TN woman sends adopted Russian boy back

[Tobra]

I will with hold comment so as to not bias the conversation.
Grandmother: Adopted boy sent back to Russia was violent - CNN.com

Grandmother: Adopted boy sent back to Russia was violentBy Alan Duke, CNN
April 10, 2010 5:05 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- A 7-year-old Russian boy adopted by an American family last year was put on a return flight to Moscow this week because of violent and psychotic behavior, according to a Tennessee grandmother.

The child showed up unannounced at Russia's child protection ministry Thursday, triggering an international investigation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a Russian TV channel on Friday that his country has banned future adoptions by Americans until the United States signs a new agreement to regulate them.

U.S. diplomats have avoided such an agreement to set responsibilities for the adopting parents, Lavrov said, "but this latest incident has exhausted our patience."

"We are now investigating the circumstances of the boy's return to see if any crimes were committed," said U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle. "We are also in close contact with the Russian government on all aspects of the case, and we know that he is being well cared for."

Nancy Hansen, the Tennessee woman who put Justin Hansen on the plane in Washington, insisted she did not abandon the child, but was following instructions from a lawyer she found online.

Hansen told CNN that she was concerned about her family's safety after a series of violent incidents and threats.

"I still have energy and I love children," Hansen said. "It wasn't that he was just energetic and wearing us down. It was the violent tendencies and he had to be watched at all time."

When her daughter, Torry Hansen, adopted the boy from a Russian orphanage last year, she asked the doctor there if he had any physical or mental problems, Nancy Hansen said.

The doctor answered "'He's healthy,' and turned and left," she said.

Once the child learned enough English, he told his new family about the horrors of his previous life, including being beaten at the orphanage after his mother abandoned him, she said.

He also told of an incident in which he burned down a building near the orphanage, she said.

Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov said the child was "completely healthy, physically and mentally" before the adoption.

"Nobody withheld anything from her [Torry Hansen]," he said. "It's a lie."

Justin told Russian officials he was abused by the American family, Astakhov said.

"There was a grandmother who was at home with the boys," he said. "She used to shout at [Justin] a lot. When I asked how the mother treated him he burst into tears and said she used to pull his hair."

Hansen said the child had a "hit list" of people he was targeting, including her daughter, who he said he "wanted to kill for the house." He threatened to kill her grandson for a videogame, she said.

The final incident that convinced Hansen she should send the boy back to Russia was when she caught him starting a fire with papers in his bedroom last Monday, she said. She feared the child might burn down the house and kill her family, she said.

Hansen and her family were set to meet with Bedford County, Tennessee, Sheriff Randall Boyce on Friday afternoon but their lawyer asked to reschedule the session for next week, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

"I'm not sure there's been a crime committed," Boyce said earlier. He was asked by the U.S. State Department to investigate.

A State Department spokesman said the U.S. government was "very troubled" by the incident.

"As parents, my wife and I were deeply shocked by the news of Justin Hansen, and very angry that any family would act so callously toward a child that they had legally adopted," Ambassador Beyrle said.

Nancy Hansen outlined for CNN the process she followed after she decided Justin must go back to Russia.

When the lawyer she found online advised her the adoption could be reversed, Hansen booked the flight and paid the fee for a steward to escort Justin through the airport, she said.

She hired a driver in Moscow she found online to pick the child up from the Moscow airport, she said. She found "safe references" for the driver online, she said.

She then prepared a letter for Justin to present to Russian officials, which included a photo of the driver, whom she identified as "Arthur," she said.

Justin "had never been happier" than when he boarded the plane for Moscow, she said.

Russian child protection officials were not happy when the child arrived unannounced at their ministry Wednesday. Nancy Hansen said when they called her there was "a lot of yelling going on."

But Hansen said after the call she believed the matter was settled and the boy was safe, until she also got a call from the U.S. Embassy. They told her she had set off an "international incident."

The U.S. State Department spokesman on Friday said it was up to the Russian government to decide whether it will suspend adoptions by Americans because of the incident.

Ambassador Beyrle said cases of neglect are rare among the "tens of thousands of adopted Russian children who are living happily and lovingly with their American families."

"But even one incident like this is too many, and we will get to the bottom of what went wrong," he said.

The Seattle-based agency which Hansen said her daughter used to coordinate the adoption said it found out about Justin's return only Friday.

"We were alerted to this situation by our branch office in Moscow, Russia, and are shocked and saddened by this turn of events," said a spokeswoman for the World Association for Children and Parents.

In the 1 percent of the cases where the dissolution of an adoption has been needed, the agency "has always supported and worked closely with [adoptive] parents to assist the child in moving into a new adoptive family," she said.

[dhoward]

"I want a new one. This ones's broken."

[bivenator]

I have met many ( 2 dozen) adopted children from Russia through my work at a psychiatrist office. I am blown away that this has not happened sooner. Those children are often damaged goods when they arrive. (emotional problems, fetal alcohol syndrom, attachment disorders)
I met a lot of good hearted people who were at thier wits end in trying to cope with these children.

[asphaltgambler]

Gotta wonder here................................ this may sound stupid but I would not believe a f*king thing anyone said that was connected with that kids departure. Something like asking the shady used-car salesman if the Yugo you're buying is all good.

If I were making a commitment like that I would have my own doc(s) determine mental/physical condition. it's just prudent M/O

If Dueller would post here he'd say "Two words" - "Due Diligence" (sp?)

[campbellcj]

There is clearly a lot more to the story that is not laid-out in the media. Unfortunately, the irresponsible actions of this family have further jeopardized the entire international adoption system for thousands of qualified, informed prospective adoptive parents. There are well-defined protocols for unwinding a failed adoption, worst case if the situation cannot be resolved in a more positive way first, and these people apparently ignored all that.

[nostatic]

but they had an online lawyer...

[Tobra]

There is very little about this story, nothing about similar issues with kids adopted out of Russia, in the print media. The radio program I listen to in th morning did an hour of horror stories. There are essentially no resources for a middle class person dealing with a psych case kid.

Apparently it is quite common for these kids to have issues, such as fetal alcohol syndrome. Due diligence is a good idea, but you would pretty much have to take your head shrinker with you when you pick up the kid, and hope he can savvy Russkie like a native. You go into something like this thinking the people you are dealing with are being forthcoming, clearly not the case here. What do you do when the "normal" kid you adopted turns out to be a fire bug who wants to burn you to death in your home?

I don't think this was the right way to handle it, but I don't know what else she tried, what her other options were. The impression I got is that the nurse in question was a single parent

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by nostatic

but they had an online lawyer...

ODDJOBUNO's Clown Attorney? Now online? I see the possibility for a connection here.

[TGTIW]

I don't think this was the right way to handle it, but I don't know what else she tried, what her other options were.

I think they kept the receipt, so everything should be fine.
Has any foreign nation every adopted an American orphan? I think they should be grateful we're taking the ones we do. If a bad one has to be returned every once in a while, so be it.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

After living in Tennessee he probably wanted to go back too.

[kach22i]

My dentist has one of these kids, a real challenge when he first showed up as a five year old. He is 15 now and sorted out, but I know it has been tough on her.

[TechnoViking]

This is the reason we adopted from Korea. You can get a white kid from Russia, if that's important to you, but it's pretty common knowledge you will need to deal with unreliable information with regard to the health of the child.

While I do not have first hand experience with Russia, my understanding is that many if not most of these kids are from orphanages where the conditions are deplorable. I'm guessing there is some money to be made on the Russian side, and that problems with children are intentionally hidden, medical records are falsified, etc. I'd guess you'd be hard pressed to perform "due diligence" as they may not welcome you to bring a doc and a shrink to their facilities.

It's a shame as these kids from Russia really do need help, and there are parents in the US willing to sort through the "special needs" of these children. Hopefully this case will shed some light on the problems and improve the reliability of the information coming from the Russian orphanages.

[TGTIW]

Maybe he was another midget prostitute?

[BGCarrera32]

The child in question is a human being and some of the comments here are deplorable. What an unfortunate situation. Worse yet is that there are people that don't think twice about sending their natural born children off somewhere and fail to accept the responsibility of their decision to have children or in this case adopt. Sad indeed.

[legion]

What I find deplorable is that Russian orphanages can lie and fabricate paperwork and know there are essentially no consequences.

[Dave L]

buyer beware? I think both sides are partially to blame. The orphanage for not disclosing the issues and the parent for beliving that they were adopting an angel.

[flatbutt]

My close friend has two adopted sons from Russia. She spent a fortune in Russia, (including bribes posing as gifts ) on the procedure and was given very little health information. Fortunately she adopted them as infants, and that also increased the costs enormously.

[URY914]

At what point does it become human trafficing?

[TechnoViking]

My assumption would be that the boy has a Russian passport and the legal right to be in Russia. Probably has a US visa and the legal right to be in the US.

The US parents are probably, legally speaking, foster parents as adoptions take a while to become final. So the US-side agency may be the entity with legal guardianship over the boy. So the parents *may* be guilty of putting someone else's kid (in this case the US adoption agency's legally defined child) on a plane without the permission of the agency. Maybe. Is this a crime? I dunno. *****ty thing to do, but maybe not a crime.

AFAIK, there is a legal recourse to "unadopt" or essentially "put of for adoption" a child. Really, really, really frowned upon, but technically legal, I think. So putting the kid on a plane to "send him back" is pretty weak. They could have at least got the kid institutionalized state-side.

[Erakad]

I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand the similar experience of a friend that adopted a girl from Russia and ended up with a basket case. Mental/emotional issues, now 12+ years later are counting the days until the train wreck can leave the house on her own. On the other hand, what I understand is a single mom with responsibility for the first time to raise a son. Boys, as we all know, aren't angels, and can at times be...ahem....difficult. I don't know when her warranty on the kid expired, but less than a year really doesn't show much commitment. To pack him off on an airliner without giving (from what can be gleaned from the media) a concerted effort to provide counseling, indoctrination, and a home, seems a bit callous. The problem is, we all don't have enough facts to really pass judgement....train wreck like my friend's misadventure, or misunderstood child...we'll never know.