the Russian Education and Science Ministry on Thursday afternoon accompanied by a Russian man who had been hired by Savelyev's adopted grandmother to pick him up from the airport, according to the ministry. The chaperone handed over the boy and his documents, and then left, officials said.

[AnotherKD]

That is absolutely horrible. And I hate to be selfish, but my husband and I were starting to go through the process of adopting a Russian child... I hope the process isn't stalled too long or cancelled completely.

[33girl]

I swear, the Law & Order episodes are starting to become self-fulfilling prophecies.

If this child does have major emotional problems and they weren't fully disclosed or outright lied about to the adoptive parents, IMO they are completely justified in returning him to the adoption agency. This sure isn't the way to do so though.

[Fatal1913]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I swear, the Law & Order episodes are starting to become self-fulfilling prophecies.

If this child does have major emotional problems and they weren't fully disclosed or outright lied about to the adoptive parents, IMO they are completely justified in returning him to the adoption agency. This sure isn't the way to do so though.

I agree

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I swear, the Law & Order episodes are starting to become self-fulfilling prophecies.

If this child does have major emotional problems and they weren't fully disclosed or outright lied about to the adoptive parents, IMO they are completely justified in returning him to the adoption agency. This sure isn't the way to do so though.

I don't think that's moral at all, nor justifiable.

There are no guarantees in adoption. Adoptive families need to be open to what they get as that's what they sign up for.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I don't think that's moral at all, nor justifiable.

There are no guarantees in adoption. Adoptive families need to be open to what they get as that's what they sign up for.

Like Munchkin03 said, many Russian orphanages aren't fully disclosing physical or mental problems. That isn't moral or justifiable either, if they're purposely doing it to unload kids who they don't think will get adopted. Some parents have no problem adopting special needs kids at all - in fact they request them. But you shouldn't be told "this child is 100% healthy" only to get him home and have to pay for $20,000 worth of surgery and ongoing psychiatric care.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Like Munchkin03 said, many Russian orphanages aren't fully disclosing physical or mental problems. That isn't moral or justifiable either, if they're purposely doing it to unload kids who they don't think will get adopted. Some parents have no problem adopting special needs kids at all - in fact they request them. But you shouldn't be told "this child is 100% healthy" only to get him home and have to pay for $20,000 worth of surgery and ongoing psychiatric care.

Many countries do this, even our own. Some wonderful people we know adopted a set of sisters a few years ago. The county that sent them swore that they had no problems, that they just needed love. After a brief honeymoon period, all hell broke loose. It seems that the home county lied; 2 of the girls had been in psychiatric hospitals several times. They put our friends--both warm, incredible teachers--through hell, I don't know how else to put it, for 5 years and our friends finally had to disrupt the adoption. They hung in there a lot longer than most people would have. Our friends will never be the same again.

There is a term for this, when the agency knowingly places a child with severe problems with someone but passes them off as normal: *wrongful adoption*. More and more agencies are being sued for this, as they should be. Lying about a child's problems in order to get him or her placed is horrendous! Adoptive parents have had to suffer through the intrusion of home studies and then they're usually turned down for child after child until finally their family is chosen. Normally, they've spent thousands of dollars by this time.

The adoptive mother should have gone through the regular channels to disrupt her adoption--probably that involved connecting with the American agency she used--but most experienced adoptive parents, and I am one, have no problem with a family who was lied to deciding to disrupt their adoption.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by AnotherKD

That is absolutely horrible. And I hate to be selfish, but my husband and I were starting to go through the process of adopting a Russian child... I hope the process isn't stalled too long or cancelled completely.

So do I! My friends are in the final stages of adopting an 18 month old girl from Russia. They are supposed to leave next week for a 28 day trip to pick her up and bring her back to the US.

[AnotherKD]

I ironically saw a "Police Women of Maricopa County" episode last night (there was nothing on, and it's totally a guilty pleasure of mine) and there was a woman who called the cops to take her foster son away- apparently he was a teenager, had some sort of mental disease that made him act much younger, and even though he was in the family's house since he was like 7 years old, they decided they had enough of him and told the cops, "Here, you take him". It's sad.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by AnotherKD

I ironically saw a "Police Women of Maricopa County" episode last night (there was nothing on, and it's totally a guilty pleasure of mine) and there was a woman who called the cops to take her foster son away- apparently he was a teenager, had some sort of mental disease that made him act much younger, and even though he was in the family's house since he was like 7 years old, they decided they had enough of him and told the cops, "Here, you take him". It's sad.

The foster system itself is sad. Yes they do take children from crappy home lives, but they also are often put back into a foster family that is just as messed up. It happens in Kentucky all the time. A few of them were former patients of mine.

[Fatal1913]

Do they tell you if a child is mentally challenged prior to the completion of an adoption?

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by Fatal1913

Do they tell you if a child is mentally challenged prior to the completion of an adoption?

This is part of the problem. A lot of orphanages and agencies aren't disclosing known mental OR physical health problems with the kids, especially when foreigners are adopting the kids. Do you remember what happened when Americans adopted the children from Romanian orphanages after the fall of Communism?

There was a similar case in Minnesota, where the adoptive parents went to the state and shared their concerns. In this case, the parents had already adopted a Russian baby with little problem; the orphanages were different.

Also, let's not forget that many, if not most, of the kids in these orphanages aren't orphans at all and were just dropped off by their parents for whatever reason. Who knows what they saw and experienced before being dropped off?

[DaffyKD]

We have a family member who was adopted from Russia. At the time the child was 7 months old. The adoptive parents were sent a tape of the child to be reviewed by doctors. They knew that there might be some developmental delays since he was turned over to the orphanage by the mother the day he was born and thus not given the attention necessary for proper development. Once the child turn 4 the parents were informed by doctors here that many of the child's problems were because of attachment disorders. There is no way the child is going to be returned to Russia, the parents spend lots of money on therapy and special school in order to help the child become successful in life.

To send the child back after 6 months because of behavior is awful. A 7 year old come with lots of baggage, and that means it will take time to adjust, learn a new language, not feel as if they are abandoned, and feel loved. There is no way this child will develop instant love and respect for the adoptive family. He is still trying to figure out what is going on.

DaffyKD

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Do you remember what happened when Americans adopted the children from Romanian orphanages after the fall of Communism?

I don't. What happened?

And thanks everyone for your insightful posts. I find the story to be disturbing on so many levels.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

I don't. What happened?

And thanks everyone for your insightful posts. I find the story to be disturbing on so many levels.

Basically, the Communist dictator (Ceausescu) ordered kids in orphanages to undergo regular blood transfusions so they would look "healthier," and thus more attractive to potential adoptive parents. Basically, they didn't look healthy because they were malnourished, not held, and all of the other important things you need to do to take care of a small child. It's not surprising, then, that their medical records were doctored so the Americans, who came in to adopt in droves after Ceausescu was executed, would have no problems adopting a cute white baby whose parents were MIA.

When the kids just couldn't shake colds and always seemed sick, the confused parents took kids to the doctor, where they were diagnosed with AIDS. The kids who were adopted by Americans were lucky in that they had access to better medical care.

I vividly remember the "black backlash" about White parents adopting Black babies, and I ignored it back then too. People who complain about a problem without offering a solution suck. I know of a handful of black families who have adopted; most often it tends to be within the family or the community, or even within a church.