An Update? Not Really.

I know many people have come to this site in recent weeks looking for an update. I wish I could give you one. I wish I had one to give.

All I can do is share a statement from CIC dated November 15, 2013.

Why? Because no one is talking to us. We haven't heard from our agency since November 6th. The levels of government who contacted us to say they were working on the issue on behalf of Canadian Adoption Parents - we haven't heard from any of them since the week after the news story ended.

Our friends and families think we are in constant communication with the people with information. We would love to be. 

Our agency (which we have never named here) has been silent. Deafeningly silent.

Then again, they were silent before everything came to a head in October, stating "no comment" because there had been "no official policy change."  But there had been a policy change that Russia has used to justify the issue (as we've previously explained and as the CIC statement explains).

We've been left alone after making one last major effort for our own country and our own adoption agency to hear us when we say that we need to be kept informed.


Enough of the soapbox, here's the statement from CIC.

Notice – Important notice regarding adoptions from Russia

November 15, 2013 — On July 3, 2013, the Russian Federation adopted legislation that would prohibit the adoption of Russian children by same-sex couples and by single applicants who are citizens of countries that legally recognize same-sex marriage.
On August 29, 2013, the Russian Supreme Court issued a directive that seems to restrict the legislation on the adoption of Russian children by all couples from countries such as Canada that:

• recognize same-sex marriage;
• do not have a bilateral agreement on intercountry adoption with Russia; and
• permit the re-adoption of Russian children without the oversight of Russia’s Adoption Authority, in those cases where the original adoption fails.

A number of Canadian adoption cases in progress (along with those of other countries) appear to be caught by these legislative changes, resulting in delays in setting Russian court hearing dates or the rescheduling of dates that were already established.

The Government of Canada has been in contact with Russian authorities on this issue in order to seek further clarification. Canada has not yet received an official interpretation from the Government of Russia on their law. We are seeking clarification and answers about the impacts of the legislative change and the new directive on Canadians looking to adopt children from Russia and to better understand how the regional courts are applying them.

Canadian officials are also consulting with other foreign governments where same-sex marriage is legal to determine how the Russian legislation and the Supreme Court directive are being applied to their citizens.