I emailed the US Embassy in Kyiv on Friday. I asked if they knew if Bill 2562 was law. Had the Ukrainian President signed the bill yet?

Turns out they still don't know either. But at least they were prompt in replying.

And don't you love the "elderly foreign citizens" phrase? The older that I become, the less that I appreciate the "elderly" label.

From: "Kyiv, Adoptions" KyivAdoptions@state.gov... more

I am still waiting on clarification from someone at the US Embassy in Kyiv about Bill 2562. Has it been signed by the Ukrainian President? Is it really the law of the land?

I know two adoption facilitators who say it is. But I cannot find anyone else who is saying this.

I went through current ... more

This evening I started poking around Verkhovna Rada's web site. Bill 2562's information has been updated.

I would love for someone to tell me that I am wrong. Someone please tell me that I am wrong. But I believe this bill has become law. The key phrase is the following.

Останній етап: Закон... more

I find it humorous that Ukraine's Parliament has a poll on their front page. The poll started on April 22, 2004 and has never closed. The poll question is, "Are Verkhovna Rada's activities open (transparent)?"

87% of the votes are "no" or "not at all". I translated the Ukrainian to English with the help of the Babylon application.

Can you image the US... more

Will Ukraine pass bill 2562 and make it law? This will make single "foreigner" adoption illegal. And it requires the age difference between the oldest adoptive parent and adopted child be 45 years or less.

Sitting here in America, it is hard to tell. So I keep looking for Ukrainian sources and their opinions. Mr. Karasyov has a pithy synopsis that explains why the "political crisis" has been mostly a "war of... more

UPDATE: I am doing a happy dance. My first thought and information was this second reading will have no impact. The bill cannot become law without the President's signature. But several Ukrainian sources were saying the President was going to sign the bill.

Turns out this was wishful thinking on their part. My first thought was correct. The President has NO plans to sign anything that comes out of this Parliament. If he does then it means his decree to dissolve Parliament become... more

President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych have opposed each other for years. The current political crisis started in March 2007. But it is a continuation of the Orange Revolution.

April 2, President Yushchenko tried to fire Parliament (AKA Verkhovna Rada). This would force a new... more

The current Ukrainian political situation may be delaying the appointment of a new SDA director (or maybe not... it can be hard getting a definitive answer).

Fortunately this hasn't halted adoptions but rather slowed adoption processing.

So I decided to blog on the political standoff between the 2 Viktors.

Ukraine has a unicameral parliament called Verkhovna... more

I have been reading about the Ukrainian Constitutional Court.

They are going to settle the current dispute between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Both sides have agreed to accept the court's decision on the following question.

Does President Viktor Yushchenko have the constitutional authority to... more

President’s decree on dissolving the parliament published today. So now it is the law of the land. The current parliament is no more.

I did an informal poll of a few Ukrainians. And I checked in with a Russian who lives in the United States. None of them were concerned or worked up over Ukraine's political unrest.

It wasn't that they were indifferent. This power... more