I really hate this story. I have been sitting on it since it came out on April 4, 2007.

I haven't blogged about it because it makes me sad. I knew John Krueger via email. I thought he was one of the good guys.

The reality... John is a convicted child molester. He hurt at least 4 children.

John is a 53 year old single man who lives in California. His first Ukrainian adoption was in 2001. I think his second Ukrainian adoption was in 2003.

John... more

I found this news story because Focus on Children has a Ukrainian adoption program. They are an adoption agency licensed with the state of Utah.

What a huge mess and heart ache for Samoans and Americans. And while this investigation is just focused on adoptions from Samoa, the U.S. Attorney office may also look at Focus on Children's activities in their other adoption programs.

It... more

I have been thinking a lot about Ukrainian dissolutions recently.

NOTE: Once a Ukrainian adoption is finalized it isn't a disruption.

The case of an adoptive family returning an adopted boy (Sasha) to a Ukrainian Psychiatric Hospital... more

Continuing from part 1.

Here is another paragraph that was a problem for me.

In some cases, reform campaigns are coupled with skepticism toward foreign adoption, including concern about occasional cases of abuse. Romania has banned adoptions by foreigners except for relatives; Ukraine and Kazakhstan insist that foreign parents submit regular reports on adoptees.

From: Tightened rules lower adoptions of foreign babies

Oops.. someone didn't fact... more

The news media has jumped all over the 2006 visa numbers from the US State Department. These visas numbers reflect the number of children adopted internationally by Americans.

I think the stories are puff pieces... over blown... generalizations... too simple.

After tripling in the past 15 years, the number of foreign children adopted by Americans dropped sharply in 2006, the result of factors that have jolted adoption advocates and prompted many would-be adoptive parents to reconsider their options.

From: Tightened... more

I am so torn about this... Torn between anger and sadness. The evils that man does. There are no words.

John Krueger was found guilty of molesting 3 boys in late November 2006. He is a 53 year old single man who has adopted from Ukraine several times. I believe his first adoption was in 2001.

He was charged back in April 2006. And the case immediately caught the eye of Ukrainian... more

By this time many folks have read the Alone again news story. Jeff and Michelle Bignell adopted 2 children from Ukraine in March 2001. They adopted a 7 year old boy and 4 year old girl.

Let's call the boy S.

The Bignell family felt like they couldn't cope with S's many mental/developmental issues. He broke his sister's ankles, ran away and killed pets. So we aren't talking about small issues. Feb 2005, S was... more

Photo is of Ternopil's main city square. Part 1 is found here.

Now to look at how the Ukrainian legislature, Verkhovna Rada , views adoption and the protection of children.

1996 was the year that a new adoption law was passed. Adoption was centralized at the federal level with the National Adoption Center... more

Photo is of Ternopil's main city square.

I said that I would talk about the Chicago/Ternopil Controversy later. But I decided that I want to blog about it now.

Here are excerpts on the controversy. Many of the news articles aren't available on the internet anymore and I am afraid these articles are going to disappear soon.

Thoughts to Faith's web... more

Here is the background on the Ukrainian Delegation in US. I am continuing from part 2 on adopting a child that a family hosted in the United States.

I mentioned the... more