The cold war of inter-country adoptions : a political tit-for-tat or best interest of the child?

Abstract

Every decision taken in matter of children should be in the light of the children‟s best interest and grant them the best solution as possible. Best interest of the child is the common denominator that crosscuts different aspects concerning children‟s welfare. Also in the adoption issue children‟s best interest should be always prioritised. The purpose of the present research is to show how the best interest of the child has not been taken into account by the Russian ban to inter-country adoptions to the US but it is rather a political reaction to the American Magnitsky Act and a demonstration of power from Russia towards the US and the Western countries in general. The loss of transparency in the adoptions process and some cases of gone-bad adoptions in the US have brought to a disruption of the relationship between the two countries and to the immediate termination of the agreement existing on inter-country adoptions between the two nations. Consequences to the termination of inter-country adoptions between the two countries are already noticeable and measures should be taken by the governments in order to support Russian families by offering alternative measures in order to avoid social orphanhood and increase transparency