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 thunder, but, according the Russian Ministry of Education's own Web site, Cradle of Hope was one of 22 American agencies whose previous accreditation expired on May 17 of last year (Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, Canada and Israel also had agencies in that group. ) The May 17, 2006 group was the largest single block of expirations; there were several smaller blocks of agencies whose accreditation expired on June 9 and September 15, 2006, and January 25 and March 1, 2007.

Cradle of Hope, and all of the other American agencies that were part of the first group to see their accreditations lapse, have completed the first step toward operating as an adoption agency in Russia now--they have been given status as a non-governmental organization (NGO), according to the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. I have no doubt that they all have long since completed all the accreditation paperwork, including that last round of stuff that the Ministry of Education sprung on everybody in March.

And you might remember that when a key MoE official was in the U.S. in late April, she indicated to The National Council for Adoption that she expected several agencies (my emphasis) to receive their accreditations in the "imminent future." Couldn't that be now? Please?

OK, deep breath again, patience. Besides, I still have about 10 chapters of Anna Karenina left to read. (Remember, I said from the beginning of our group read that accreditations would be out before we finished.)

So, for today, let's give a cheer, a round of applause or a collective whoop and holler. And cradle the hope that, from this one accreditation many, many others will follow.

UPDATE: There were eight American agencies that got their accreditation in this first round. They are Adoption Options, Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte, Children's Home Society & Family Services, Cradle of Hope Adoption Center, The Cradle Society, Family & Children's Agency, Frank Adoption Center and International Assistance Group. There was also one French agency, L'Agence Francaise d'Adoption.