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Russian orphans find homes (Shreveport Times)
Shreveport family opens heart to 3-year-old
by ALISA STINGLEY The Times
Every morning, Nicholas Delaney, 3, rolls over from a night's sleep, grins at the sight of his father and coos "Daddy."
This is the norm at Matt and Cindy Delaney's home in upscale Acadiana Place in Shreveport. But earlier this year. the routine of Nicholas' daily life was far different: He woke up in a Russian orphanage with perhaps a dozen other children in his room — and his name was Oleg.
In February. the Delaneys adopted Nicholas, joining more arid more American couples seeking children from Russia and other former Soviet states. Russia has nearly 600,000 orphaned children. many because their- parents can't afford to raise them.
"One town we went to had six orphanages with about 100 kids in each one," Matt Delaney said. ‘There isn't a shortage of children over there. Our child was the mother's sixth pregnancy. She couldn't flnancially have another child.'
The Delaneys went through a Raleigh. N.C. agency. Victoria Adoption Center. and say it was a smooth, though laborious process. Representatives from Victoria will explain how Russian adoption works during a seminar Monday. Russia last year surpassed China as the No. I source of foreign children adopted by Americans. according to the State Department. Every year, 30.000 children are put up for adoption in Russia. Anne Liddicote, executive director of Victoria Adoption
Families face stringent tests for adoption
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Center, said the majority are white children, which is one reason so many white American couples seek Russian children.
"Russia has become very, very popular," she said, adding that the center gets 100 calls a month from interested couples and places more Russian children each year — 187 last year compared to 44 in 1996.
The process can take eight to nine months and cost about $24,000 for an infant, Liddicote said. Families must undergo stringent home studies, FBI background checks and complete towers of paperwork for immigration, which Uddicote said is the biggest holdup because the agency is so backlogged.
Said Delaney, "It's like any legal procedure in the world. There is paperwork from A to Z."
Victoria works closely with families to make sure documents are complete and coordinates with a Russia-based child-finding organization, the Frank Foundation. that sends information on available children. The Delaneys flew to Moscow and traveled to orphanages while staying with foundation-approved families.
When they first saw Nicholas, they were stunned at how much he looked like their teen-age daughter. But they wanted to be sure he was healthy. Russian society traditionally shuns children with disabilities and hides them away in orphanages.
"We took developmental toys over there. We played a day or two," Delaney said. ‘He showed he was quite intelligent."
News accounts also have told of some couples encountering Russian bureaucracy, bribery and anti-American sentiments while staying for weeks, only to return home empty-handed. Delaney said they spent a week in Russia waiting for their adoption to go through and didn't have any problems.
But even in the best situations. adopting a foreign child is an act of faith, he said.
"It's scary. We'd just go to church and pray, ‘Please let this turn out.' Its one of those deals where you think you have some control, but you don't.
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