US' Neo-Colonial Children Adoption Scheme Revealed by Russian Foreign Ministry

The United States violates children's rights in the international adoption process, which remains "opaque, corrupt, resource-intensive" and "subject to the political neo-colonial conjuncture," the newly released Russian Foreign Ministry report says.

According to the report, the American authorities are so worried about the children in the Ukraine conflict zone since Ukraine is considered as one of the "suppliers" of children for international adoption, following the ban on adoptions from Russia in 2013.

"Washington's ostentatious concern about the situation with children in the zone of special military operation [in Ukraine] is caused, first of all, by the fact that the American authorities considered Ukraine, including Donbass, as a source for international adoption of children (mainly of Slavic origin)," as stated in the report.

Citing the US State Department statistics, the ministry noted that before 2013, Russia was the world's leading country in terms of the number of children adopted by US citizens, followed by Ukraine, which is now in the first place.

In twenty-year period (1992-2013) the number of Russian children adopted by the US' citizens is 61,625, the report outlined. Furthermore, the popularity of international adoption is conditioned by the lower costs.

"Adoption of a child from Russia was considered in the US as a cheap option," the report said.

There are also 22 registered cases of deaths of Russian foster children adopted by US citizens between 1996 and 2013. Approximately 500 Russian minors requested legal, psychological, diplomatic and consular assistance from the Russian Embassy in the United States as victims of harsh treatment by American adoptive parents.

"Cases of gross violations of rights (murder, rape, grievous bodily harm and bullying) of minor citizens of Russia continued (including an increase in illegal 'adoptions' by same-sex couples and "assignment of parental rights" to outsiders)," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The report refers to a sociological study in the journal "Social Science Research" in which the author identified serious psychological problems of children adopted by same-sex couples.

"Up to 24% of teenage children from same-sex "families" planned suicide (the average level is 5%). Foster children of homosexual parents are more likely than those from ordinary families to need psychotherapeutic help (19% vs 8%)," the report outlined, citing the research.

The report concludes that the attempts of the United States to position itself among the main advocates of children's rights are not supported by any relevant domestic legislative framework or law enforcement practice.

"The principle of humanity and the best interests of the child excludes a 'statistical' approach to the violation of the rights of minors. Even one inadequate verdict that shields criminals creates a dangerous precedent, which must be fought against taking root in judicial practice," the ministry stressed.

In addition to Russia, which imposed a ban on the foreign adoption for the local children on January 1, 2013, Kenya, Ethiopia (which also was among the most popular destinations for adoption by US citizens) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo followed the suit by introducing a legal ban on the adoption of children by Americans in the past decade.