The Dark Matter of Love: Child Dies Stuck in Putin's Ban

The Dark Matter of Love Kickstarter Campaign

Yesterday the news broke that one of the 300 children stuck in Putin's adoption ban has died in Russia from an untreated heart condition.

Click below for a full update on the situation and to hear how it's affected our campaign.

Daria died in Russia earlier this month as her parents fought to bring her to the US

Read about the story and our campaign in The Washington Post

The situation for the 300 children has become more urgent than ever.

Please back the campaign now and spread the word on your own networks.

Thank you.
Sarah

Click here to watch the campaign video

North Carolina Family Adopts Child From Russia

Glade Valley, NC -- Not being able to have a child is an emptiness that hundreds of thousands of couples know all too well. The dream of adopting fills that, but now, many families' dreams may no longer come true.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will sign a bill, which bans Americans from adopting Russian children.

Putin claims US authorities deny access to the adopted Russian children and that Americans suspected of violence towards Russian adoptees go unpunished.

Americans adopted close to 1,000 Russian children last year, according to U.S. State Department figures.

In 2007, Dawn and Keenan Mustin adopted their son Gavin from Russia.

"He was mine from day 1," explained Dawn. "There are not words to explain it; it's a wonderful connection and a beautiful thing that this is your forever child, and you will be a forever family and he will love you and you will love him and it will be no different than if you had given birth."

The Mustin's adoption process was stalled when Russia temporarily closed the door on international adoptions.

"It was devastating... it's almost like your world comes crashing down," said Dawn. "The families right now are very devastated about what is happening to them. They may have met their child and they can't go back and get their child. Or they're preparing for their second trip and they may not be able to go get their child and they've already had a connection with that child so it would be very hard."

"For parents that are caught up in the mess, hang in there, there is a child there for you. Somewhere, God has a perfect child planned for you," said Dawn.

The Mustins are in the process of adopting a little girl from Bulgaria. They hope to make their first trip sometime next year.

UNICEF estimates that there are about 740,000 children without parental custody in Russia.

Today's Headlines Show the Need for the Donaldson Adoption Institute

To understand just how important the work of the Donaldson Adoption Institute truly is, look no further than today’s headlines:

Putin Signs Law Barring U.S. Adoptions
Internet Adoption in Need of Greater Regulation

Thanks to the support of compassionate and engaged people like you, the Institute is able to play a unique role in improving the lives of all the parties to adoption, especially children who need families. There are few better examples today than two of our current projects: developing best-practice standards to address the decline in intercountry adoptions and providing cutting-edge research and resources relating to the Internet’s historic impact on adoption.

Whether the beneficiaries are children in foster care in our country or in orphanages abroad, whether the issues relate to first/birth parents or adoptive parents or adopted persons, whether the question is about professional practices or better laws and policies, whether the people using our work are legislators or teachers or journalists, the Adoption Institute is there. Just Google either of the headlines above and you’ll see that we are making a real difference by being a voice of reason, a source of vital information and, most important, by working for systemic change that genuinely improves millions of lives.

As 2012 comes to a close, please consider making a tax-deductible, year-end contribution to the Adoption Institute by Dec. 31 so that we can keep our work going at this important time in adoption history.

Thank you and, on behalf of us all at the Institute, I wish you a happy and healthy New Year.


Sincerely,

Adam Pertman
Executive Director