Kazakhstan Update

On May 17, 2010, the U.S. Consulate General in Almaty received confirmation that the Ministry of Education in Kazakhstan has given instructions to the Kazakhstani Embassy and Consulate in New York not to accept new dossiers for inter-country adoptions. The Ministry said that this moratorium on new adoption cases will remain in effect until Kazakhstan implements a Hague Convention-compliant system, which it intends to have in place by September 2010. Kazakhstani officials have confirmed that this moratorium will not affect adoptions already in process.

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We are in consultation with our sources in the Kazakh government. We fully expect to participate in the newly established Kazakh adoption regime, either through this project or a through a charitable organization we are in the process of establishing.

Update: May 17, 2010

According to various sources, the meetings between the American and Russian teams went well.

There is agreement, apparently, on many key points.

The actual agreement, though, may not be in place for another two months (possibly July 2010).

In the interim, there are likely to be many rumors flying around!