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You are going to adopt a child from Russia! Congratulation!
» The first thing you should know is that in Russia as well as in the United States, there is a legislative base regulating adoption process and you need to complete the adoption in accordance with it. The main documents which define the process are :

» What are the steps of adoption?
» Adoptive parents prepare all the necessary documents with the help of the agency and send it to CHI Main office. Then the agency transfers them to Russia where they need to be translated and notarized and transferred to one of the regions of the Russian Federation where “Children’s Hope International” works to submit them to the Regional Department of the Monistry of Education. The Regional Department of the Ministry of Education studies your case and invites you to travel to Russia to get the referral. You meet with your child and a few months after you travel to Russia again to attend the court hearing. You receive all the necessary documents and apply to the American Embassy for immigrant visa for your child. Once you get it, you can take your child home!

» Who has the authority to make the selection of the child and to produce the information about him/her?
» The law of Russian Federation states that only a competent organization, which is licensed to work with adoption services can select a child for you. As a matter of fact, the divisions of the Regional Department of Education are authorized for such activity. After having received your documents, the officials will inform you through your regional coordinator about the date of your visit to provide you with the information about the child. Then you will travel to Russia to have a referral and get acquainted with the child.

» How long does the selection process take?
» No longer than one month after the date of registration of your documents with the adoption officials. However, you should take into account the amount of time that it takes to send your documents to Russia, to make the translation and notarization, to submit the documents to the officials of adoption and to register them. Therefore, it will take approximately one to three months from the time the "dossier", or documents, are sent to “Children’s Hope International” until the time you get the travel dates.

» What legal status of the child makes him available for adoption?
• Parents gave their written consent to the adoption. The parents have the right to recall this application.
• Parents are unknown or declared by the court to be unknown.
• The court finds the parents to be incapable of parenting the child.
• The parents are deprived of their parental rights by court decree. In this a child can be adopted only six months after issuing the court decree of deprivation of parental rights.

» Can the biological parents take the child back after the court?
» No! All decisions about children's rights and biological parents' rights can only be decided by a court decision. Biological parents may change their mind and take the child back only before the adoption case court hearing or after during 10 days waiting period. After 10 days, when the court decision gets into force, nobody can take your child from you, unless it was a serious mistake in documents or court procedure. For this reason, it is not recommended to use an independent adoption. Our representatives are trained to search for these types of mistakes so that the adoption is not at risk after completion.

» Can American citizens adopt any child that is available for adoption?
» Yes! The only condition is that it must be proven by documentation that there has been no possibility to place the child into a family of Russian citizens for a minimum of a six months time period after the child was left without parental care or the parental rights were terminated. In other words, foreigners can adopt Russian child only when it is proved it was impossible to proceed domestic adoption or find a foster family for a child in Russia during six months.

» Can the siblings be separated by adoption?
» Russia law says that adoption of siblings by different families is illegal, except the cases when the separation is made in the very best interests of children. This decision of separating siblings can only be made by a judge under circumstances when children do not know each other, do not live together or can not live together because of illnesses or other reasons.

» Is there an age limit for parents who would like to adopt?
» The law of Russian Federation foresees both for Russian citizens and foreigners the fact of biological succession. Russian adoption officials correlate the situation if the family could have their own child at their age. The minimum age difference between adoptive parent and adopted child is 16 years. However, every case is individual and is determined by the regional guidelines and by the judge's determination.

» Do the candidates of adoption have the right to choose a child they want to adopt?
» No! This aspect of the civil law of the Russian Federation is equal for Russian and foreign adoptive parents. You should know that while visiting the orphanage you might see other children. However, most of them are not available for international adoption. These children might have been places to the orphanage temporary if their parents are in prison, missing or citizens of different countries/nationalities (therefore their children can not be adopted through Russian courts).

» Can the adoptive parents refuse a child, referred to them?
» Yes. Adoptive parents may accept or decline the referral they received from the Ministry of Education and ask for a second referral. But the refusal must be based on the results of a medical examination. For this reason, we recommend you to exercise your right to conduct an independent medical examination of the child.

» Could it happen that adopted child is HIV / AIDS etc. positive?
No, unless you specifically ask for it. Every child before placing into the orphanage is tested for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis A and B, syphilis and other venereal diseases. Also all necessary vaccinations are to be done before putting a child into the institution where he or she will stay together with other children. That is why children spend from two to four months at the hospital to make all required tests. So, you can be sure that your child is negative to common infections.

» Who makes the final decision about the finalization of the adoption process?
» Russian regional court. Depending on the regulation of the region, you can personally submit your documents to the court after getting acquainted with the child and making the final decision to adopt this child. In special cases, the regional coordinator of “Children’s Hope International” may submit the documents on your behalf having the power of attorney from the family.

» How long should the candidates for adoption meet with the child?
» No less than five days if you adopt a child from Moscow region. If you adopt a child older than 3 years old, then the judge may demand a longer period of communication. In different regions, the period of communication may be different in accordance with the rules and laws of this region. You can get more detailed information about the region of the adoption from our agency.

» Who participates in the court hearing?
» According the Russian Civil Law all adoption cases are confidential. Only the judge, the prosecutor, the representative of the regional department of custody and adoption, the representative of the department who was in charge to make the selection, the secretary of the court, the licensed interpreter and adoptive parents present on the closed court hearing meeting. If the child is 10 years or older, he/she may be invited to the court also. The absence of the prosecutor and the representative of the department of custody may lead to the delay of the court hearing.

» How long does the court hearing last?
» All regular adoption cases lasts approximately one hour if all of the documents for the candidates of adoption and the child’s documents are thoroughly prepared. The hearing can be even longer if the case is difficult. This depends on the judge.

» When is the court hearing date set after submitting the documents to court?
» In accordance with the law of Russian Federation, the judge has the right to study the case up to 2 months. Don’t forget that before submitting your documents to court, all the child’s documents must be prepared. The judge may have other civil cases besides adoption cases, therefore, the hearing on your case will be set according to the judge working schedule. But from our experience, we feel that judges have a special attitude and show preference toward adoption cases.

» What wishes of the adoptive family can be granted by the court?
• Change the family name and the first name of the child,
• Register adoptive parents as father and mother in the birth certificate,
• Change the place of birth of the child to the one where the child stays prior to adoption.
• Change the date of birth only if the child is younger than 12 months. The date of birth can be moved only for three months behind or ahead.

» Does anybody pay attention to the life of the child after adoption?
» Yes! First of all Russia law requires you to register your child at the Russia Counsular in the US. Second, you give the promise during the court hearing to co-operate in post-placement control. The law of the Russian Federation establishes the confidentiality of the adoption. Divulging confidentiality of adoption leads to punishment, therefore you can be sure nobody, except officials from the Ministry of education will have an information from your post-placement reports

» Can the court decree of the establishment the adoption be canceled?
» Yes, if there were violations in the procedure (court hearing was without prosecutor or representative of the department of custody and adoption), if the legal status wasn’t followed appropriately or the adoption was not established in the interests of the child. But in the practice of CHI there have not been any such cases.

» How many times do the families travel to Russia?
» In accordance with the law of Russian Federation of 16th of April 2001 # 44-FL “Concerning the Federal Database of children left without parental care” the legal organizations can demand the adoptive parents travel two trips. This demand can vary from region to region of Russia in accordance with local rules and regional law.
br>» What will the decision be from the court decree?
» If the adoption is in the interests of the child and all the documents were completed in accordance with the law of Russian Federation, the court decree of the establishment of the adoption will be positive. However, you should be ready that the court decree comes into force in ten days. The court decree will get into force immediately only if the health of the child demands it (such cases as necessary medical treatment or surgery).

» What are the actions of the adoptive parents after the court hearing?
» First of all, you must get the court decree. After that, you will get the certificate of adoption and a new birth certificate for your child (in two different Vital Statistics Offices). Having these documents you will apply for the passport for the child to travel abroad. To get the documents mentioned above, you will need to have the court decree and a couple of other documents that are prepared by the CHI regional coordinator beforehand. Also, it is important to remember that the establishments where you are supposed to get these documents have certain working hours and days and the offices not only deal with adoption issues but with other cases as well, therefore, expect to spend some time there. The laws of the Russian Federation also regulate the period of issuing these documents. CHI regional coordinators, who accompany you during the whole time in Russia, try to do everything quicker than it typically takes in Russia, but still you should be patient. The official time given for issuing the passport, birth certificate and adoption decree varies from five to fourteen days.

» How is the process of adoption completed?
» You have a medical examination at the clinic in Moscow, then the interview in the U.S. Embassy. The child must then be registered in the Consulate of Russian Federation. Your coordinator also prepares documents for these steps.

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