An urgent call to fast and pray for Russian orphans

It's unconscionable.

In the news yesterday, all 143 members of Russia's Federation Council (upper Parliament) unanimously endorsed a bill that would ban Americans from adopting Russian orphans.

To get a feel for the implications of this proposed ban, take a look at the graph below which demonstrates the number of foreign orphans that have been adopted by US families in the last decade. The red shows the number of orphans adopted by US families from Russia alone.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

And for what purpose? Russia is pissed at us. This is their way of retaliating against a recent US law that calls for sanctions against Russians suspected of being human rights violators. You get the irony here, right? 

Russia is using these innocent, vulnerable children as political pawns as a means of flexing its political prowess. All that is left is for Putin to sign the bill, which according to a news article posted a few minutes ago, he "sees no reason not to sign".

Dear God in heaven, have mercy.

Despite whatever illusion Putin is under, Russia is simply not equipped to care for the sheer number of orphans born there. These orphans depend on foreign adoption as their only chance at life outside of an institution, most notably those with special needs. US families adopted nearly1,000 kids from Russia last year alone and the United States remains the No. 1 country that adopts Russia's children. 120,000 are currently listed on the government database as available for adoption. Dozens of these children, many listed on Reese's Rainbow, are *this close* to being home with their families. 

And in one callous stroke of a pen, those children will be blocked from a life of promise or knowing the love of a family.

Children like Malcolm:

One More Smith

Friends, I'd like to humbly suggest that we fast and pray today. For Putin. For these orphans. For the families whose hearts are heavy as they await the final word on the future of their long-hoped-for adoptions. 

Do what you can. Maybe just put away the Christmas cookies. Perhaps you can leave the television off. Consider the idea of not snacking between meals or drink only water as beverage. Just for today. But more importantly PRAY. Pray for a softening of Putin's heart. Pray for the futures of these children. Pray for the families who are on the brink of an adoption miscarriage.

My husband and I have been there. We were in the midst of an adoption of our first son in 2003 when his birth country forced a moratorium on all adoptions as the government there fought over whether or not it would join the Hague Convention. For 7 long months we languished in a hell, not knowing if we'd ever bring home the boy who we had already visited twice. Happily, our story ended well but I fear the worst for these Russian children and their US families who are waiting for them.