children. (For example,
Wilkening stresses the return of seven-year-old Artyom to Russia, rather than
serious cases of maltreatment and starvation.)

In 1994, the U.S. signed onto the Hague Convention
on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.
In 2000, this agreement was ratified through the Intercountry Adoption Act, but
was not enacted through the promulgation of regulations until 2008. Both the
Hague Convention and the IAA emphasize pre-adoption services, the appointment
of a Central Authority in the receiving country (in the U.S., the Department of State),
assessment of the prospective adoptive parents, and appropriate counseling of
the adoptive parents on the child’s history and cultural background, medical issues,
developmental history, and so on.

The IAA Regulations did not address post-adoption
services, or significantly, post-adoption reporting, although a number of
sending countries require such reports. According to Wilkening’s paper, Russiahas
required post-adoption reports 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, and 36 months
after the adoption. China requires adoptive parents to state their willingness
to provide reports as asked. Ethiopian law requires reports after 3 months, 6
months, one year, and annually until the
child is 18. Reports until age 18 have also been requested by Vietnam, Ukraine,
and Kazakhstan.

In 2011, an agreement (Agreement Between the United
States of America and the Russian Federation Regarding Cooperation in Adoption
of Children; http://tsgsandbox.his.com/adoptions/content/pdf/us-russia_adoption_agmt-713%2011-signed_english.pdf)
was signed and to come into force in October 2012. This agreement again
stressed pre-adoption counseling and education, but also required that adopted
children remain citizens of Russia while also receiving U.S. citizenship,
addressed issues of dissolution of adoptions and re-adoption, and required that
this all be performed by a competent authority as defined in the agreement. The
child is also