America may be simplifying the process, it's not a cheap proposition for hopeful parents.

When Valerie Reimold's water broke early Sunday morning in January, she wasn't sure how she was going to get to the hospital.
The storm that blanketed parts of York County with up to 31 inches of snow had just subsided, and the street outside Reimold's New Salem home had yet to be plowed.
Already a mother of two, Reimold was successfully rushed to York Hospital, where she gave birth in less than 20 minutes — she swears it felt longer — to a healthy boy, who wasn't hers to take back home.

A Surrogate's Story

The boy's parents, a gay Norwegian couple, were able to get to the hospital a couple hours later to meet their second American-born child, Sigurd Jonsbu.
Though Reimold carried Sigurd in her uterus more than a week past her due date, she is not biologically related to him because she served as the gestational carrier, often referred to as surrogate.
Gestational surrogacy involved in vitro fertilization, where a donated egg is fertilized by sperm outside the body and then implanted into a woman's uterus.
Program in place: York Hospital has been running a program to help support gestational carriers and intended parents through process since 2007, according to Sue Dolla, the hospital's Women and Children Services outreach coordinator.
Mary Miller, Labor and Delivery Department nurse manager, said the hospital has grown from delivering two or three babies through gestational surrogacy per year in 2009 to 10-15 per year recently.
"We've had couples from Israel, Norway, Russia, Canada, Spain and all over the U.S.," Dolla said. "The word is getting out."
Dolla said York Hospital's program has helped streamline the process by having plans in place to work with surrogacy agencies, lawyers and offering tours.
"York Hospital really extends the red carpet to help it be a positive experience," Miller said.
Reimold said York Hospital's staff was very accommodating, making sure she got her paperwork in on time and setting up the intended parents in their own room following the birth.

Buy PhotoSue Dolla, outreach coordinator for Women and Children Services at WellSpan York Hospital, not shown, gives gestational carrier Jessica Waltersdorf, center, and biological parents Natalia and Cody Akin a tour of a labor room, Monday Feb. 8, 2016. John A. Pavoncello photo (Photo: The York Dispatch)

Jessica Waltersdorff, a current gestational carrier living in Felton, toured York Hospital last week with the future child's intended parents, and she said all parties came away impressed.
"(The staff) made the parents a lot more comfortable with the situation," Waltersdorff said.
Both Reimold and Waltersdorff were matched with couples through surrogacy agencies, which help facilitate the whole process.
Growing practice: Dean Hutchison, director of legal services for Boston-based Circle Surrogacy, said gestational surrogacy has been on the rise throughout the United States for numerous reasons.
Before in vitro fertilization became feasible, heterosexual couples were more hesitant to turn to traditional surrogacy, where the carrier's eggs are used for impregnation, because it wouldn't be biologically related to both parents, Hutchison said. Social stigmas have also changed in the past 5-10 years, he added.
"I wasn't sure my family and the community would be accepting when they found out I was having a child that wasn't mine," Waltersdorff said. "But so far, everyone has been extremely supportive."
Circle Surrogacy has been around for 20 years and, in the beginning, no hospitals had any protocols in place for handling the process, Hutchison said, but most hospitals now have a committed program. Spring Garden Township's Memorial Hospital also has a surrogacy program, according to spokesman Jason McSherry.
According to a 2010 Council for Responsible Genetics report, the number of babies born in the U.S. through gestational surrogacy nearly doubled from 2004 to 2008, with an estimated 5,238 babies.
International couples are a major contributor to that growth because surrogacy is prohibited in many countries, and other countries where it is legal, such as Ukraine or India, don't have the same level of medical care as the U.S., Hutchison said.
Ole Aleksander Dyrkorn and Magnus Jonsbu, now back home in Norway with their son Sigurd, previously had a daughter through a surrogate in Rhode Island, according to Dyrkorn.
"In Norway, where we live, surrogacy is not allowed," Dyrkorn wrote in an email. "Same sex couples are allowed to adopt, but very few countries that cooperate with Norway allow children to be adopted by a same sex couple. We know several couples who have become fathers through surrogacy in the U.S., and their experiences have been very positive."
Hutchison said America is also a popular choice for international couples because the baby can easily travel home with them with a U.S. passport.
Pennsylvania, in particular, is a popular place for surrogates because there are no state laws governing surrogacy, Hutchison said, which simplifies the process into a simple court order similar to an adoption process.
Expensive babies: While America may be simplifying the process, it's not a cheap proposition for hopeful parents.

 http://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/health/2016/02/13/gestational-carriers-surrogates-rise-york/80056316/

Portuguese Parliament has liberalized the country’s abortion laws

Left prevails in Portugal with gay adoption and easy abortion

LISBON, Portugal, February 12, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The Socialist-Communist majority in the Portuguese Parliament has liberalized the country’s abortion laws granted same-sex couples the ability to adopt children. It had to override the presidential veto to do it.

The Socialist government of Prime Minister Antonio Costa which took office in November made it a priority to legalize adoption by same-sex couples.

Parliament has also removed a requirement that women receive counselling before aborting their children, and that they pay for the procedure from their own pocket.

When the government's coalition with Communists and other parties of the Left passed legislation to that effect in January, President Anibal Cavaco Silva vetoed both. It took a second vote pushed through by Costa this week to obtain the added votes needed to override the president.

Cavaco Silva explained his veto by asking parliamentarians to consider “the child’s best interest” rather than “equality between different and same-sex couples.” He also called for more public debate on such a “sensitive social topic.”

Costa’s Socialists actually got fewer votes than the Centre-Right Portugal Forward coalition of Pedro Passos Coelho in last fall’s general election, but was able to oust the man who governed Portugal since 2011 by uniting the Left in Parliament against his unpopular austerity policies.

In 2014 the conservative majority defeated a move to legalize adoption by same-sex couples, though adoption by individuals of any sexual persuasion was already legal.

Cavaco Silva must sign the amendments into law in a few days. This spring he will retire from office.

The arguments for same-sex adoption are not sustained by objective research, according to Simon Fraser University economist Douglas Allen. Allen told LifeSiteNews that though many studies argue the case that same-sex couples make as good parents, they all suffer from serious methodological weaknesses, especially in biased sampling. In many cases, for example, same-sex couples are self-selected by placing advertisements in gay periodicals or on bulletin boards in gay community clubs. Homosexual couples who are happy with the job they are doing as parents are far more likely to volunteer for such studies than those who are not, heavily skewing the outcome.

Allen’s own study, based simply on correlating the responses of Canadians to the 2006 national census, showed children from same-sex households had two thirds the high school graduation rate of children in heterosexual families.

A second study by Allen and Shih En Lu, published last year as “Marriage and Children: Differences Across Sexual Orientations,” showed Canadian male and female homosexuals marry at a much lower rate than heterosexuals. Surveying government data on 65,000 people, he told LifeSiteNews, “we find that about 12.2% of lesbians are married, 4.5% of gays, and 48.8% of heterosexuals. These numbers are similar to numbers found in Europe. Despite the rhetoric, gays and lesbians do not take up marriage in large numbers.” Since married couples stay together much more than non-marrieds, their children will be both happier and more successful.

 

 https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/left-prevails-in-portugal-with-gay-adoption-and-easy-abortion

 

adopting our daughter from a Ukrainian orphanage

After adopting our daughter from a Ukrainian orphanage in 2002, my family made a commitment to do whatever we can to improve the lives of orphans and homeless children through humanitarian relief efforts, community outreach, and adoption advocacy programs. We do this out of love and because in Matthew 25, Jesus is very clear about his expectations for his followers. Feed the hungry, provide drinks for the thirsty, give clothing to the needy, care for strangers, visit those who are sick or in prison.

Our next journey will take us halfway around the world to Moa Wharf in Sierra Leone. It is a slum where hundreds of children have been made orphans in the wake of the Ebola crisis horror.

Sleeping on piles of rotting clothes and heaping garbage, these young children are vulnerable to disease, physical abuse and exploitation — all danger at its truest form. Girls as young as 5 are the sexual property of wicked men. The orphans are stigmatized and discarded in their own communities.

The children deserve a better life. They have no voice except for yours and mine, and they need us to act on their behalf.

My son Michael and I are making plans to travel to Sierra Leone in July on a humanitarian aid mission as representatives of Embracing Children Adoption Services based in Plymouth.

If your heart leads you to help the Ebola orphans, we would gladly accept your support in the following ways:

• Humanitarian aid: We're accepting donations of new clothing and shoes for children of all ages, first aid supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and other items that can be packed in checked luggage. (No books, liquids, or battery-operated items, please.)
• Financial contributions: A GoFundMe page, https://www.gofundme.com/robinchance, has been set up to provide funding for an interim foster care home for Ebola orphans and for in-country food and medical care, and to help with travel costs.

 

 http://www.swnewsmedia.com/shakopee_valley_news/news/opinion/guest_columns/there-are-children-who-need-our-help/article_886517d9-34a3-5564-af5e-8a201ffedc30.html

 

difficult questions about the ethics of the surrogacy

A battle over triplets raises difficult questions about the ethics of the surrogacy industry and the meaning of parenthood.

By Michelle Goldberg

Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photos by Thinkstock.

Last year, a 47-year-old California woman named Melissa Cook decided to become a commercial surrogate. Cook is a mother of four, including a set of triplets, and had served as a surrogate once before, delivering a baby for a couple in 2013. According to her lawyer, Harold Cassidy, she’d found it to be a rewarding way to supplement the salary she earned at her office job. “Like other women in this situation, she was motivated by two things: One, it was a good thing to do for people, and two, she needed some money,” Cassidy says.

Michelle Goldberg

Michelle Goldberg is a columnist for Slate and the author, most recently, of The Goddess Pose.

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For her second surrogacy, Cook signed up with a broker called Surrogacy International. Robert Walmsley, a fertility attorney and part owner of the firm, says he was initially reluctant to work with her because of her age, but relented after she presented a clean bill of health from her doctor. Eventually, Surrogacy International matched her with a would-be father, known in court filings as C.M.

According to a lawsuit filed on Cook’s behalf in United States District Court in Los Angeles earlier this month, C.M. is a 50-year-old single man, a postal worker who lives with his elderly parents in Georgia. Cook never met him in person, and because C.M. is deaf, Cassidy says the two never spoke on the phone or communicated in any way except via email. In May, Cook signed a contract promising her $33,000 to carry a pregnancy, plus a $6,000 bonus in case of multiples. In August, Jeffrey Steinberg, a high-profile fertility doctor, used in vitro fertilization to implant Cook with three male embryos that were created using C.M.’s sperm and a donor egg. (According to the lawsuit, the gender selection was done at C.M.’s request.) When an egg donor is under 35, as C.M.’s was, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine strongly recommends implanting only one embryo to avoid a multiple pregnancy, but some clinics will implant more to increase the chances that at least one will prove viable. In this case, they all survived. For the second time in her life, Cook was pregnant with triplets. And soon, the virtual relationship she had with their father would fall apart.

Cook and C.M. are still strangers to each other, but they are locked in a legal battle over both the future of the children she’s going to bear and the institution of surrogacy itself. Because she’s come under pressure to abort one of the fetuses, Cook’s case has garnered some conservative media attention. This story, however, is about much more than the abortion wars. It illustrates some of the thorniest issues plaguing the fertility industry: the creation of high-risk multiple pregnancies, the lack of screening of intended parents, the financial vulnerability of surrogates, and the almost complete lack of regulation around surrogacy in many states.

The United States is one of the few developed countries where commercial, or paid, surrogacy is allowed—it is illegal in Canada and most of Europe. In the U.S., it’s governed by a patchwork of contradictory state laws. Eight states expressly authorize it. Four states—New York, New Jersey, Washington, and Michigan—as well as the District of Columbia prohibit it. In the remaining states, there’s either no law at all on commercial surrogacy or it is allowed with restrictions.

California is considered a particularly friendly place for surrogacy arrangements. In 1993, a California Supreme Court ruling, Johnson v. Calvert, denied the attempts of a gestational surrogate named Anna Johnson to assert maternal rights. (A gestational surrogate is one like Cook who has no genetic relationship to the fetus or fetuses she caries.) What mattered in determining maternity, the court ruled, were the intentions of the various parties going into the pregnancy: “Because two women each have presented acceptable proof of maternity, we do not believe this case can be decided without enquiring into the parties’ intentions as manifested in the surrogacy agreement,” the court said. It was a victory for Walmsley, who represented the couple who’d hired Johnson as their surrogate.

The United States is one of the few developed countries where commercial, or paid, surrogacy is allowed—it is illegal in Canada and most of Europe. 

A 2012 California law, which went into effect this year, codifies procedures for surrogacy agreements; among other things, it specifies that both surrogates and intended parents must have their own lawyers. If a contract is executed in accordance with the law, then a gestational surrogate relinquishes any claim to legal parenthood.

“Surrogacy’s been distinguished as something completely different from adoption,” says Lisa Ikemoto, a UC Davis School of Law professor who specializes in reproductive rights and bioethics. Unlike in adoption, there’s no legally required screening of intended parents. A pregnant woman who offers to give her baby up for adoption can reconsider her decision; in California, a pregnant surrogate cannot. To a large extent, the law “puts a lot of trust in a surrogacy center to make sure that these things are carried out appropriately,” Ikemoto says. “It’s very industry-friendly, and by ‘industry,’ I’m referring to the fertility industry.”

In California, that industry is known for pushing boundaries. It is the state that gave us the so-called Octomom, Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets in 2009 after her fertility doctor implanted her with 12 embryos. Also in 2009, the Modesto-based surrogacy agency SurroGenesis was revealed to have defrauded clients of millions of dollars, leaving some intended parents unable to pay the surrogates who were carrying their children. The New York Times reported that one surrogate, pregnant with twins and confined to bed rest, received an eviction notice after the couple who had hired her were unable to reimburse her for lost wages.

Three years later, in 2012, a prominent California surrogacy broker named Theresa Erickson was sentenced to prison for leading an international baby-selling ring. Erickson, a former board member of the American Fertility Association, recruited surrogates and sent them to Ukraine, where they were implanted with embryos created from donated eggs and sperm. She put the resulting babies up for adoption, telling prospective parents that they were the result of surrogacies in which the original intended parents had backed out. Erickson collected between $100,000 and $150,000 for each baby. After she was sentenced, she told NBC San Diego that her case represented the “tip of the iceberg” of a corrupt industry.

Even when it’s not corrupt, the industry often tests the limits of bioethics. Steinberg, the doctor who performed Cook’s embryo transfer, was last in the news for marketing embryo screening for hair, eye, and skin color. “This is cosmetic medicine,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “Others are frightened by the criticism but we have no problems with it.” He was a pioneer in the use of IVF for sex selection, and his clinic draws clients from countries around the world where the practice is banned.

“We don’t have good oversight of the whole fertility industry,” says Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, California, and a longtime women’s health advocate. “It’s very underregulated, and we need to be taking that really seriously. California is a surrogacy-friendly state and thinks that it’s doing surrogacy the right way. But there have been enough problems in California that clearly something is not right.”

* * *

From the beginning, the arrangement between Cook and C.M. appears to have been plagued by miscommunication. Cassidy acknowledges that Cook only gave a cursory read to the 75-page surrogacy contract before signing it. Walmsley of Surrogacy International drafted the contract; he is also serving as C.M.’s attorney. (At the time, Cook was being represented by a lawyer named Lesa Slaughter, paid for by C.M.) Cook contends that she didn’t know about the contract’s provision, common in surrogacy agreements, allowing C.M. to request a selective reduction, in which one or more of the fetuses in a multiple pregnancy is aborted. (In reporting this story, I had multiple conversations with Cassidy and Walmsley, but neither allowed me to interview their clients directly.)

According to Cook’s lawsuit, before the embryo transfer, C.M. assured her via email that he could accept responsibility for all the children that might result. But while C.M. had been prepared for twins, he didn’t want triplets. Indeed, her suit says, soon after her pregnancy was confirmed, it became clear that C.M. had exhausted his savings, and wasn’t sure he could care for more than one baby.

 http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2016/02/custody_case_over_triplets_in_california_raises_questions_about_surrogacy.html

planning to use a surrogate mother in Ukraine

Marie* explains why she and her husband are planning to use a surrogate mother in Ukraine:

I was diagnosed with a chronic heart and lung condition a few years ago and, while the news in itself was devastating, I was also shattered by the fact that I would not be able to get pregnant. There is an estimated 30-50 per cent mortality rate for both mother and baby if I was to give birth.

I went from being a normal woman in my mid-20s, working full-time and doing a postgraduate degree by night with all sorts of dreams, to someone who would be fortunate to work part-time and likely require a lung transplant in the future.

From that moment, myself and my boyfriend (now my husband) knew we would go down the road of surrogacy, as adoption is effectively at a standstill in this country.

We had assumed that legislation would be in by now. After the Government chose to remove surrogacy from the Bill last year we decided we could not wait on politicians’ promises any longer. The time is right for us.

Costs

Obviously finances are a consideration and limit where we can go to do the surrogacy. The US is the most straightforward route but it is financially prohibitive – anywhere from €130,000-€170,000 due to the medical and insurance costs there.

As it is, we will probably need to remortgage our home to fund surrogacy in Ukraine.

Emotionally, I think we will struggle through the pregnancy and when we go over to Ukraine to bring our baby home. It’ll be difficult being sent scans and having Skype calls, looking at our surrogate’s bump without really feeling any sense of control or connection.

We have excellent legal advice here and an excellent lawyer in Ukraine so, should there be any hiccups, we will be reassured by the fact that they will be there to help us.

Ethically, we don’t really have any hesitations. We do not feel that women are exploited just to be wombs for rent.

As well as generous compensation, the surrogates receive lots of support and counselling and enter into the agreement of their own free will. That is a choice a woman should be allowed to make for herself, it’s her body.

We really admire anyone who is willing to do that for another couple. This woman will nurture our baby for nine months and we will be forever grateful.

Medication

Medically, we had some reservations but not enough to stop us. I am on a lot of medication and one is dangerous to foetuses so I think I will need to stop this while I take the IVF drugs to stimulate my eggs for egg retrieval.

• How surrogacy works – or doesn’t – in Ireland
• Europan Parliament backs report that denounces surrogacy

Online, we have met lots of couples who have had babies through surrogacy and others who are in the middle of their journey.

We attended some surrogacy support meetings held by the National Infertility Support and Information Group too.

We have been very open with family and friends. They understand that this is what we need to do to complete our family.

As well as remortgaging our house, we will also have to factor in the cost of me not working for the first few months – I won’t get maternity leave – as well as legal costs. We will also need to travel to Ukraine three to four times and will need to stay there for five to six weeks around the time of the birth.

Ukraine is attractive as its surrogacy programmes start at approximately €33,000 and legislation is protective of the intended parents: we will be named on the Ukrainian birth certificate and there will be no mention of the surrogate mother.

The contracts are binding and the surrogate cannot change her mind.

The lack of legislation in Ireland is frustrating because surrogacy is happening – a lot – and is increasing.

Birth cert

As we will be using our own genetic material – my eggs and my husband’s sperm – we should be recognised as the sole parents of our child.

Even though we will be on a Ukrainian birth cert, I will never get to go on the Irish birth cert as my baby’s mother.

Another advantage of legislation would be that Irish couples could openly do the IVF, egg retrieval and freezing of embryos here.

Our biggest hope is that by next year we will be expecting our own child.

I’m scared about being on our own away from our families in a foreign country with a new baby waiting to get home. It’s not how I ever imagined spending my first few weeks of motherhood.

Name has been changed. Story as told to Sheila Wayman

Filling surrogacy support gap

Families Through Surrogacy, which is running the Dublin conference in March, was founded by Australian Sam Everingham after he experienced at first hand the lack of support for intended parents.

“My partner and I had a very tough road to parenthood through surrogacy in India, experiencing the loss of twin boys, Zac and Ben, when they were born premature at 28 weeks,” he says. “Ben survived just seven weeks in a New Delhi hospital; Zac was stillborn.”

On returning home to deal with this loss, it soon became clear there were no support networks or organisations equipped to assist and advise surrogates and intended parents alike. To fill this gap, Everingham set up Surrogacy Australia in 2011 and, two years later, founded Families Through Surrogacy, which he describes as “a non-profit, global, consumer- based organisation”.

Meanwhile, he and his partner, Phil Copland, “found the strength to continue our own journey and had two girls, Zoe and Ruby, via two separate surrogates in India”.

They are now both four and a half years old.

Families Through Surrogacy focuses, he explains, on providing up-to-date resources on surrogacy options around the globe – “no mean feat as this is an area in constant flux. We have seen India, Thailand and Nepal close their borders to foreigners seeking surrogacy in the recent past.”

As to what countries Irish intended parents should consider, he points out that certain US states such as California, Nevada and Oregon have long experience of surrogacy (30-plus years).

“This experience means surrogate screening, matching and care is second to none. However, the US system can be pricey,” he acknowledges.

“Canada is emerging as a somewhat more affordable, yet still reliable, option and in Europe, Ukraine has been offering legal, well-run surrogacy programmes to heterosexuals for 15 years.”

 http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/this-woman-will-nurture-our-baby-for-nine-months-we-will-be-forever-grateful-1.2530965

Child surroundings is an opening of the intuitive ways to satisfy their cognitive needs

More and more modern teenagers all over the world join informal groups. Once in a particular subculture, the teenager becomes one with it: taking all the orders and laws of the new community, he’s changing views and values.
As noted by M. V. Osorina, the children’s subculture carries out the same functions as any culture adults: it helps to solve important problems of the age of development, due to the knowledge itself, independent “invention” of the forms of development of the surrounding space as a result of the opening of the intuitive ways to satisfy their cognitive needs. Within the traditions of children’s subculture from generation to generation of children and in finished form are transferred methods of exploration of the surrounding world based on formal education and the traditions of folk education. The similarity of the challenges of development, independently from the era and culture, generates the similarity solutions encountered by participants in this process, either alone or in the company of peers. To obtain the necessary expertise every child needs to live out the same set of difficult situations collisions with the world and people that will enable it to achieve the desired degree of confidence. Therefore, in the children’s subculture there is a desire not to be controlled, to oppose the adult world, to separate, to keep secret the most important. Cultural generalization of socio-psychological experiences in the children’s community, crystallizes in two main forms: in the form of texts of children’s folklore in the form of sustainable models of ritualized behavior.
Among the reasons for the creation of special subcultures and becoming teenagers and young men in various informal group of scholars:
1)psychological: the need for friends and emotional experiences, “unrequited love”, the desire to learn unusual; interest in modern Western art, the originality of the impressions received within the subculture; the indifference to learning; inner freedom among the members of the informal group on the background of feelings of loneliness; a protest against the formalism of adults, searching for meaning of existence, etc.
2)social-pedagogical: conflicts at home or at school, academic failure, alienation from children; inactivity, neglect, abandonment, helplessness; the absence in school of an individual approach to these adolescents, lack of participation of family members, etc.
V. I. Nastin notes that the underlying field cause of the associations of adolescents in informal groups is leenalee their personality in crisis, a critical stage of its development. Liminality (from lat. limen– threshold) is an intermediate, transitional social situation of personality development in the system of social relations, characterized by the loss of former social status and gaining a new status-role position in terms of non-entry into a new social role. V. I. Nastin believes that for the qualitative development of personality must be located in Liminality, to be subjected to frustration, to experience the state of “dying” and “explosion” and the common forms and processes in liminally States are the initiation, developmental crises and suicidality. The scientist emphasizes that an adult individual for the qualitative degeneration has already developed some compensatory mechanisms to decently survive another “psychological moulting”, as the teenager need to immerse yourself in the misbehavior, in the anti-culture, otherwise he will not be able to be born as a person. The mentality of a teenager against his will must lead him through the experience of death-and-resurrection, so he easily harmful to him or her, shall be attached to drugs, commit anti-social offences, is adjudged to be in an extreme situation. Any immersion in the anti-world impact on appearance, speech, actions of a teenager that psychoanalysts consider the manifestation of trickery, role-based forms which are jesters, buffoons, mummers, fools, parties carnivals and mysteries. Therefore, the involvement of adolescents towards informal associations can be seen as an attempt to “be born again in an updated form”.
A civilized society is deprived of the Institute of adolescent initiation. Moreover, in modern Russia there is no group of core idea around which could unite the younger generation. Therefore, in the transition period, adolescents increasingly find themselves in subcultures that commonly arise as opposition to the values of wider cultural trends to which they refer (so-called marginal behaviour). Fans of the subculture can demonstrate their unity through the use of specific symbols and different appearance, style of dress, behavior, moral and/or political beliefs.

Finland: the adoption of children from Russia ceased completely

The adoption of children from Russia to Finland at the moment completely stopped, told TASS Advisor to the Finnish Ministry of justice Merja Norros during a visit to the offices of journalists of the Russian Federation.
This happened after the Finnish Parliament approved the civil initiative on same-sex marriages.
“There is a multilateral Hague Convention, which Russia has signed but not ratified. In addition, between our two countries have no bilateral agreement on adoption. And in practice, those institutions which were engaged in the adoption, ended cooperation with Russia”, – said Norris.
According to her, Russia has bilateral treaties on international adoption, with some countries, but Finland at the official level, such a document was not offered. “The foreign Ministry, certainly better informed, but as far as I know, this document was not offered. Also in the agreement, probably, many would have such provisions, which we would have to consider,” says Norris.
On the Russian legislation in the sphere of international adoption
Russian laws prohibit cooperation in the field of adoption with those countries that allow same-sex marriage, with the exception of States with which an agreement on international adoption. Finland this document was not. In addition, last year the Finnish side informed that does not consider this step necessary at this stage.
The number of adopted children in Finland of Russian children has declined over the past decade. If in 2006, the Finns adopted 50 Russian children, last year there were just 10.
12 December 2014, the Finnish Parliament in the second reading approved a citizen’s initiative on equal marriage. Voted 101 Deputy, against – 90. Now the right to enter into a formal marriage will also receive same-sex couples. Experts clarify that the laws in any case can not be changed instantly, and so it may take several more years before same-sex marriage in Finland will indeed become a reality. Now such couples are allowed only to register a civil partnership, and they don’t have the same rights enjoyed by ordinary families discover more news at international adoption agencies forum. In particular, it is about being able to take common surname and adopt children. It is anticipated that changes will take effect in March 2017. The initiative for equal marriage collected nearly 170 thousand signatures, and, according to the new Finnish laws, the Parliament was obliged to consider, regardless of the content.

Tax benefits to foster families in Russia to support adoptions

Under the current law in Russia, persons wishing to adopt child left without parental care, have to take on education with his family the , must undergo mandatory training, very much alike in countries of Europe and North America when adoptive parents wants to take upon international adoption. In the Motor city have already passed over 500 people — both local and from Aktanysh, Menzelinsk, Muslyumovo, Sarmanovo and tukayevsky areas. There is a common place practice of international adoption. Thus, in 2013, went abroad two adopted children, in 2014, in 2015 — four. The issues of international adoption are resolved in the Supreme court RT. “The number of orphans and children left without parental care, unfortunately, in recent years, not decreasing, despite measures taken by the government of the Russian Federation and RT measures aimed at supporting family and motherhood. The sad part is that only 336 children have been orphaned by the death of parents, and 401 — orphans at live parents, that is left without care due to deprivation of parental rights, condemnation, the announcement wanted”, — stated the speaker.

Opportunistic solve budget problems at the expense of the future of the country – “the position of short-sighted, inconsistent with the strategic goals and objectives of Russia”, believes the parliamentarian. “The Federation Council intends to at least maintain the achieved level of budget expenditure on state support to families and children so that the implementation of the approved projects relating to maternal and child health, could be extended in sufficient volume,” said Matvienko, adding that “this is a pledge of dynamic development and political stability of our country”.
The head of the upper house of the Russian Parliament headed by a Coordinating Council under the RF President on implementation of National strategy of actions in interests of children, this subject discussed in forum earlier. Tuesday in the Kremlin under the chairmanship of Valentina Matvienko and head of the Russian presidential administration Sergei Ivanov held a regular meeting of the Council, which will be devoted to the preservation of budget expenditure on state support to families and children, as well as improvement of social infrastructure of childhood. To participate in the event, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Minister of industry and trade of Russian Federation Denis Manturov, Minister of labour and social protection RF Maxim Topilin.
Tax benefits to foster families
Valentina Matvienko considers it appropriate to introduce a reduced rate of tax on income in respect of paid in the regions of benefits for families with foster children.
The Senator noted that foster families in Russia is becoming more “just this year, the family took care of more than 50 thousand children-orphans”. “Frankly, we did not expect that the adoption and guardianship will accept such scale”, – said the head of the Federation Council. One of the forms of state care to foster homes, she believes, can become preferential taxation of benefits paid to them.
“In many regions there are additional measures of social support to families in the form of cash payments for care of the adopted child”, – reminded the speaker. “Their volume is small, but they are subject to income tax at the rate of 13 percent. Nonsense! I think we should support the initiative made by the deputies of the Kursk regional Duma on the introduction of appropriate tax incentives,” said the Senator.
The head of the Federation Council noted that over the past two years the number of orphans in Russia decreased almost twice – from 119 to 73.5 thousand. “The fact that orphans in shelters, was much less is the merit of our fellow citizens who have formed adoptive family,” she said. According to Matvienko, “the majority of foster families do this step on souls and hearts”, however, “these people have to constantly feel supported by the state”.
The head of the upper house of the Russian Parliament headed by a Coordinating Council under the RF President on implementation of National strategy of actions in interests of children. Tuesday in the Kremlin under the chairmanship of Valentina Matvienko and head of the Russian presidential administration Sergei Ivanov held a regular meeting of the Council, which will be devoted to the preservation of budget expenditure on state support to families and children, as well as improvement of social infrastructure of childhood. To participate in the event, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Minister of industry and trade of Russian Federation Denis Manturov, Minister of labour and social protection RF Maxim Topilin.

Every child has the right to have mom and dad, and not only on the teacher-Russia orphans.

Some parents naively believe that giving the baby to the orphanage to help him, but this is not so (VIDEO)
Vladivostok, November 6, PrimaMedia. That every child is a conscientious objector suffers, at least, psycho-emotional developmental delay, parents who leave their children in orphanages, little thinking. On the contrary, some citizens believe that thus only help the child, because he will be dressed and fed at state expense. Meanwhile, the Russian legislation provided for the fundamental right of the child to live and grow up in a family. It means to have a mom and dad and not the teacher. Experts claim that the citizens who lost children in the care of the state, always can get them back, reports Corr. RIA PrimaMedia.

The Ussuriysk orphanage every morning starts talking 80 voices — so many kids have found shelter here. The number is almost never changed — neither the crisis nor the relatively calm period in the life of the country did not affect the decision of a certain category of our citizens to refuse your own child. Most of the parents of these children is also alive and quite healthy. Version new time — more and more parents leaving their child in the orphanage, believe that almost make a baby gift — the baby will be fed, shod and dressed government. About psycho-emotional state kids do not think.
– I would like to convey to all parents whose children are in orphanages, they have the opportunity to return their children back to himself. Russian law provided for the fundamental right of the child to live and grow up in a family. It means having mom and dad and not the teacher, not the Director of the orphanage. Therefore, parents can apply to the court for restoration of parental rights, carry on discussion in forum and blog. To do this, of course, you have to put some effort, – said Elena Basova, head of the territorial Department of guardianship and guardianship of the Ussuri urban district.
Remember, the Internet version of the project “the Road home” tells the story of children caught in difficult life situations, primarily, about the orphanages and social institutions. The project aims to help every child find a family. According to the authors, the project will allow to form a database of orphanages, will unite on the virtual site foster families of Primorsky Krai, experts in the field of family placement.
One of the main headings of the project – “I Want a family” – a kind of “video-the passport” orphans, which allows potential adoptive parents and guardians to get acquainted with a foster child.
We will note, today when the international adoption programs are closed for most foreign countries and domestic adoption programs are still in development there are in state tutorship and guardianship authorities of Primorye is registered 11 933 orphans. Of them are brought up in families of 8 children 555. This year on family forms have already been transferred to 902 of the child, of whom 599 persons are arranged under guardianship, 133 – in foster care, 105 – adopted and blood family returned 65 children. The regional basis for adoption are waiting for their future parents even more than 3 thousand children of Primorsko.

Adoption organizations began the campaign for the world day of orphans

Charitable Foundation “good Arithmetic” announced about the launch of social media campaign “but it doesn’t have to be lost children in the world “. It is dedicated to the world day of orphans, which in 2015 will be celebrated on 9 November.
Participants are encouraged to post on social networks a picturepublished on the Foundation’s website, with the hashtags #technicaldebt #semimythical #noyabrya #arithmetically. Also they have the ability to replace the photo on the avatars to a picture of a stock symbol – mammoth known from the cartoon, or to place the campaign banner on personal or corporate website. The Foundation is asking people to spread awareness about the problem and potential solutions.

“Unfortunately, today millions of children worldwide are orphans. To make sure that they are not forgotten, once a year there is a special day dedicated just to them: world orphans day”, said employees of the charity. They recalled that, according to statistics, at the beginning of 2014 the number of children who are registered in the state databank about children without parental support amounted to 106,6 thousand. In addition, in 2014, it was revealed 61,6 thousand children left without parental care (176 children). In this case 2/3 of the orphans in Russia – social orphans with living parents. The Fund also pointed to the low percentage of socially reinforced of graduates of orphanages.
“The charitable Foundation “good Arithmetic” I am confident that child can be happy only in the family both national and international with the help of international adoption agencies and the priority chosen support of adoption and family placement of inmates of children’s homes, as well as their socialization and adaptation. In addition to adoption forum, everyone can help the orphans with your own donation or feasible participation in them, as well as support the campaign on social networks and attract the attention of many people to the problem and its possible solutions”, — stated in the message Fund.

Russia project “the Road home”aims to help every child find a family.

Decided to help the most wretched, and brought from the orphanage three – family Newroc
Today in this seaside family raised 10 foster children, each of the diagnoses would be enough for a medical Talmud (VIDEO)
Vladivostok, November 6, PrimaMedia. The saying that God loves a Trinity, in the family Nuruk made sense. Before meeting with a foster child, Light and Michael decided that they should help the most wretched. And so it happened that the first from the orphanage came just three Pasha, Igor and the Torah. Diagnoses each would be enough for some medical stuff. Favorable predictions of the doctor did not give anyone, reports Corr. RIA PrimaMedia.

To find this house on the street of Amber, you just have to find the fences covered with high multi-style cottages in a modest courtyard in which the gate is always wide open. The main local landmark is running towards you from all sides this morning, in the evening, Alex, the Torah. Under one roof in the family Newroc live ten foster children. And each story is a story about the serious illness and spiritual struggles. Because all, without exception, the mother of Light and father Misha put his feet in the literal sense of the word.
Parents are constantly bringing in sick kids to doctors, always think about what pills and what time of the day on each child, as well as from month to month grind hard bound ailment legs and arms.
Today in the house Newroc full of animals — cats, dogs, a parrot and even a newt. Thoroughbred Lina cured of cancer, four-legged favorite nick once ran right under the wheels of their cars, apparently feeling that these people will not betray. What do they say at the gate? Different ways. Someone admires, someone thinks that there is in this material gain. Just today Svetlana and Mikhail began to adopt foster children, consciously refusing the meager amount they are put from the state. And still keep the door open,and suddenly someone’s gonna need help.
Remember, the Internet version of the project “the Road home” tells the story of children caught in difficult life situations, primarily, about the orphanages and social institutions. The project aims to help every child find a family.
According to the authors, see more coverage in discussion forum the project will allow to form a database of orphanages, will unite on the virtual site foster families of Primorsky Krai, experts in the field of family placement.
One of the main headings of the project – “I Want a family” – a kind of “video-the passport” orphans, which allows potential adoptive parents and guardians to get acquainted with a foster child.
We will note, today in the international adoption and domestic agencies of tutorship and guardianship authorities of Primorye is registered 11 933 orphans. Of them are brought up in families of 8 children 555. This year on family forms have already been transferred to 902 of the child, of whom 599 persons are arranged under guardianship, 133 – in foster care, 105 – adopted and blood family returned 65 children. The regional basis for adoption are waiting for their future parents even more than 3 thousand children of Primorsko.

How did the law of Dima Yakovlev changed adoption in Russia? Kirov city

The emergence of this law was caused by the tragic cases (including the death of Dima) that happened with adopted Russian children in the United States. The attitude towards them was, to put it mildly, inhumane, but the American justice system to criminals (in other words they will not name) showed inexplicable leniency. This was the last straw of our legislators.
But do not think that foreign adoptions in Russia has set up a cross – it’s not. Right to take in families of children from our country lost United States of America and those States that officially allowed same-sex marriages. However, pupils Vyatka orphanages and did not almost got to the ocean.

Where will you be going?
The opponents of the Dima Yakovlev law was, as it seemed to them, the iron argument: foreign adoptive parents are not afraid to take people with disabilities and children suffering from serious chronic ailments through international adoption program. In addition, they don’t mind large families, and the Russians decide the maximum on the adoption of one child. Now, however, I assure in the Ministry of education, the situation has changed, and all of the above applies to Vyatka families. Therefore, the number of children adopted by foreigners from our region in recent years has decreased dramatically. And the ban is not to blame.
With 6 months to one year increased the period during which the orphanage needs to find new parents on the territory of the Russian Federation. That is, by law, the advantage is still given still our citizens.
“In 2015, foreigners adopted 16 children from different districts of the region, – said Tatiana Vidyakin, consultant of Department of protection of children’s rights of the Ministry of education, in 2014 48. Most of the guys go to live in Italy and Germany, a few in Spain. Parents of adopted children up to the age of majority in their mandatory report to social services and state authorities in their countries, and they, in turn, transmit reports about the living conditions and upbringing of adopted children in our guardianship and guardianship”.
Do not think that Europeans the whole process is easier than the other: sometimes they spend more than one year to collect all the necessary documents and obtain permission. In Italy, for example, it gives the court, so that all very seriously. Directly with foreigners our institutions do not work only with accredited by the Ministry of education and science of the Russian Federation, agencies of international adoption of children. Europeans, one might say, passed through a fine sieve to ensure the reliability and purity of their intentions. This approach is quite justified: the guys who have moved from the Vyatka abroad no unpleasant incidents were not.
“The fact that foreigners adopt less Vyatka children, I see rather a plus than a minus – sure Hope Pertseva, Director of Urzhum orphanage. – Russian families easier to control, easier for them to assist in solving any problems if the need arises”.
Two boys brought up here, now live in Italy and Romania. They’ve got a wonderful family who are really willing to do everything possible for the development of children. The children adapted well, attend school, have the opportunity to study several languages. Nadezhda Ivanovna always studies the reports sent to parents, who thank her for the upbringing of the boys, the boys write her letters, send pictures, and everything seems to be fine.
“But there is no absolute probability that all of them are going to such good and kind people, our children are very lucky,” she says.
Pertseva does not believe that kirovchane are not willing to adopt orphans and prefer solely the creation of foster families. It depends on the person, from a particular situation. Sometimes, experiencing acute loss of their child, people about anything else and I don’t think, except about the adoption of another baby. And sometimes, foster parents, unable to cope with the child, bring him back.
In General, no matter what language they speak and what nationality are mom and dad just loved the little man, cared for, not humiliated, not turned into a toy for their fun. Every child has a right to happiness, in which country he would not have found. He can always return to their historical homeland if they wish, as a citizen of not only the country where his family lives, but also in Russia.

How to prepare for the adoption in Russia?

These are the basic requirement of the law for domestic adoption that equally apply for international adoption programs with a specific compliance set forth for international adoptive parents. It is interesting to know to understand but without professional legal assistance do not venture out on your own. Same rules shall apply to all adoptive parents when they look at another former Soviet republic of Ukraine, see in details for Ukraine Adoption information, links and resources with professional adoption agencies with reputable names.

Adoption of a child is possible only in a judicial proceeding under articles 125-139 Family code of the Russian Federation according to the rules of Chapter 29 of the civil procedural code. The adoption process , we suggest always to consult professional adoption agencies to recieve the guidance and advice, but generally includes the following steps:
statement on the account in guardianship as candidates for adoptive parents to obtain a conclusion about possibility to be adoptive parents that includes a survey of living conditions of adoptive parents;
contact with the child, deciding who you want to adopt;
the collection of the necessary documents to appeal to the court with the application for adoption;
an appeal to the court, the proceedings in court, which ends with a decision;
registration of adoption in registry offices, obtaining certificate of adoption.
The procedure for applying to the guardianship and the list of required documents is described in detail in the Rules of transfer of children on adoption (appr. The resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation from March, 29th, 2000 N 275). In the survey of living conditions of prospective adoptive parents, the guardianship authority evaluates living conditions, personal qualities and motives of the applicant, the ability of his educating the child, relations among family members of the applicant.
What are the requirements for adoptive parents?
The law does not define the list of persons having the right to adoption, however, the meaning of the rules establishing the order of adoption, adoptive parents may be persons with the qualities needed for the implementation of the education and comprehensive development of the child’s personality, preparing him for an independent life in the future. According to article 127 of the family code, adoptive parents can be adult persons of either sex, except:
the persons recognized by court incapable or partially capable;
spouses, one of whom is recognized by court as incapable or partially capable;
persons deprived by court of parental rights or limited by court in the parent rights;
persons, removed from duties of care (Trustee) for inadequate performance of duties;
former adoptive parents if adoption is cancelled by court on their fault;
persons who for health reasons can’t adopt a child (see Government Decree of the Russian Federation of 14.02.2013 N 117 “About approval of the list of diseases at which presence the person can not adopt (adopt) a child”, the order of the MoH of Russia from 18.06.2014 n N “On approval of the Procedure of medical examination of citizens, intending to adopt to (adopt) a child”);
persons who at the time of establishment of adoption have no income providing for the adopted child subsistence minimum, established in the subject of the Russian Federation on the territory of which such persons reside;
persons not having permanent place of residence;
persons having or having a criminal record, exposed or subjected to criminal prosecution on a number of articles of the criminal code;
failed psycho-pedagogical and legal training of persons wishing to adopt a child (see Rules of selection, accounting and the preparation of citizens, approved. The resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 18 may 2009 g. N 423);
persons in Union concluded between persons of the same sex, recognized as marriage and registered in accordance with the laws of the state in which such marriage is allowed, and persons who are citizens of specified States and unmarried.
As adoption procedures are dealt with in court?
Cases on adoption of the child by citizens of the Russian Federation under the jurisdiction of the district courts at the place of residence or location of the child (paragraph 1 of article 269 of the civil procedural code). The form and content of the application for adoption must meet the requirements of articles 131, 270 of civil procedure code. The statement includes information about the adoptive parents, adoptive children about their brothers and sisters, about their parents, asking about possible changes in Assembly record about the birth of the adopted children, as well as the circumstances proving the request of adoptive parents and supporting evidence. Along with the application, the other documents, the list of which is given in article 271 of the civil procedural code. The application for adoption is not paid the stamp duty (PP. 14 section 1 of article 333.36 of the tax code).
The application for adoption is considered in special proceedings in the closed judicial session with obligatory participation of adoptive fathers (adoptive father), representatives of the guardianship, the Prosecutor, the child, under the age of 14 years, and in necessary cases, parents, other stakeholders and the child aged 10 to 14 years (article 273 of the civil procedure code, see also clauses 3 and 4 of the Resolution of Plenum of VS Russian Federation from April, 20th, 2006 N 8). In preparation for trial, the judge should request from the guardianship authority at the place of residence (spent) baby conclusion about the validity of the adoption and its correspondence to the interests of the adopted child with information about the fact of personal communication of the adoptive parents (adopter) with the adopted child (part 1 of article 272 of the civil procedural code, section 2 of article 125 of the RF IC).