Adopted Child Rejected By Mom

Posted on April 10, 2010 
Filed Under Fathering, Life, Orphan Care, Parenting

News of an adopted a boy from Russia – who was sent him back to Russia, by himself – really grabbed my heart. Here’s one account, and an excerpt:

The 7-year-old boy, Artyom Savelyev, who was called Justin Hansen by the Tennessee family, was put on a plane with a note saying his adoptive mother no longer wanted to parent him because he was violent and had severe psychological problems.

While the details are still becoming known, as an adoptive father – our youngest child is from Russia, and his given name was also Artyom – I am deeply saddened by the situation. This is a terribly tragic story on several accounts. The boy’s verbally violent threats reveal a child with some serious issues, perhaps related to fetal alcohol syndrome, which is very common in Russian infants, or attachment issues, or maybe even reflective of something on the autism spectrum. I’m very sorry to see that the parents’ were unable to control him, or to get some help – counseling, medical intervention, or more. And what about the airline which accepted the child as a passenger? And the agency which facilitated the adoption and would have been following up with the family? Who is (most) at fault here?

It would be easy to jump to conclusions and assign blame, but for now I’ll be praying for little 7 year-old Artyom, asking God to give him a family and to comfort him in this time of trouble. And I’m also praying that the door will stay open for other families to adopt from Russia. It’ll be a shame if this isolated incident adversely affects those adoptions that are already in process, or shuts down altogether the adoption opportunities for other families and children.

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