Russia's adoption suspension leaves would-be parents in limbo

Russia's suspension of American adoptions has left hundred of families in limbo, including about 50 working with the Renton-based agency thrust into the spotlight last week when a Tennessee woman returned an adopted 7-year-old Russian boy to his native country.

On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry made good on a threat to suspend adoptions after the Tennessee incident sparked outrage in that country. The ministry gave no indication of when the ban would be lifted.

The announcement came just hours after the U.S. State Department released a statement saying that a suspension had not been issued.

The U.S. is sending a delegation to Moscow to try to reach an agreement, according to The New York Times.

Julie Snyder, communications manager for the Renton-based nonprofit World Association for Parents and Children (WACAP), said the suspension has clearly had an impact on waiting families.

"Parents are concerned, of course," she said, "but we have been communicating with them regularly since this happened and at this point we are all just on a wait-and-see basis."

Created in 1976, WACAP is one of the largest international nonprofit adoption agencies in the world, having placed nearly 10,000 children with families in the U.S.

Last week, a registered nurse from Tennessee bought a one-way ticket to Russia for the 7-year-old Russian boy she had adopted through WACAP about eight months ago. The woman's mother, Nancy Hansen, accompanied him on a flight to Washington, D.C. Once there, the boy flew alone on a direct United Airlines flight to Moscow.

The adoptive mother, Torry Hansen, sent him with a note he had threatened her and other family, was "psychopathic" and she no longer wanted to parent him. "I was lied to and misled by the Russian Orphanage workers and director regarding his mental stability and other issues," the 33-year-old wrote in her note to Russian authorities.

The boy was picked up at the Moscow airport by a guide who was hired by Hansen for $200 through the Internet to take the boy to the education ministry.

The incident made headlines worldwide, with some calling for the mother to be charged with abandonment and others saying the incident shows the sometimes difficult path parents can face when adopting older children with backgrounds that often include neglect and abuse.

Russia last week also said that it had suspended WACAP's license to operate in the country, a move that Snyder said would not be unusual under the circumstances.

"In any situation where a child's welfare has been in question, it is expected that the authorizing agent would suspend the license until the investigation is completed," Snyder said.

Snyder said would-be adoptive parents through WACAP have accepted that they will have to wait and see how the situation evolves.

According to Russian officials, more than 250 American families have nearly completed the adoption process and are poised to pick up their Russian children, but their cases will not be allowed to conclude until new rules are approved. The Joint Council on International Children's Services said about 3,000 American families are in the adoption process.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.

Information from The Associated Press and The New York Times

is included in this report.