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Russians want child support from woman who returned adopted son
Assoc. Press ^ | 01/22/2010

Posted on 01/27/2011 12:28:59 PM PST by Responsibility2nd

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - An American woman who sent her adopted son back to Russia has been hit with a child support claim by an adoption agency, but her attorney asked a Tennessee juvenile court to throw the claim out.

Torry Hansen, who had been living in Shelbyville, sent the 8-year-old boy on a plane to Moscow by himself last April with a note saying that she didn't want to be his mother anymore because the child had psychological problems. The incident created an international uproar.

According to documents obtained by the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, Hansen's attorney filed a motion to dismiss child support claims made by Hansen's adoption agency, World Association for Children and Parents, in juvenile court in Shelbyville.

The newspaper reported Thursday that Russian authorities want Hansen to pay about $2,500 a month to care for the child, who is living in an orphanage.

(Excerpt) Read more at knoxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: adoption; childsupport; russia
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Y'all remember these stories from last year?

Adoption freeze urged after boy returned to Russia
 
Grandmother: Adopted boy sent back to Russia was violent (the other side of the story)

Russia furious over adopted boy sent back from US

What a mess!
 
Things ain't getting any better.
 
 


1 posted on 01/27/2011 12:29:06 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
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To: Responsibility2nd

He became an American citizen the moment he touched American soil, he is her responsibility even though he wasn’t the perfect child she wanted. Basically, they are babysitting him - and cheaper than she would find in the US.


2 posted on 01/27/2011 12:37:18 PM PST by greatvikingone
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To: Responsibility2nd
The newspaper reported Thursday that Russian authorities want Hansen to pay about $2,500 a month to care for the child, who is living in an orphanage.
That's how much the Russians spend in their orphanages, $2,500/month/child?

Yeah, right...

3 posted on 01/27/2011 12:38:21 PM PST by samtheman
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To: greatvikingone
He became an American citizen the moment he touched American soil...
Because of the adoption?
4 posted on 01/27/2011 12:39:35 PM PST by samtheman
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To: greatvikingone
. . . he wasn’t the perfect child she wanted.

Perfect child really didn't have anything to do with it.

She was afraid he was preparing to kill her.
5 posted on 01/27/2011 12:45:01 PM PST by righttackle44 (I may not be much, but I raised a U.S. Marine.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

There’s a difference between a “truobled” child and a seriously disturbed Violent Child...Still I don’t agree with the way she handled the situation. But the kid would have proably ended up in the Juvenille Court system anyways...Sad Situation all around.


6 posted on 01/27/2011 12:45:03 PM PST by jakerobins
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To: greatvikingone

No, he didn’t.


7 posted on 01/27/2011 12:48:10 PM PST by porter_knorr (John Adams would be arrested for his thoughts on tyrants today!)
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To: samtheman
Because of the adoption?

If certain conditions are met the child of a foreign adoption enters the US on a special visa which grants citizenship as soon as they (he in our case) touch American soil. No additional action is required of the adopting parent(s) ... the Certificate of Citizenship arrives automatically a few weeks later.

8 posted on 01/27/2011 12:58:20 PM PST by BoringGuy
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To: Responsibility2nd
Sorry but I am just leery of the whole "adopt a foriegn child" thing,when there are children in America;same leery feeling about "women from country X make great wives...".

If you have to go a few thousand miles to find a mate or child,just maybe you have some other issues.

9 posted on 01/27/2011 1:00:14 PM PST by hoosierham (Waddaya mean Freedom isn't free ?;will you take a credit card?)
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To: BoringGuy

I did not know that.


10 posted on 01/27/2011 1:01:09 PM PST by samtheman
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To: Responsibility2nd

Sounds fair to me.

After all, in America we have more than one case where a former husband, absolved of paternity via DNA, is nevertheless forced to continue child support, biological facts be damned.


11 posted on 01/27/2011 1:12:30 PM PST by swarthyguy (KIDS! Deficit, Debt,Taxes! Pfft Lookit the bright side of our legacy -America is almost SmokFrei!)
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To: hoosierham
Sorry but I am just leery of the whole "adopt a foriegn child" thing,when there are children in America;

Couple of options for domestic adoptions:

1. Have a ton of money - No problems

2, If #1 presents a problem, go with county / state agency. Be prepared to have your life / habits / beliefs examined and also to serve as foster parents for a time.

3. If #2 presents a problem, such as some reticence to open your whole life to the state or you hestitate to bring foster children into your home, foreign adoption becomes a relatively attractive option.

12 posted on 01/27/2011 1:21:09 PM PST by don-o (He will not share His glory; and He will NOT be mocked! Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.)
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To: samtheman
He became an American citizen the moment he touched American soil...

Because of the adoption?

When he set foot on American soil he obtained dual citizenship. Ordinarily an adoptee has until age 18 to renounce one or the other of his citizenships. I know this because I have an adopted Ukrainian child.

13 posted on 01/27/2011 1:22:57 PM PST by JusPasenThru (Why won't those knuckle-dragging tea-bagging right-wing bastards just negotiate with me?)
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To: BoringGuy

With Russian adoptions, the child maintains dual citizenship until he is an adult. When the child reaches adult age, he or she then has to relinquish the dual citizenship if they want. This is part of Russia’s policy for their adoptions - not the U.S.’s.


14 posted on 01/27/2011 1:24:11 PM PST by momtothree
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To: hoosierham
If you have to go a few thousand miles to find a mate or child,just maybe you have some other issues.

I adopted a child from Eastern Europe and I find your statement offensive.

15 posted on 01/27/2011 1:24:47 PM PST by JusPasenThru (Why won't those knuckle-dragging tea-bagging right-wing bastards just negotiate with me?)
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To: Responsibility2nd
Sort of related, this Russian politician made this comment I found interesting:

"I am against foreign adoption for one simple reason, and that is because we don't have many children to begin with."

This was said by Pavel Astakhov, Medvedev's ombudsman for child rights, in this izvestiya interview: http://www.izvestia.ru/obshestvo/article3150799/. It was on the Jessica Bigly case and not worth translating for obvious reasons.

A long time back I ran across an article in which the author was criticizing some yellow journalist for making up horrendous stories about how Russian children are abused and exploited after adoption - with hints of forced organ donation tossed in. There are probably a few cases, just as we see in our own system, but the gist of her article was that one cannot use Russian values to explain why foreigners want to adopt (ie: even though a Russian might do it for the money or child porn or whatever, that doesn't mean an Italian or French family would). She also thought this so-called child rights advocate should have to explain to every drug-addled, orphanage-abused child why he didn't think they should have a shot at a normal family life outside of that insane asylum they call a country.
16 posted on 01/27/2011 1:26:00 PM PST by struwwelpeter
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To: hoosierham
About 25,000 to 30,000 infants and more than 50,000 older children are adopted in the U.S. every year, about half of them from overseas.

Being "leery" of people who "have to go a few thousand miles" to adopt a child because they must "have other issues" shows a willingness on your part to make a negative judgment about thousands of people on the basis of little or no information.

If you had some personal experience of the lengthy delays, barriers, costs, and frustrations that form an obstacle to domestic adoption--- or if you had an idea of what it means to respond to the needs of a child anywhere who yearns for a mother and a father and a stable home --- I think your responses would be more well-considered and more favorable.

17 posted on 01/27/2011 1:28:01 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("God bless the child who's got his own." Arthur Herzog Jr./Billie Holiday)
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To: don-o

Just noticed your response! See mine at #17.


18 posted on 01/27/2011 1:30:13 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("God bless the child who's got his own." Arthur Herzog Jr./Billie Holiday)
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To: hoosierham

“Sorry but I am just leery of the whole “adopt a foriegn child” thing,...”

I’m with you on that. I don’t understand people like Laura Ingraham who adopted a Mexican girl and a Russian boy. A hundred years ago when American citizens considered themselves Americans, no problem. But now it seems that most people from a foreign country identify first with that country instead of America, no matter how their adoptive parents raise them. Just my opinion, I could be wrong...


19 posted on 01/27/2011 1:33:10 PM PST by MayflowerMadam (Whatever you are filled with will spill out when you're bumped.)
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To: righttackle44

Look, I’m tired of all the blame being heaped on this mother. Sure, she was naive in adopting this child. I hope her experience will serve as a warning to others.

But I’ve watched people throw their lives on the pyre of trying to help damaged people, whether children, spouses or others in their lives.

They don’t help these people. You can’t and they sacrifice their own lives.


20 posted on 01/27/2011 1:37:06 PM PST by altura
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