Trafficking in children is one of the greatest underground tragedies of our modern age. Politics, the lives of entertainers, sports, and the general background noise of our daily lives buffers us from the tragedies taking place literally in front of our eyes.
In April of 2010, a Tennessee woman, Torry-Ann Hansen, pinned a note on her adopted 7-yr old Russian son’s shirt and put him on a plane back to Moscow, Russia [HuffPost].
Her rational was the boy arrived from Russia suffering from severe mental problems. During his time in Torry-Ann’s life, the boy apparently made an attempt to set a fire, drew pictures of burning his house down, and is said to have attacked Torry-Ann’s aunt. According to her reports, the boy’s behavior was immediately a problem, “hitting, screaming, spitting, and threatening to kill family members,” rapidly escalating into uncontrollable outbursts which made her fearful. After six months of his behavior, Ms. Hansen bought the boy a plane ticket to Moscow, paying a man on the receiving end $200 to deliver the boy into the hands of the Russian Education Ministry (Ministries are not religious organizations, by the way, merely a word for “cabinet,” or “department;” like sending the boy to the offices of the Department of Education, in other words.)
Yes, a tragic set of circumstances. A single woman, wanting a child, and to take in a small boy, nonetheless, is admirable. Most people want babies, not older kids. And, hardly ever boys. Russia has enormous problems with orphans. Google “Russia” “orphan” “statistics;” see for yourself.
My google results yielded some interesting stats: only 1 in 10 Russian orphans will become functioning, productive adults. The remainder will commit crimes, become drug abusers, or commit suicide. I found numbers of Russian orphans ranging from 300,000+ to almost 1,000,000. One site stated “10,000,000” Russia youth are “at-risk.”
JPMorgan was once going to help Russian orphans [link].
Russia has many issues and also a history of not being honest. Putin and Medvedev cannot hold honest elections, jail political dissenters, harass journalists who speak against their policies. Police are notoriously corrupt, as are politicians, and many within the public service. In some circles, Russia is termed a, “mafiacracy,” meaning political influence and power is administered much like organized crime.
When Torry-Ann Hansen says she was lied to by both the Russian adoption agency and World Association for Children and Parents, I tend to believe her. I can completely believe Russian adoptions authorities would attempt to divest themselves of abandoned children, children born of drug-addicts, alcoholics, and abusive parents. No doubt those children are products of excruciatingly tragic environments and have suffered psychological damage. Russian authorities would not want to provide counseling services, and rationalize adopted children would have better lives abroad.
Problem children are then delivered abroad, facilitated by well-meaning organizations, into the hands of anxious, and naive, U.S. parents.
However well-meaning Ms. Hansen was, her life is now far more complicated than I’m sure she expected. Two years after sending the boy to Russia, she is being sued for parental support by the adoption agency. According to a recent article in the Tennessean [link], the boy is currently living in a group home for children not adoptable. A Russian custodian has been appointed to handled the boy’s financial affairs when and if the law suit against Ms. Hansen produces child support.
I have some questions. Why these children unadoptable? Do they suffer from psychological problems? If so, Ms. Hansen’s position the boy had emotional issues seems substantiated. Secondly, knowing what I know about Russia, any child support she is saddled with paying will most likely end up in the bank account of the Russian custodian and the boy will never see a penny. Russia is corrupt.
Adopting children can be rewarding, satisfying, humbling experiences for all parties. The world is not like the United States. Children, while malleable and resilient, when raised in atrocious environments will suffer great emotional, mental, perhaps even physical damage.
If you are contemplating foreign adoption, or know someone who is, do your homework. Understand the politics of the home country, the home environment, and contemplate your commitment. Do not take any agencies word for anything. Simple Internet searches can help educate about host country conditions, political climates, social, cultural and physical environments, and even the experiences of others adoptive parents.