A delegation of U.S. congressional members including Congressman Michele Bachmann currently visiting Russia has urged the government to lift the ban on adoption of Russian children by American families.
In retaliation to a U.S. law that imposed visa restrictions and sanctions against Russian officials involved in the case of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who uncovered corruption and fraud done by Russian officials and was arrested and later died in a Russian jail, President Vladimir Putin last December signed the sanction to ban the American families from adopting Russian children.
Around 1,000 Russian children are adopted by American families every year, and since the President banned the adoption of Russian children by U.S. families, many such families are stuck midway in tthe adoption process.
Los Angeles Times reported that many of the children who were originally paired with U.S. families have been already adopted by families in Russia or other countries.
"It's been heart-wrenching," said Diana Gerson, who was introduced to an 18-month-old girl that she last saw in St. Petersburg on December 28.
"I wake up every morning and wait for a phone call. I've spoken to families whose kids are no longer there - they've been adopted by someone else. And there's no amount of pastoral or rabbinic training that could have ever prepared me for those conversations," said Diana Gerson.
According to the Associated Press, Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann on Thursday told the members of the lower house of Russia's Parliament that the U.S. will provide all the necessary guarantees to assure that the Russian children are given due care.
