15 years ago (1998) this coming March Dave and I flew across the Atlantic Ocean, winged our way across Europe and then rode the Trans-Siberian railroad overnight (Dr. Zhivago style) to Kirov, Russia where our son was waiting in a Russian orphanage. This past December a law was passed by the Russian Duma and signed by President Putin to stop Americans from adopting orphans. For the back story on this 'political move' by Putin, click here!
Many people in the United States as well as Russia have protested very loudly. Apparently it will take a year for the law to affect. This article summarizes the situation very clearly and is written through the 'eyes' of a 16 year old blind Russian girl. She is not an orphan, but she cares.
The Russian adoption community in the United States has been busy on many levels -- petitions, contacting elected officials, demonstrations, and sharing stories and pictures via the Internet. Russian citizens have protested loudly as well.
Several videos have been put together by a woman who has been gathering and sharing information on the Internet for a number of years. In the videos are 'before' and 'now' pictures. Thanks Karen Holt for your hard work on behalf of the orphans who still need families!
Our son Alex is one of the children in this video who started life in an Russian orphanage and is part of our family. Alex is at 1:37.
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