Why Russia?

The first thing many people ask us when we tell them we are adopting is, "Why Russia?"  Well, it all started with a first grader who I was lucky enough to have in my class.  She was constantly drawing pictures and writing letters for me, kind to her classmates, amazingly smart, extremely well-behaved.  After talking to her mom, I found out that she (and her little sister) were adopted from Russia.  I remember being amazed and inspired by their story!  It's four years later now and she still runs to me with the biggest smile every time I see her.  When Jacob was having kindergarten nerves, she sat by him on the bus, walked him to his line, and gave him special treats and crafts she had made in school.

So when Adam and I were first talking about adoption by the campfire, my mind automatically went to Russia.  Then we looked up the statistics...

According to data from the Health and Social Development Ministry, more than 730,000 children in Russia either have no parents or have been abandoned by their parents. Of this number about 200,000 of them live in orphanages and internats. More than 160,000 children are waiting to be adopted according to the state database.  In 2007, 9,000 Russian children were adopted by foreign families. Approximately 4,000 of these went to the United States.

Statistics show that only one out of ten Russian orphans becomes a functional member of society. The others are lost to drugs, crime and suicide. Millions of Russian children are on the run living on the streets or in underground sewers desperately needing basic food, medicine and clothes.


About 15,000 Russian orphans leave orphanages each year, once they are 16 to 18 years old. Of these, 5,000 are unemployed, some 6,000 are homeless, around 3,000 resort to crime, approximately 1,500 commit suicide, and roughly half the girls are forced into prostitution.


Enough said... and that is why we are adopting from Russia.  :)