Armenia to stop adopting their special needs children, encouraging to stay with families Down Syndrome children of Armenia Human Rights watch on Armenia

https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/02/22/witness-wherever-she-i-will-find-her

At her local church in Yerevan, Armenia, Siranush lit a candle and prayed that her daughter would survive the night. Lusine, 22, was hovering between life and death in a nearby hospital after a terrible car crash. As Siranush pleaded for her daughter’s life, she offered up something in return. “If you save Lusine, I promise I will find out what happened to Meri,” she prayed. “Wherever she is, I will find her.” For Lusine was not Siranush’s only daughter.

 Five years earlier, she and her husband, Artur, had a baby girl. But after a long delivery fraught with complications, the baby, Meri, had died. Armenia Orphanage Witness -  After spending the first five years of her life in an orphanage, Meri is enjoying living with her family. © 2016 Human Rights Watch At least, that’s what they told their family. But as Siranush prayed that night, she was also grappling with something heavier on her conscience. The fact that Meri had not, in fact, died at birth. “We committed a sin about Meri,” Artur says. “But now we wanted to find her again.” And so with one daughter fighting for her life, Siranush and Artur began, belatedly, to fight for their other one – the daughter born different who, like many similar children in Armenia, are needlessly torn from their parents and put into institutions.

 The “sin” Artur talks of began on August 12, 2009. Siranush’s labour was not going well. The baby’s heartbeat was weak and doctors performed an emergency Caesarean. After an interminably long wait while Siranush had the surgery, a gloomy-looking doctor appeared before Artur. She explained that while his wife had been saved, their daughter Meri had been born with heart defects and Down Syndrome. Then their trusted family doctor broke even worse news: Meri would very likely die within a few days. She said it was best if Siranush and Artur returned home and left Meri to die peacefully in the hospital. “You have other children already,” the doctor reminded them. Siranush was fiercely against leaving Meri behind, but Artur gently persuaded her to follow their doctor’s advice. 

As small-scale fish farmers, the couple had no medical knowledge or reason to doubt the professionals if they said it was hopeless. And so Siranush and Artur’s secret began. The questions about where their baby was were so painful, Artur says, it was simpler to tell everyone she had died. In the following weeks, the family tried to return to normal. But Siranush could not. Armenia Orphanage Witness -

 Lusine helps to feed her sister Meri. The pair have formed a very close bond. © 2016 Human Rights Watch Even though the couple guessed Meri must have died soon after they left her, Siranush continued to sense her daughter’s presence. As the months turned to years, she began having a recurring, vivid dream that Meri was alive. For his part, Artur had convinced himself that Meri was dead. But Lusine’s car accident quickly unravelled his conviction. “We were at church constantly,” Artur recalls. “My wife began worshipping, promising that whatever happened to Lusine, we will find Meri and lighten our sin.” And so Artur and Siranush set to work. Within days, they discovered that Meri had survived and been moved among various orphanages.


With the help of a relative, they managed locate her in an orphanage in Yerevan, a short drive from their home. Finally, after five long years, they met the daughter they had reluctantly abandoned. “They brought Meri to me, and I was shaking all over my body, I couldn’t help it,” says Artur. “I was hugging the child, I couldn’t speak. My tongue was tied. It was very emotional.” Five years in an orphanage had taken its toll on Meri. She could not walk, and got around by crawling. Artur describes an instant bond with the daughter he last saw when she was just three or four days old: “You can’t imagine it, but she recognized me immediately. Solely on our blood connection she could feel it. It was instinct.” The family swiftly met with the orphanage director, “a good woman,” who agreed to let Artur and Siranush take Meri home just 40 days later. She warned them it would be hard, but their mind was set.

 Five years in an orphanage had taken its toll on Meri. She could not walk, and got around by crawling. She did not speak, and did not even scream to communicate. But she felt instantly at home. “There was an impression that Meri knew all the corners in our apartment,” said Artur. “She accepted us easily. She did not appear upset with us. Either from our warmth, or our common genes, she felt like we are her family.” Armenia Orphanage Witness - Lusine and Meri and her elder sister Lusine. © 2016 Private In the loving care of a warm home, Meri, now almost 8, began to change. She’s formed a strong bond with her elder sister, Lusine, who survived her accident, and now dotes on her newfound sibling with obvious affection. Meri has learned to walk, and can even say simple words like “ma” and “pa.” “The difference is like mountains,” says Artur proudly. “We are hopeful, we believe, that a lot of things will change in her.” She adores music, and has a keen sense of humor. While she can’t do some things other children can, she loves to be hugged, especially as she holds her dad around his neck. Meri’s story may seem incredible, but it’s not unique. More than 3,000 children live in orphanages or other institutions in Armenia. But, as Human Rights Watch found for its report, many of them are needlessly separated from their parents. Sometimes it’s because the child has disabilities, sometimes it’s because the family is too poor to cope.

A staggering 90 per cent of children living in institutions in Armenia have at least one living parent. Institutions are expensive, too. It costs the Armenian government US$3,000 to US$5,000 a year to house a child in a residential unit. Caring for them at home would cost less. Foreign donors who want to help disadvantaged kids have flocked to support the country’s orphanages. While institutions can look clean and decently equipped, they are frequently overcrowded, with up to 15 children for every two caregivers, meaning the children get scant individual attention. Children adhere to a strict daily routine that is convenient for the institution but ignores their individual needs and desires. February 22, 2017 Report “When Will I Get to Go Home?” Abuses and Discrimination against Children in Institutions and Lack of Access to Quality Inclusive Education in Armenia Download the full report in English Ներբեռնեք ամբողջական զեկույցը հայերեն - Download the full report in Armenian Download the "easy to read" version in English Ներբեռնել «հեշտ է կարդալ« տարբերակը հայերեն - "easy to read" version in Armenian Ultimately, even the most well-resourced orphanage can’t replace a home. All children have the right to grow up in a family, where they can get the attention and nurture they need to thrive, as Meri’s story shows. Now that Meri is finally home, her next step is to attend school. On paper, all children in Armenia have the right to attend their local community schools, and the government is supposed to provide inclusive education and support children with disabilities to study alongside their peers. Armenia Orphanage Witness - Meri

 The hope is that one day Meri may be able to join her peers and attend a local community school. © 2016 Human Rights Watch In fact, the Armenian government has committed to provide inclusive education across its school system by 2022. This is an important pledge. But many schools struggle to provide a quality education for children with disabilities. And stigma against these children, while slowly changing, is still an issue. Meri’s parents are anxious about how a school system that is still figuring out how to meaningfully include all children with disabilities will support Meri. So for now she attends a program for children with Down Syndrome. Artur and Siranush feel deep shame for having given Meri up. But they say they would never have done so if their family doctor hadn’t convinced them it was for the best. And they are not alone. Social stigma, poverty, lack of community-based services, and misleading medical advice means hundreds other parents in Armenia are pressed into the same, devastating choice. Despite the grief they still carry, Siranush and Artur say they now feel blessed. “We found our lost princess,” says Artur. “Meri is our happiness and we all love her.” Your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world.

Robin Sizemore, fair warning Human Rights Watch and the Armenian Community are working hard to keep ALL Children of Armenia "in" Armenia.  We will provide for all children and make sure that all children have a home in Armenia to stay with their birth parents.  Hands Off Armenian Children you profiteer making $2 million in 5 years is well noted in Armenia. 

Why International adoptions have decreased? it's the laws - people don't want to be involved in child trafficking.

(Metro Creative Graphics)

When Ethiopia stopped allowing its children to be adopted by foreign parents in January, it became the latest country to eliminate or sharply curtail the practice. In recent decades South Korea, Romania, Guatemala, China, Kazakhstan and Russia – all former leaders in foreign adoption – have also banned or cut back on international custody transfers.

In 2005, almost 46,000 children were adopted across borders, roughly half of them headed to a new life in the United States. By 2015 international adoptions had dropped 72 percent, to 12,000 in total. Just 5,500 of these children ended up in the U.S., with the remainder landing in Italy and Spain.

Today, most children adopted internationally come from China, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine. But even China, which has been the top sending country since the late 1990s, has decreased its foreign adoptions by 86 percent.

Why are international adoptions imploding? Our recent book, “Saving International Adoption: An Argument from Economics and Personal Experience,” explores the rationale – both real and invented – that countries use to explain curtailing foreign adoptions. Here’s what we found.

It’s in the child’s ‘best interest’When countries with high rates of international adoptions suddenly put an end to the practice, officials usually cite examples of abuse. The policy change, they say, is in “the best interest of the child.”

In 2012, when the Russian parliament voted to ban adoptions by Americans, for example, lawmakers named the new law after 2-year-old Dima Yakovlev, who died in 2008 after being locked in a hot car by his adoptive father.

Ethiopian lawmakers likewise recently invoked the 2012 case of a neglected Ethiopian 13-year-old girl who died of hypothermia and malnutrition in the U.S. to justify their new ban on international adoptions.

Such events, though high profile, are rare. Of 60,000 adoptees from Russia to the U.S., only 19 have suffered from abuse or neglect in the last 20 years, according to The Christian Science Monitor. That’s an abuse rate of about 0.03 percent. In Russia, the rate of child abuse is about 25 times higher.

Such statistics call into question whether “the best interest of the child” is really why countries cancel international adoptions.

Politics and humiliationOur analysis suggests that politics may more strongly influence many countries’ adoption policies.

Russia ended U.S. adoptions two weeks after the 2012 U.S. Magnitsky Act, which imposed sanctions on some allegedly corrupt Russian officials. Asked about the new ban, Putin essentially linked the two events, saying, “The country will not be humiliated.”

Political pressures can also be external. As it sought to join the European Union in the early 2000s, Romania – which in 1990 and 1991 sent more than 10,000 adopted children abroad – halted all international adoptions. The EU’s rapporteur for Romanian accession to the union, Baroness Emma Nicholson, was famously opposed to the practice.

We also found that embarrassment can spur countries to halt international adoptions. After bad publicity during the 1988 Seoul Olympics, South Korea – which had been allowing adoptions to the U.S. since the 1950s – temporarily banned overseas adoption. The remark of sports commentator Bryant Gumbel that the country’s “greatest commodity” for export was its children likely helped trigger this policy change.

And after Guatemala imposed a moratorium on foreign adoptions – which dropped from 4,100 in 2008 to 58 in 2010 – a former member of the country’s National Adoption Council expressed pride. “Our image as being the number one exporter of children has changed,” he said. “Guatemala has dignity” again, he added.

Adoption scandals can also lead countries to rethink international adoptions. Every major sending country has seen accusations of “child trafficking” because some birth parents were paid to give up their children. There have been rare cases, too, where a child was kidnapped and put up for adoption.

Although infrequent, such incidents bring bad press, and with it pressure from international child welfare organizations like UNICEF and and Save the Children to improve – or shut down – foreign adoptions.

Who’s in charge hereThe Hague Convention on International Adoption was supposed to resolve such problems by making adoption safer and more straightforward. This 1993 global agreement, which 103 countries signed by 2016, creates uniform regulations for adoptions worldwide.

But rather than encourage foreign adoptions, many experts argue that the convention has contributed to their decline.

Poor countries often struggle to meet The Hague’s high international standards, which include creating a central adoption authority, accrediting local agencies and tightening approval procedures.

Even after Vietnam ratified the international adoption convention in 2008, the U.S. refused adoptions from the country because the State Department found it fell short of Hague rules. Vietnamese adoptions of special needs children to America reopened in 2016.

Rigorous international regulations have also made adoptions more expensive by imposing fees on agencies, adoptive parents, orphanages and countries. We believe that rising costs – which may have increased up to 18 percent in some countries – will lead to a decrease in the number of international adoptions.

The high costs of no adoptionsCritics will likely welcome the current decline in international adoptions, citing concerns that foreign adoptions remove children from their “birth culture”, exploit poor birth mothers and enable illicit child trafficking.

But our book finds powerful – if uncomfortable – arguments in favor of foreign adoptions. When the child of a desperately poor family is taken in by parents from a wealthy country, the material benefits to that child are significant.

Children raised in rich countries are far more likely to receive a good education, for example. While the literacy rate in Ethiopia is 50 percent for males and 23 percent for females, 100 percent of people in most high-income countries, such as Canada and Norway, can read.

Our research shows that adoption can even save lives. We examined mortality figures for children under the age of 5 in Ethiopia and Guatemala and found that adoptions to the U.S. likely prevented the deaths of more than 600 children between 2005 and 2011.

Studies also show that the emotional costs borne by children of color being raised by white parents – which often occurs with international adoptions – are less dire than critics believe. Such adoptees do about as well on a wide range of indicators of self-esteem and ethnic identity formation as their non-adopted siblings.

Foreign adoptions can’t solve global poverty. But ending them merely punishes thousands of vulnerable kids and their potential parents worldwide. And that’s in nobody’s best interest.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article here. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

International Adoption fees increased by $500 for Americans seeking to adopt overseas as 2017 falls to 4,600

Ending International Adoptions. The Trump Administration has imposed new fees and regulations that threaten to end international adoptions. The U.S. State Department imposed a new $500 “monitoring and oversight fee for adoptive families.” The new fee went into effect Feb. 15. The fee will fund a new agency called the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity that will monitor international adoption agencies. Agencies will now have to file for accreditation every four years. Chuck Johnson, president of the National Council for Adoption (NCFA), believes the new regulations could bring an end to international adoptions. In 2004, U.S. families adopted more than 22,000 children. In 2017, that number had fallen to about 4,600.

click here for rest of article decrease in adoptions increase in fees

Ambassador Mills visits Armenian orphanages

U.S. Ambassador Mills visits orphanage in Vanadzor, Armenia to examine Child Welfare Reform (Photo: U.S. Embassy in Armenia)

VANADZOR (U.S. Embassy in Armenia)—As part of a month-long focus on human rights, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr., visited a residential care facility for children in Vanadzor. His trip was part of a larger tour of the Lori province, where he traveled to a number of organizations touching upon human rights.

In Vanadzor, Mills toured the orphanage and talked with representatives from Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MLSA) and UNICEF. He also met with the orphanage staff and the young residents to get their views on the government of Armenia’s child welfare reform. They discussed prospects for transformation of the institution of orphanages in Armenia, and the challenges in reuniting children with their extended families.

“Children have human rights too, the right to proper care and support and love,” Mills said. “Institutional care is not necessarily the best environment to provide such care. Plus it is costly for the state and breeds corruption, especially when financing of residential institutions is based on the number of children and not linked to the service provision or outcome.”

In October 2015, Armenia was designated as a priority country under the U.S. Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity (APCA).  Such a designation allows in-depth support of child welfare reform efforts in Armenia. The Armenian government – supported by USAID, UNICEF, World Vision, Save the Children and Bridge of Hope – is working to improve care for at-risk youth in Armenia.

One goal they are working on is de-institutionalizing children. According to UNICEF, nearly 4,500 children live in 41 residential institutions —  orphanages, night care institutions, and special educational facilities. Ninety-seven percent of the children living in institutions are children from socially vulnerable families, who have at least one living parent. At least two-thirds of children at special educational facilities do not have a certified disability, but are simply victims of poverty and social neglect.

“Due to the lack of alternative services, the existing child care system of Armenia encourages parents of disabled children, children with special educational needs, and economically disadvantaged families to send their children to institutions for temporary or often permanent care,” the Ambassador said. “And these children have the same human rights as children living with their families, or with extended family. Where we can, we must work together to protect the human rights of these children, the most vulnerable in society.”

Along with touring the Vanadzor Orphanage, the Ambassador’s trip to Lori included a meeting with representatives from Peace Dialogue NGO, which deals with human rights concerns coming from the Armenian military. He also met with U.S. Peace Corps volunteers working at the Orran Center, an organization helping at-risk youth and seniors through social services and educational programs. While there, he was interviewed by some of the student journalists learning their craft through the Orran Center’s programs.
“Many of our Peace Corps volunteers work in centers such as Orran, helping develop programs that aim to improve communities and lift people up,” Mills said. “These Peace Corps volunteers embody the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by ensuring that all members of society get the education and support needed to become contributing, active members of society.”

http://asbarez.com/152046/u-s-ambassador-visits-vanadzor-orphanage/

Armenian Government will support the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF)

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/811472/government-will-support-the-fund-%E2%80%9Cchildren-of-armenia%E2%80%9D.html

Dr. Garo Armen started the COAF as a dream behind "it takes a village"  indeed, COAF has worked miracles in Armenia with the children and entire families.
With projects to build schools, clinics and homes the COAF projects get the parents working which is the catalyst for children being in orphanages (98% are social orphans- and have parents) 
The parents work building and receive a wage - they then can provide for their families without having to be fed, clothed and educated by an orphanage. 

What kind of future is there for Armenia with it's generations being raised by orphanages? They will become educated and take judo lessons, art lessons and music lessons at the many centers that are being built by Children of Armenia Fund. 
NOW in cooperation with the Government of Armenia.

 

 

 

 

Armenian Adoptions-Plastic surgeries, Trip to Gyumri Orphanage Part-3

Adoption of Armenian children by non-Armenians Armenian Adoption

This blog has gotten many inquiries from Armenians and non-Armenians about adopting children in Armenia by non-Armenians (odars).  The short answer to that question is "Yes" it does happen and will happen.  The long answer is the willingness of non-Armenians to pay a lot of money to an Adoption/Abduction Service Provider and willingness to accept the fact it's not popular among Armenians. 

 

There are currently 3 American Adoption Service providers that operate in Armenia.  Of the 3 only 1 is willing to be truthful about non Armenians adopting only special needs children.  That agency is the one with the longest program in Armenia and it is called Carolina Adoption Services which was the ex employer of Robin Sizemore the Executive Director now of Hopscotch Adoptions.  An ex employee of Hopscotch Adoptions,  Jeanne Sobie heads up the Armenian program at Carolina Adoption Services.
It's no secret that Robin Sizemore attempted to sue me over 5 years ago, trying to intimidate me into silence about the truth.  However that pitiful lawsuit didn't make it passed a mediation or even close to a summary judgment after the mediation report brought up several issues about Robin Sizemore's dismissal from Carolina Adoption Agency.  It can be viewed here and has 1,400 views on it. http://www.slideshare.net/VanessaKachadurian/hopscotchmediation2?qid=42c507b9-3f82-4a52-8c55-5b315d579403&v=qf1&b=&from_search=1
Dispite the fact Robin Sizemore's flaky attorney Bennet Kelley actually filed charges to try and suppress it.  After he shamelessly put out fake press releases that he had won a significant victory of some sort.  What victory that is I am not sure?  Maybe Bennet and Robin got "Liar of the Year" award for spinning Robin's background into some sort of "child savior"

Local Armenians in Armenia are given first choice to adopt, however many cannot afford the huge fees that foreign providers pump into the Armenian economy by way of in country "contractors" so if a local person wants to adopt a child it is roughly $800.00.  A lot of money to people in Armenia - so naturally many Americans will have the opportunity to adopt.  Hopscotch Adoptions has a large following of non Armenians who have adopted.  No applications are turned down for this program or discouraged by Hopscotch Adoptions.  Carolina Adoption Services has even discouraged some Armenians from adopting because of the difficulty finding healthy children.  Carolina Adoption Services does a great job in setting expectations to applicants. 
Hopscotch Adoptions has accepted applications from people who were newly married (a couple in Washington State) after 4 years of waiting and 1 child falling through the system and being returned back to her biological father this couple did finally succeed.

Another Hispanic woman from New Mexico named Regina Soto, got caught in the Russian Adoption BAN and switched to Hopscotch Adoptions barely 1 year ago.  She has just returned home with her new Armenian baby girl. 

Robin Sizemore attempted to have this picture removed.
The country of Armenia, Ministry of Social Affairs would like to know
what are you trying to hide? 

NOTE: Google Blogger contacted this blog and stated that someone had filed a fake copyright

on the above photo, they as precaution removed the photo.  It has been put back up pending

proof of "copyrights" to a child.  Armenia if you are reading, this is the kind of slight of hand

tactics used by Robin Sizemore who works real hard to clean up her image and that of the

adoption industry in general.  If and when, Ms. Robin Sizemore can prove copyrights to this little girl

we will remove the photo but not until that proof is provided.  Remember she has no jurisdiction in Armenia or anywhere else for that matter.  Eduard Amalyan continues to not pay taxes in Armenia.  While our military has no retirement, families struggle and move to Russia to find jobs.  

NOTE: REGINA SANTO CLAIMS TO OWN THE CHILD AND THE DOG IN HER COMPLAINT

I GUESS SHE IS CLUELESS ABOUT HOW HER MONEY WAS USED TO PURCHASE SOMEONE ELSE'S CHILD AND GAIN RELINQUISHMENT RIGHTS.   Some Armenians are so poor that they will take money and

sell their kids to overweight Mexican Slobs like Regina that want a BAYBEE so bad they are willing to look the

other way.  Here is a message to you Regina from the family of your new purchase: You will NEVER own that little girl she is the daughter of a poor family in Armenia who had no money, so you brought your money to Armenia and purchased a BAYBEE.  Make her into a self centered American slob like you.

 

 

Robin has discouraged many Armenians from Adopting in Armenia. Some have waited over 3 years for a child/baby and have seen countless odars like Regina Soto, Beth Shepherd, MariBeth Driver, and Shelly Pritchert be fast tracked to adoption of Armenian children.  So with caution to those of you waiting to adopt, don't think for one minute your Armenian heritage or ethnicity matters to Robin Sizemore.  In Fact, Robin Sizemore is very much into feeling powerful about who can adopt and believes she has the right to decide who adopts Armenian Children.   Robin cares less about the economic situations that forced the majority of the women to relinquish their children and believes those children are better off with her paying clients. Here is a post on Regina Soto's facebook page shortly after arriving back from Armenia from Robin declaring "Thanks God she has you as her mother"

 

Really Robin?  It's not your place to decide such things, just shut up and collect the $35,000+ in fees and disperse among the "contractors" in Armenia.  Make Eduard Amalyan more wealthy so he can spread the wealth in Armenia.  That little girl has a mother and father in Armenia, but now will never see their daughter again because you decided it's in their best interest to be purchased by your clients.

Robin knows how to work the emotions of clients waiting for a child, even calling the child "your child" before the court date or blaming the country every time something goes wrong or worst yet the US State Department for being anti - adoption. 

 

 

To Fellow Armenians that feel discouraged each time Robin treads on your culture, you have a choice.  1) Continue to support her business and wait in line  2)  Drop your application as many Armenians have and switch countries   3)  Consider adopting Armenian children out of foster care in California's LA county  4)  Adopt via surrogacy program in Armenia (relatively new) 

 

ARTICLES ON ARMENIAN ADOPTIONS AND ROBIN SIZEMORE

 

 



Armenian Orphanages to benefit from Armenian Marathon "Run for Life"

Proceeds from Run for Life to be gifted to orphanages
November 20, 2010 - 13:50 AMT 09:50 GMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Run for Life competition timed to the Thanksgiving Day took place in Vahakni residential community today, November 20.

“All proceeds from this charity campaign dated to the Thanksgiving Day will be gifted to orphanages,” Hovnanian International president, Vahakn Hovnanian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

“The goal of the event is to propagandize sports and healthy lifestyle. Such marathons are annually held in New York and should be held more often in Armenia,” he said.

The event hosted 150 participants and over 100 guests, including U.S. ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch.