Russian adoption ban
The Heartbreak in Russia’s Adoption Ban
Re “Putin Signs Bill That Bars U.S. Adoptions, Upending Families” (front page, Dec. 28):
Many facets of international adoptions are debatable, but one is not. Stopping nearly complete adoptions is cruel. To let human bonds form and then destroy them shows a level of callousness uncommon even for politicians.
When an American adoptive mother sent her child back to Russia with a note saying she was abandoning him, Russians were rightly outraged. Treating children as objects is offensive. Treating them as political pawns is no less so.
Re “Putin Signs Bill That Bars U.S. Adoptions, Upending Families” (front page, Dec. 28):
Many facets of international adoptions are debatable, but one is not. Stopping nearly complete adoptions is cruel. To let human bonds form and then destroy them shows a level of callousness uncommon even for politicians.
When an American adoptive mother sent her child back to Russia with a note saying she was abandoning him, Russians were rightly outraged. Treating children as objects is offensive. Treating them as political pawns is no less so.