U.S. woman adopts Russian boy, 7, then sends him back

[Hawkgirl]

I have been following this story for the past few days...and I'm just appalled.


Fury as U.S. woman adopts Russian boy, 7, then sends him back alone with note saying: 'I don't want him anymore'
By Will Stewart

First picture of U.S. mother emerges
Russian foreign minister calls for adoption freeze

Bitter tug-of-war as Russia denies U.S. consul access to child
Russia reacted with horror today over the heartbreaking story of a seven-year-old Siberian boy adopted by an American family who was sent back to Moscow alone - because his U.S. mother didn't want him any more.

Little Artem Saveliev was last year taken from a grim orphanage and given a new life in Tennessee last year.
But his adoptive mother Torry-Ann Hansen, a 34-year-old nurse, yesterday put him on a ten-hour flight as an unaccompanied minor with a note 'to whom it may concern' saying: 'I no longer wish to parent this child'.
In his rucksack, she had placed sweets, biscuits and colouring pens for the journey.

 A mother's rejection: Torry-Ann Hansen plays with her adoptive son Artem at the Vladivostok orphanage last year. Yesterday he arrived back in Moscow alone, clutching a note from her saying she did not want him anymore

 Unwanted: Artem Saveliev is led away by authorities after being rejected by his adoptive American mother

She did not tell him she was rejecting him. Instead, she and a grandmother that he was going on an 'excursion' to Moscow.
In the typed note, which the blond boy was clutching when Moscow police picked him up, she said she wanted the adoption annulled.
She accused the Vladivostok orphanage of misleading her about the child's behavioural problems.
The Russians angrily denied this, saying he was stubborn but that his only disability was that he was 'flat-footed'.

Officials said they have never witnessed such cruelty to a child after promising a 'new life'.
Unwanted Artem, eight next week, looked confused and bewildered as he was taken into care by Moscow social services. 


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[RightCoast]

Shoot her.

[DefiantSix]

Shoot her.

+1  (+2 actually; my wife's NOT HAPPY with this chica either)   Bullet.  Brain.  Done.

[Hawkgirl]

Besides traumatizing this little boy, this bitch has now halted adoptions for many other parents waiting in the US and their children in Russia.  Between this bitch and the bullies responsible for the irish girl's suicide, americans are looking pretty bad in the morals department.

[The Village Idiot]

She wrote upon him: Return to Sender...

[RightCoast]

She wrote upon him: Return to Sender...

...address unkown...

[The Village Idiot]

...address unkown...

No such person...

[DefiantSix]

Besides traumatizing this little boy, this bitch has now halted adoptions for many other parents waiting in the US and their children in Russia.  Between this bitch and the bullies responsible for the irish girl's suicide, americans are looking pretty bad in the morals department.

Believe me, we know.  My wife and I were getting ducks in a row to adopt a kid or two from Haiti when those idiots tried to abscond with a busload of kids, and put the brakes on adoption for everybody else.

Bullet.Brain.

[IassaFTots]

Seriously.  Not meaning to stir any pots, or anything else.  I have a question.  Although I know that there are children in other countries that are suffering, and would benefit so much from a family to care for them....why do people adopt from other countries, and not from here?

[DefiantSix]

Seriously.  Not meaning to stir any pots, or anything else.  I have a question.  Although I know that there are children in other countries that are suffering, and would benefit so much from a family to care for them....why do people adopt from other countries, and not from here?

Usually not as much money involved, as well as fewer hoops to jump through.

[longview]

Usually not as much money involved, as well as fewer hoops to jump through.

Really!  I wondered that, too.  I sure don't begrudge any child a home, though. 

The hide that did this... I can't think of how many chances for happiness she destroyed.  The poor boy!  I pray God puts good people in his path.

[DefiantSix]

Really!  I wondered that, too.  I sure don't begrudge any child a home, though. 

The hide that did this... I can't think of how many chances for happiness she destroyed.  The poor boy!  I pray God puts good people in his path.

A lot more of it is the latter rather than the former.  Some of our friends have adopted, and the biggest obstacle, unless it's a pre-arranged, private infant adoption, is the state's child social service agency.  They've got such a stake in the "foster care" system they manage directly, that they're loathe to let any child out of that system, and into a permanent, adopted custodial family.  The folks we know spent literally YEARS getting "certified" by the state social services numbnuts and hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees to push the three kids they've adopted through the court system.

[IassaFTots]

Usually not as much money involved, as well as fewer hoops to jump through.

Ok, thanks for clarifying.  Most unfortunate for all involved I guess.  Just doesn't seem right.

[Hawkgirl]

Seriously.  Not meaning to stir any pots, or anything else.  I have a question.  Although I know that there are children in other countries that are suffering, and would benefit so much from a family to care for them....why do people adopt from other countries, and not from here?

With domestic adoption, the birthmother chooses you.   Depending on how well you sell yourself on paper will determine your wait time.   The plus is your baby comes home to you from the hospital..and you can sometimes witness the birth and bond with your baby immediately.   The bad part is, the birthmother can change her mind, and decide to parent, so not only do you lose your financial investment, but your emotional as well.  Every state has different limits...For example, in Florida, a birthmother has 48 hours before she signs over her parental right, in California, I think it's 2 weeks.

With international adoption, in most countries, the "state" chooses your baby, usually when the baby is a bit "older", depending on the country, some of those children are institutionalized, some come from foster care.  There is a lot of international red tape to go through, and a lot more paperwork..but there is no danger of losing a child, you just have to be willing to go through all the hoops in completing the process.

[IassaFTots]

Well, what happens to all the babies that aren't adopted at birth, and are 1-2-3 etc years old, here in the states?  Or, are there any?  Wouldn't that level the playing field with out of country adoptions?

Sorry to ask so many questions.  For a myriad of reasons I chose not to have a child, biologically it wasn't an option, and I was never in a place for adoption, so I don't have a clue.  I hear people throw out "why adopt from other countries, when we have so many in foster care here" and wanted to know why that was.  This thread seemed like a good place to start to find out the answers. 

[Hawkgirl]

Well, what happens to all the babies that aren't adopted at birth, and are 1-2-3 etc years old, here in the states?  Or, are there any?  Wouldn't that level the playing field with out of country adoptions?

Sorry to ask so many questions.  For a myriad of reasons I chose not to have a child, biologically it wasn't an option, and I was never in a place for adoption, so I don't have a clue.  I hear people throw out "why adopt from other countries, when we have so many in foster care here" and wanted to know why that was.  This thread seemed like a good place to start to find out the answers. 

Those children get placed in foster care.  The goal of the foster care system is to re-unite children with their family, be it parents, grandparents, etc.  Unless the mother makes an adoption plan for the child, the child is not eligible for adoption.  In the event that the state takes the child away from the parent, because of abuse or neglect, then the child will be put in a "foster to adopt" program.  That also has challenges because termination of parental rights without consent is not easily done.  This is why people who enter the "foster to adopt" system may wait years.  Race is also a consideration.  Unfortunately, there are lots of children in the foster to adopt program, but most are older, with physical defects or developmental delays (usually a result from abuse and severe neglect) and they are black.  Most US families want to adopt caucasion, and they are just not as easily available.

[Ptarmigan]

Foreign adoptions are easier to get than domestic ones. Also, it cost less and is less rigorous. I don't know why the woman adopted in the first place. Also, the adoption agency should of noticed something about that boy.

[Ptarmigan]

Besides traumatizing this little boy, this bitch has now halted adoptions for many other parents waiting in the US and their children in Russia.  Between this bitch and the bullies responsible for the irish girl's suicide, americans are looking pretty bad in the morals department.

Those scumbags don't represent America and do not reflect well on us. Seems like different sets of scumbags come in three's. 

The South Hadley Thugs I will call them are worthy of hate that is heaped at other hated figures like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Osama bin Laden, and Charles Manson. Hopefully their names will be stigmatized like their names are.   Yes, I know it is offensive to lump these bullies with the Holocaust, Purge, and 9/11. Sad events that they are.

[Celtic Rose]

I'm speechless.  I hope that the women is charged with reckless endangerment of a child, abandonment, neglect, and what ever else a judge can throw at her. 

I'm heartbroken for that little boy, and for all the parents and children that are effected by the halting of adoptions. 

[formerlurker]

Seriously.  Not meaning to stir any pots, or anything else.  I have a question.  Although I know that there are children in other countries that are suffering, and would benefit so much from a family to care for them....why do people adopt from other countries, and not from here?

You never have to deal with birth parents changing their mind.

[MrsSmith]

Another answer is that, while there a lot of American kids that need homes, there are literally millions of orphans world-wide, in places far worse that the "average American foster home."  As bad as foster kids have it...and I believe they really do, in many cases, have it pretty bad...that can't compare to a packed orphanage where children are housed in cribs for literally years, fed just enough to stay alive, and generally completely ignored by overworked staff...or kids that literally live on the streets, trying to find food and shelter for themselves.  I've heard of missionaries adopting street kids that were 3 or 4 years old, kids that lost their parents or were tossed out of their homes when they were still toddlers.

[littlelamb]

My heart hurts for that little boy he needed a mom to love him and she casted him away like garbage

[vesta111]

My heart hurts for that little boy he needed a mom to love him and she casted him away like garbage

Another thing to consider are the law suits against State agency's here in the US against the adoption agency's that do in fact do most anything to cull the herd of older children to make way for others that are younger.

I only remember one big case of a family that Sued the State because they adopted children who's medical records were hidden from them.  They were not told of any problems foster homes may have had with them.  These were not baby's with a blank slate, these were kids with 5-8 years of history behind them and the adoptive parents were completely unaware of.

This one American couple adopted a child about the age of this child we are speaking of, and within months found the child, a boy, was a danger to small animals, scared the heck out of other children in school and at home.  He began to dominate the home, the other children were forgotten as all energy went into raising this one very troubled child.

The parents did some digging with a private detective detective who came up with hidden records that showed the child had been in 8 foster homes and returned to the state for mental problems that the family could not cope with.  This child also had a thing for fire and death.   Documented mental evaluations that showed the child was a danger to themselves and others.

It was a nightmare for the parents to go to court but, they did prove their case.  The State had hidden all this from them and presented the child as being something he was not. 
the State did in fact lie, cheat and steal to get this child out of their hair.

Sad for the child but even sadder for the tortured family pets, the other children in the family that fear him, sad for the parents and other care givers that never know what is coming next, a fire, an attack on the other kids or themselves.

Two sides to every story, this mother did not have 5 years behind her to gradually adjust to a problem child, what was hidden from her about the child was just baggage the child brought into the home with no warning or knowledge.

I go with the poor mother in this case, what was she to do, allow the child to rampage about at the cost of her other children.?

Millions of people who have brain damaged children have to make a horrid decision in life, do they follow their heart and tough it out or have the child removed to a medical facility.

You know, this is akin to selling a dangerous pit bull to someone and being told it is of another breed, very docile.   New owner gets the pit home and it craps and pees everywhere, eats the baby and charges the neighbors.     

   

[IassaFTots]

Thank you to all for shedding some light on my questions.  Appreciate it!

[DumbAss Tanker]

Thank you to all for shedding some light on my questions.  Appreciate it!

Another thing about 'All those children in foster care here' is that the vast majority of them have parents (Probably shitty parents, but parents) who have not had their parental rights terminated by a court and who won't willingly surrender them, out of either cussedness, their own dysfunctional ideas on relationships, or holding out for a bribe - and, as expensive as adoptions are, the States do not allow birth parents to just be paid off directly.  Some states also have very protracted home approval processes and very high standards for adoptive homes that go so far beyond anything birth parents have to do that they do much more to intimidate prospective adopters than they do to protect the kids.

In this case, no matter how damaged she thought the child was, there is absolutely no excuse for what she did.  I hear on the news this morning that her attorney is challenging the prosecutor to take the case to court, I hope he calls the bastard's bluff and does it.