Monday, December 8, 2014
Russian Orphanages
My topic of study is Russian Orphanages, and to be completely honest...the stories that are being told give me chills. They tell of children with disabilities getting abused not only physically but emotionally too. Most are denied proper nutrition...not to mention they are kept in constant isolation. So I asked myself, why would someone put their child in this situation? And sadly I found my answer. When a child is born in Russia, the doctors examine it and determine its state of health. But if the doctor finds one flaw, one single clue to the child possibly having a disability...they tell the parents to put that child up for adoption. Now, something I'm failing to understand is that Russia banned any Americans from adopting children from Russia, because the government wants more Russians to adopt. Well, why would they adopt if they are the ones that gave up the children in the first place. I would love to hear others thoughts and feelings towards this topic! Feel free to share...
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This sounds more like they are treating these kids as if they were in a insane asylum. I agree it's kind of messed up. It's not the kids fault that it's disabled.
ReplyDeleteReading that was heartbreaking. No one should ever have to go through that, disabled or not. I feel so terribly for those kids because they have no say so or control in any of this. Also the whole thing about Americans not being able to adopt from Russia anymore is frankly annoying just unfair.
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ReplyDeleteI also read that about the nurses. I wonder why they would encourage the adoption of these kids. What do THEY get out of it? The Russians explain that they feel like Americans are dangerous and sell kids' organs for money, but that is what Russian's do. I haven't heard one case about an American doing that, but there's a story about a Russian grandmother getting caught trying to sell her grandson for his organs. It's sad and not only unfair to the Americans, but to the kids that could have a chance at a new life.
ReplyDeleteI feel like with the human trafficking situation with the united states, some people are oblivious to what's around us, for all we know, there most likely are people in the United States selling people for organs, and we just aren't aware of it because it's here, in the US where things are "safe" and we say that we would never sell organs or murder, and it's easier to say another country could. but there are people here that either agree with this torment of children overseas or just don't care, because it's not happening here, in the eye of the public. something that i have noticed is that politics and conflict between countries can make people just... not notice, and if they do, just not care. it's horrible.
DeleteI have the same topic and one of the things that's frustrating me the most is how it's all a big cycle. Parents drink/smoke/unwanted pregnancy-> Child is born with a disability-> Child is placed in an "institution" as it has been called-> Child is abused and neglected in orphanage-> If the child is not adopted by the time they are about 16-ish they are thrown to the streets and left to fend for themselves-> A lot of those kids then turn to prostitution/drugs/etc.-> And the cycle starts over again. With the ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans the amount of kids being thrown into the streets will just increase and it's all a big mess that could be so easily fixed in so many ways, but no one is doing anything about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing Russian orphanages, too, and I've found a lot of the same things you have. Children with disabilities who are put into orphanages are treated horribly. They've been tied up to their own beds and some of them forget how to walk. It's just frightening to read what is being done to these children. And with the American adoption ban in Russia, I've read that it's because there have been cases were Russian children who were adopted and brought back here to the US were treated horribly by the guardian. And with the tension between America and Russia, they probably didn't even think of the children while making the law. I hope that soon more people know about the type of treatment mentally disabled children receive in Russia.
ReplyDeleteI also read that before the ban the U.S. was the number 1 foreign country adopting Russian orphans. This ban is preventing thousands of kids from being adopted. The Russia government is saying that the ban is to protect the kids but really it's just all because of petty disagreements and arguments between our governments.
ReplyDeleteI found a good source that explains how the doctors pressure parents into putting their child up for adoption. The doctors tell the parents that they will never be able to walk or talk. This terrorizes the parents. I asked myself why do they pressure the parents into putting their kids up for adoption in order to get another family to adopt the child? If the child has a disability, their conditions will get worse when they are in an orphanage.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/reports98/russia2/Russ98d-03.htm