FOR THE RECORD: Open letter regarding adoptions from Ukraine's Embassy in the U.S. (10/23/05)

FOR THE RECORD

Open letter regarding adoptions from Ukraine's Embassy in the U.S.

Starting September 19, 2005, the Children's Adoption Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine suspended the acceptance of new adoption dossiers from U.S. citizens. According to the Children's Adoption Center, the decision to stop accepting certain dossiers was based mainly on the past non-compliance of some families with post-adoption reports, which are required by Ukrainian law.

According to the Children's Adoption Center, the new procedures do not affect dossiers that have already been accepted, unless the prospective adoptive parents have failed to register and provide reports about the previously adopted Ukrainian children.

As the United States is the country whose citizens adopt the largest number of Ukrainian children, the government of Ukraine is deeply concerned with the fate of hundreds of the adopted children about whom we have no information.

Taking the aforementioned into consideration, the Embassy of Ukraine to the U.S.A. kindly requests your cooperation in two matters. First, we need cooperation in promoting the registration of Ukrainian children adopted by U.S. citizens and, second, in providing the Consulates of Ukraine with post-placement reports from American adoptive parents with whom you may have contact with regard to this issue.

The Embassy of Ukraine is obliged to act in accordance with Ukrainian law, which states that the Embassy shall supervise the registration of the adopted children and maintain a database of the post-placement reports about them. Registering your child allows the adopted child to be added onto the list of Ukrainian citizens residing in the United States.

Please be advised that, in accordance with Ukrainian law, adoptive parents sign an agreement with the government of Ukraine to maintain the Ukrainian citizenship of their adopted child until the age of 18, to register the child with the appropriate diplomatic mission of Ukraine, as well as to submit to the diplomatic mission periodic reports about the child's well-being and to allow representatives of the diplomatic mission to contact the child directly.

It is especially important for the Ukrainian government to know where the adopted Ukrainian children have been placed and how they are progressing in the United States. Through regular reports, the Ukrainian government is informed of the children's development with their adoptive parents.

The Embassy of Ukraine thanks all American families that provide us with information about the progress of their Ukrainian children. We really appreciate this.

The Embassy of Ukraine kindly asks those who forgot or refused to provide us with this information to do so as soon as possible. Please send the reports along with pictures of your children so that we may follow their development throughout the years.

Please understand that your neglect to inform Ukrainian authorities about your adopted children blocks the process of the adoption of Ukrainian orphan children by American families.

For your convenience, information on the consular registration of Ukrainian adopted children is available online at http://www.ukraineinfo.us/consular/adoption-registration.html. A sample of the post placement report is available online at http://www.ukraineinfo.us/consular/adoption-report.html. To facilitate communication, the reports can be forwarded via e-mail to [email protected] or via regular mail to the Consular Office of The Embassy of Ukraine, 3350 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20007.

If you have any contact with adoptive parents, organizations, agencies or persons who may benefit from this information, the Embassy of Ukraine kindly asks you to pass this information along so that everyone may become well-informed.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine via fax at (202) 333-7510 or by e-mail at [email protected].

The Embassy of Ukraine appreciates any assistance in compiling this information because this, in turn, will help keep the adoption process open for American families.

- The Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S.A.

| Home Page |