Too Quick to Judge: The Artyom Savelyev Story

Now that the 7-year-old Russian boy, Artyom Savelyev, who was put on a plane "alone" after his American adoptive family decided they could no longer deal with him is back in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry has threatened to suspend all child adoptions by U.S. families. I am reading the St. Petersburg Times article online because I wanted to see what was being reported over there, and it is one of the few English language Russian papers online.

The two basic facts I have gleaned from all the stories I have read are that the boy was taken away from his natural mother in Russia in 2008 because she was not caring for him properly and put in a home until he was adopted in Sept 2009 by an unmarried nurse named Torrey Hansen from Shelbyville, Tennessee. His American family called him "Justin." The group involved in the adoption is the World Association for Children and Parents, based in Renton, Washington.

The adoptive grandmother, Nancy Hansen, said that a social worker checked on the boy in Jan 2010 and told Russian authorities all was well. The situation deteriorated after that with incidents of hitting, kicking and spitting, but the last straw came when Justin threatened to burn down the house:

"He drew a picture of our house burning down and he'll tell anybody that he's going to burn our house down with us in it. It got to be where you feared for your safety. It was terrible," Nancy Hansen said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is now calling the grandmother's solution "the last straw" citing other U.S. adoptions of Russian children that have gone wrong, particularly three since 2005 which ended with the deaths of the adopted Russian children. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the boy "fell into a very bad family" and "[it] is not only immoral but also against the law."

If there is any information at this time as to what steps the Hansens took, if any, such as contacting the agency where they adopted him from before putting him on the plane in Washington DC, I have not come across it.

Back in Shelbyville, authorities are attempting to determine what laws, if any, the Hansens may have broken and whether the offenses took place within their jurisdiction. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Bedford County Sheriff's Department are investigating the incident and surrounding circumstances, and are currently attempting to speak with the Hansens as well as the child. The Tennessee authorities have asked for patience from the public and press until they can conclude their investigation.

Having always worked in law offices, I know there's no point in trying to form an opinion on this particular case until more is known. We even have a stock answer for questions asking for info clients don't know: They are "without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief." (Look that phrase up, there are tons).

So right now I am without knowledge or information sufficient to form an opinion, although I do know that you cannot put children on planes "alone," since I have been flying my own child back and forth between NJ and TX since she was 9.

I also think it would be pretty heinous for this to be turned into an international incident when both the USA and Russia have tons of kids whose natural parents neglect them and throw them out in the streets to fend for themselves.

If the Russians want to suspend US adoptions, swell. Russian families are now coming forward wanting to adopt Artyom, but where were they before? What about all the kids in our country who need good homes? I would rather not make this about this one kid. Let's take a closer look in our communities at the extent of these issues as they affect all children and get some info out there for all these families who always say they want to help when an incident like this hits the news. Maybe then they won't have to wait to help.

Sources: embedded