Children Available

Infants, toddlers and school-aged children are available for adoption. Infants are usually 8-18 months old at time of referral. Very few girls under the age of 5 years old are available. Families may state a gender preference in accordance with WHFC policy, however they must be open to accepting a boy. Sibling groups and children with special needs are also in need of families.

All of the children available for adoption in Russia are cared for in government-run orphanages, which vary from region to region and orphanage to orphanage. Some of these are large facilities with more than 100 children, while others are smaller homes housing about 40 children . Children are almost always delayed in growth and development due to living in an institution. Additionally, many children have risk factors in their medical and/or social history. The majority of children make excellent progress once they are in a family.

 

The most common reasons for these children becoming available for adoption are:

• economic situation
• social reasons
• legal decision

Waiting Children

Waiting children are available from Russia. Because waiting children tend to be older, there is generally more medical information available and the referral time is often reduced or eliminated. Country requirements are often more flexible for waiting children. Profiles of waiting children from Russia can be viewed in the Waiting Children section. Be sure to read about our subsidies available for the adoption of waiting children.