Russia bans adoption of orphans by U.S. couples

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

14. actually, a lot of U.S. adoption agencies won't let you adopt

a child of another race and/or restrict interracial adoptions. I looked into adopting a child domestically and I was specifically looking to adopt a non-blonde-blue-eyed-Caucasian, but there is some resistance. Interestingly, this resistance comes from African-American social worker groups.

One thing is sure - the whole adoption process needs to be revamped. It is incredibly long with unpredictable outcomes and it requires substantial amounts of money upfront. To be honest, it feels like buying a baby. Many birth mothers require payments of some kind, but there is no certainty that they won't change their minds.

Adopting through state agencies can be very inexpensive, but they favor family reunification at any cost and they don't have a good track record of actually disclosing a child's medical and psychological histories.

Being a parent is expensive, don't get me wrong. However, it doesn't require you to plunk down $15K-40K+ at once. Even with the tax credit and any employer contributions (if your employer provides them), it's still a lot of money for many people. The level of scrutiny you have to endure is also complex. Obviously, I have no problem with background checks. But references from friends are a problem. Neither my husband or I have many friends in the U.S. We are also not religious, so a lot of agencies would automatically exclude us from their adoption process.