Russian Duma to Debate U.S.-Russia Adoption

From RiaNovosti:

An adoption deal between Russia and the United States drafted in the wake of a series of tragic episodes involving Russian children and their adoptive American families was submitted to the State Duma for ratification on Friday, a lower house spokesman said.

The need for such an agreement became particularly acute two years ago when a U.S. mother sent her a seven-year-old adopted Russian son back to Moscow on a plane with a note saying she did not want him anymore.

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Russian children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov earlier said he hoped the agreement would be ratified this spring.