Emelyantsev

Surviving An Adoption Firestorm

Submitted by VirginiaC on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 09:48

 

FireIf there is anything predictable about inter-country adoptions, it is that at some point while you are in process, there will be a catastrophe. Or, more precisely, something that looks for all the world like a catastrophe that will put an end to your adoption plans. Mostly they don't, but surviving the weeks or months until the disaster is repaired will take every ounce of strength you have--and then some. 

China, Russia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Viet Nam, India--take your pick. In the almost 10 years that I have spent in and around the world of inter-country adoptions I have seen every country roiled by one misfortune or another. 

Russia Weighs In On The Emelyantsev Case

Submitted by VirginiaC on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 19:02

 

Scales of JusticeWell, the other shoes have started to drop on the latest case of a Russian child murdered by adoptive parents in America. 

Today, both The Moscow Times and Russia Today posted stories on the case of Kimberly and Fyodor Emelyantsev, a couple in Utah who were arrested earlier this month for allegedly murdering a toddler they adopted from Russia in February. Kimberly Emelyantsev, who was charged with first-degree murder, is an American, but her husband, who was jailed for allegedly abusing a second adopted child, is a Russian national. According to news reports, the couple did not work through an adoption agency but rather pursued independent adoptions. These kind of adoptions have not been ruled out for intercountry adoptions from Russia, and a Russian national adopting in Russia would not have had to work through an adoption agency. 

Adoption News: Utah Mom Charged With Killing Adopted Child, N.J. Leave Bill Advances

Submitted by VirginiaC on Sat, 03/15/2008 - 18:03

 

NewspapersA Utah woman has been charged with murdering a toddler adopted from Russia. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Kimberly Emelyantsev was charged with one count of first-degree murder in the March 7 death of a 14-month-old boy named Nikolai. Citing police and court records, the newspaper said an autopsy found the child had died from a skull fracture caused by blunt-force trauma. 

Both the woman and her husband, whom the newspaper named as Fyodor Emelyantsev, were also charged with child abuse for allegedly starving a second child they adopted from Russia, a four-year-old boy. According to the newspaper, the child had been admitted to a Salt Lake hospital three times since he was adopted in December, each time suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. The younger child was adopted in February.