What are your thoughts on this article about a Russian Orphan Exhange/Adoption Situation?

Question

http://www.startribune.com/nation/27300459.html

In short, this girl has been participating in a summer exchange program for 8 years. She has stayed with the same American family every time and this time she refuses to return to Russia because she is too old to continue with the program. She has a living Grandmother in Russia who has given her blessing for the girl to stay in the US if she wishes to do so. The girl's visa expired on August 5th and the programs have been suspended by the Government until this situation is resolved.

What do you think of these programs?

What do you think should happen in this situation?

I'm curious to hear some other people's opinions - I'm not sure what I think yet, as I see several issues and possibilities here. Thanks in advance for your input! :)

Answer 1

I think the American family should have never allowed her to call them mom and  dad....'since she was 8' she has been doing so. I think it probably is a crummy life back in her homeland....that must suck....but instead of halting the entire program b/c the American family wants to raise her, I think there could be grounds for other, better options. If the grandmother is fine with her staying in America, then why not return to her country and have the grandmother relinquish her rights and have the American family adopt her? I don't know international adoption laws, but there must be some provision that will allow for this to happen. I think circumventing the law is a bad decision.

Answer 2

I don't see anything wrong with it. She clearly "wants" to be adopted. she's 16. She loves them like family, she knows her family at home, she knows her country and is old enough to be making that choice for herself. she'd be able to go back home and know her people if she wanted to and has that option, I don't see anything being done without her consent or against her will in this situation.

I do think that they should invite the grandma to come along.

Okay wait a minute. I have been thinking about this question all night. Isn't there some way to preserve her birth certificate and ancestry ...YES THERE IS, guardianship. There is no reason why they can't become her legal guardians so that she can preserve and maintain her ties and connections to her past.

Have they been brainwashing her by allowing them to be called mom and dad...i wonder? I can't tell from the article, but it does seem stranger to me.

Answer 3

I think they should send her back to her Grandma that's raising her and if the Zapata's want to adopt they should do it through the proper channels. This was obviously planned out over the years.

The Zapata's are not disclosing everything and I wouldn't be surprised she wants to stay because she has a new boyfriend.   This isn't the first time its happened but with the tighter immigration laws, these situations stand out more. Usually, the situations are with students or teenagers with work internships that stay longer than their visas permit.

If the Zapata's don't want to dish out the money for the adoption than this girl can come back for college and then get a permit to work here.

When I go on vacation alot of the time I don't want to leave either.

Answer 4

The agency through which we adopted two of our children has a similar program, HOWEVER, they only send kids who are available to adopt, and only to families which have already reviewed information about the child and are likely to adopt them.  It's more of a trial period for both the child and the family, and when properly used can help an older child find a forever family... a good thing. The program cited in the article in the Tribune is ridiculous. It sets everyone involved up for heartbreak. "Come see how us wealthy, lucky Americans live, but don't let the door slap you on the butt on your way back home to h**l." How absurd!

It sounds like those silly programs where inner city kids go out to live with families in the suburbs for several weeks in the summer. They get to see how the other half lives, and then go back home to the projects. We know many people who've taken part in the program and can't figure out why the kid they got was so angry all the time or stole from them. What an awfull thing to do to a kid...

Answer 5

The whole situation is really sad.

I hope it works out.  

Answer 6

I think that if the girl wants to stay and the family wants to have her, the family should go through the process of sponsering her the U.S. while she goes through the legal process of becoming a citizen.  They could sponser the grandmother as well.  It isn't adoption.  When someone sponsers immigrants, it is a promise to be financially responsible for the person for five years. So, in other words, the person can't get government assistance for five years.  Anyway, since she is underage, if the grandmother didn't come also (for whatever reason), I think she could come on an education visa and then go through the citizenship process.