Russian Orphanage Offers Love, but Not Families

Summary: The article Russian Orphanage Offers Love, but Not Families written by Clifford J. Levy from the New York Times, describes the problems within the Russian adoption system. Firstly, Russian has more orphans now than than had after World War 2, when 25 million people were killed. They have a staggering 700,000 orphans. Within the last 3 years, 30,000 kids were sent back to orphanages in Russia after having been adopted. To make matters worse, The percentage of children who are designated orphans is four to five times higher in Russia than in Europe or the United States. Of those, 30 percent live in orphanages. Most of them are children who have been either given up by their parents or removed from dysfunctional homes by the authorities. Usually, Russia doesn't pay attention to severe troubles within their civil society. Although, Russian authorities are starting to acknowledge the trouble within their adoptive system. This acknowledgment happened after a Russian boy, who was adopted by American parents, was sent alone back to Moscow by his adoptive parents. This situation embarrassed Russian Officials, and they are currently working on a new set of rules in regards to the Russian adoption agency. The Foreign Minister has ordered that American adoptions will be temporary suspended, until the new set of rules is created. Many think that the surplus of orphans is due to a lack of Russian values. Russians don't tend to focus on the value of family, and doesn't put pressure on families staying together. The Russian government spends roughly $3 billion annually on orphanages and similar facilities, creating a system that is an important source of jobs and money on the regional level — and a target for corruption. As a result, it is in the interests of regional officials to maintain the flow of children to orphanages and then not to let them leave. When adoptions are permitted, families, especially foreign families, have to pay large fees and navigate a complex bureaucracy. The chairman of the "Right Of the Child" group says that, "The system [adoption] has one goal, to preserve itself." He also said that in 2008, 115,000 children in Russia were designated as without parental care, typically after being removed from their homes by caseworkers. Only 9,000 children were returned to their parents that year. In the United States, where reuniting families is a primary goal, the percentage is far higher. Over all, 13,000 children were officially adopted in 2008 — 9,000 by Russians and 4,000 by foreigners. Although, only a single child has been adopted from an orphanage this year.

Correlation: This correlates to comparative government because it further displays the corruption with Russian civil society. This shows that the Russian elitist system is still in existence, that the Russian bureaucrats who are making money off the adoption business care more about preserving the system in order to keep garnering money instead of caring about the welfare about the kids. Also, it shows that the transparency in the political system is increasing because the Russian authorities are starting to care about problems within their system and wanting to change it. Also, Russian authorities aren't disputing that these problems are occurring and they are acknowledging them and wanting to change them. This shows a step towards further liberalization in Russia. Lastly, this correlates with globalization because other countries, specifically Americans, are adopted Russian children which shows the relationship between Russia and foreign countries.

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