The process of adopting a child in Texas often requires the help of compassionate legal professionals with experience in Texas adoption law. Foster parents, stepparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and even older siblings sometimes pursue adoption to protect the best interests of a child. In-family adoption is relatively common in Texas, but many people seek to adopt children outside of their families as well.
Houston-area residents probably heard the news about the recently passed Russian law that bans Americans from adopting Russian children. It isn’t known exactly how many would-be parents in the U.S. have been affected by the law, but it is certain that one family in North Texas was forced to stop their adoption process because of the Russian measure.
This particular family was working with the Gladney Center for Adoption, based in Fort Worth. A spokesperson for the center said that many of the families they work with have already gotten to know the children they’re seeking to adopt, and that the Russian law is bound to cause grief for everyone involved.
The law came in response to a U.S. measure that seeks to place sanctions on Russia for human rights violations.
In the past, Russia has required U.S. families to come to Russia three times to meet the children they plan to adopt. That means some families have already formed bonds with their would-be adoptive child.
Adoptions of any kind — within a family or outside a family — can require legal help to make the process as smooth as possible. Texas families who want to adopt a child would do well to consult with a family law attorney who can make the family aware of every legal option available.
Source: NBCDFW.com, “Russian Ban on US Adoptions Hits North Texas Couple,” Dec. 28, 2012
