Adoption CON DECEMBER 17, 2008

UNIQUENESS
U.S. Russia Adoptions Shrinking
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98360183
It's been 17 years since Russia began permitting foreign adoption, and in that time, American families have
adopted more than 50,000 Russian children.
But while Russia remains a leading source for foreign adoptions, Russian authorities are no longer so
willing to send their children out of the country. Only about 1,800 Russian children were adopted by
Americans this year — down from a high of almost 6,000 in 2004 [a drop of more than two-thirds]

SIGNIFICANCE
Foreign Adoption Not Answer -- Plan Not Needed
A decade ago, authorities in the provincial town of Chelyabinsk were desperate to find homes for the
growing number of abandoned children. But for Nadezhda Gertman, the head of child welfare, foreign
adoption is no longer the answer.
She's also encouraging foster care, which was introduced only recently.
"In the past, the only way to save our children was through foreign adoption," Gertman says, "but now the
government is providing funds for families who might not otherwise be able to afford to take on a child."

DA- internal link

Gertman says Russia cannot afford to lose its children.
"We have more and more older people and fewer and fewer young ones because of the
drop in the birth rate," she says. "The work force is shrinking. We need to keep our young
people."

Statistics

62 percent of children in orphanages suffer from serious psychological problems

that are difficult to treat.

~ The head of child welfare