One of the readers of the Russia Adoption Blog recently took me to task for saying that a good agency collects the bulk of its fees for an adoption near the end of the process. Why shouldn't an adoption agency be treated like any other professional services firm, this poster wondered? Why shouldn't it be paid ongoing fees?

In many ways, an adoption agency should be treated like any other professional services firm. You should thoroughly check their references and get a written fee agreement before you commit to work with them, just as you... more

Here in the United States, we've all been doing a bit of Fourth of July celebrating today. But some folks in Maryland and Virginia have been doing a bit more celebrating than others. They are the people at Cradle of Hope Adoption Center and, today, it became the first American agency to be re-accredited under Russia's new rules. Congratulations to all of you and to the families you serve.

And now, could the other big shoe please drop?

OK, I don’t mean to seem greedy, or steal any of Cradle of Hope's justly deserved... more

Last month, I told you that officials in Minnesota had pulled the license of Reaching Arms International, an adoption agency that had been working in Russia and Guatemala, among other countries.

This morning, an online news site for Minneapolis that is part of the same media group as New York City's Village Voice and the Seattle Weekly has an extensive report on what went wrong at Reaching Arms.

The 4,390-word... more

This past Friday, the state of Minnesota revoked the license of Reaching Arms International, an agency that advertised adoption services in Russia, Ukraine, Guatemala, Poland and Armenia.

Back in January, the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the state Attorney General announced that they were investigating RAI, which is based in New Hope, a suburb of Minneapolis. Reaching Arms's Web site also lists has an office in Oregon. Reaching Arms is not listed on the... more

So you've decided to adopt from Russia--congratulations! Now, who's going to help you do it?

Picking the right agency is, in my opinion, the key to a successful adoption. Note my emphasis on "agency". Yes, I know of successful adoptions that have been done through independent intermediaries. But as Russia moves closer to full implementation of the Hague Convention On Intercountry Adoption, the wide-open days of the independents are drawing to a close. You need an agency. To find the right one, start by asking these 10 questions:

1) When was this agency accredited in Russia? 2) How long... more

It happened just before Christmas. A sad tale of an American family stranded by their adoption intermediaries. This family had worked for two years to welcome a new child to their family. Now instead of building a life with that child, they are suing their former agency, alleging it did not have the proper credentials at the time they began to work with it. Nobody wants their adoption journey to end like that.

What are the proper credentials? The most important word for anybody... more