Taking care of an adopted child is hard work. Older children from foreign countries often enter your family with baggage and emotional instability. They may have attachment disorders, anger problems, and health concerns such as malnutrition. Yet once a child has been officially adopted into your home that young one is now your responsibility. Adopted children are treated just like biological children; they can't be sent back and the officiated adoption can't be revoked.
Some people have tried to challenge these concepts. ABC News reports that an American woman adopted a Russian boy and then later sent him back to Moscow because she changed her mind. She grew frustrated with the child, and placed him on a plane with a letter saying that he was disturbed and violent. She stated that she didn't want him anymore. Revoking an international adoption is not legal, and the woman will be punished for abandoning her child. A judge in Bedford County, Tennessee decided that this woman would need to pay $150,000 up front, and then $1,000 per month in child support until the little boy turns 18.
He is 10 at present, so she will issue this payment for the next 8 years. In total, this woman's decision will cost her $246,000. The initial $150,000 fine will cover this woman's offenses, such as her breach of contract, legal fees, and support for the little boy. The Russian government was outraged by the case, and halted adoptions to the U.S. in retaliation. The World Association for Children and Parents, an adoption agency that aided this woman in adopting her little boy, filed a lawsuit seeking child support for the boy.
According to ABC, the woman has moved to California and avoided all court hearings. She has hired three Tennessee lawyers to represent her but the third recently requested permission to leave the case. As well, she hired a court reported to attend the hearing. She then filed her own lawsuit against the Russian orphanage where her child once lived. She claimed that the Russian Federation Supreme Court annulled the adoption, and denied its defendants the ability to recover any money in the form of child support. Essentially, this woman's intention is to persuade the California court to recognize the Russian decision.
According to the Tennessee courthouse, the mother never told social workers that she was having a hard time with her son. If she had admitted her difficulties, the state may have appointed a counselor, child psychologist, or therapist to help smooth things over. The judge believes that this case should serve as an example and show that there are serious consequences to abandoning or sending back a child once you are his or her legal parent. They also want to show the Russian government that they are dealing with the situation seriously. They hope that America can make amends with the Russian government on the issue.
Currently, the Russian government has tightened their controls on adoption, to make sure that another case like this does not occur. According to one source, adoptive parents must sign contracts during the adoption process that acknowledge that their child may have behavioral, physical, or emotional issues that were unknown to the adoption agency or the orphanage. When signing this contract, the prospective parent is promising to work through these issues with their child, just as they would with a biological son or daughter. The abandoned little boy was hospitalized when he was sent back to Russia, though the press could not find out why. After he was treated, the child was moved to an orphanage, and he now rests in an institution. He is emotionally scarred from the experience, as would be expected.