CYF suspends help with adoptions from Russia

New Zealand families wishing to adopt Russian children are being forced to wait after moves from the Russian Ministry of Education to prevent independent inter-country adoption.

Child, Youth and Family (CYF) announced yesterday it was temporarily suspending assessments of new prospective families wanting to adopt children from Russia.

However, it reassured families already advanced in the adoption process it would continue to assist them.

CYF assists in the inter-country adoption process by completing home studies for prospective parents - a formalised assessment of the prospective home environment which forms a vital part of the application.

New Zealanders have been adopting Russian children since 1992.

Families adopting in Russia undertake independent adoptions, applying to the Russian Ministry of Education directly and completing adoption legal processes themselves.

However, there have been mounting calls in Russia for tighter controls on inter-country adoption, with some nationalist lawmakers asserting children are being "bought" by foreigners.

Cases of abuse by foreign adoptive parents are widely reported in the Russian media.

In July last year, the Russian public was outraged after the high-profile murder of a two-year-old Russian girl in Virginia by her adoptive mother.

The suspension yesterday came in the wake of the Russian Government signalling that it would be changing its legislation to cease all independent inter-country adoptions.

This will mean all foreign citizens will be required to use the services of an adoption agency in their own country that has been accredited by the Russian Ministry of Education.

New Zealand does not have such an agency. Inter-country Adoptions New Zealand (ICANZ), which helps to facilitate inter-country adoptions for New Zealanders, is working towards Russian accreditation.

Until accreditation is confirmed, CYF acting deputy chief executive Bernadine MacKenzie said the organisation did not feel clear enough processes were in place to provide the appropriate level of support or certainty through the adoption process.

"A number of adoptive families have had the process disrupted or delayed, with some inter-country adoptions taking years to complete," she said.

- NZPA