Adoption Setback

For those readers who know us personally, I wanted to let you know that we may have experienced a considerable setback in our desire to adopt an international child. We feel called to adopt from Russia, but Russia has officially suspended all foreign adoptions done through non-governmental adoption agencies for at least the next several months, and quite likely far beyond that. The technical issue is the governmental reaccrediting of adoption agencies so that these agencies can in fact work in Russia. The accreditation process in Russia is already very cumbersome, requiring the approval of at least 4 different government ministries. Because of two very high profile cases of child abuse by American parents of children adopted from Russia, and because of political and nationalistic issues, there seems to be a growing sentiment in Russia to significantly curtail adoptions by US families. In addition to the agency accreditation process becoming totally bogged down, Russia is also now providing financial incentives to its citizens to encourage them to adopt Russian children rather than letting them come to America to be raised.

I'm not here to comment either way on the steps the Russian government is taking to curtail foreign adoption. I can believe that at least some of the steps being taken are motivated by relatively good intentions. But regardless, none of this is good news for us. So for those of you who know us and know our situation, I would request prayers that God would guide us as to how to proceed, and to give us the perseverance and reassurance to see this through. This is a tough setback.