The Orphan Market · Episode 8 of 10 · 27 min
Pawns: Russia, Geopolitics, and the Diplomacy of Children
For two decades Russia was the second-largest source of children adopted by Americans, more than 60,000 between 1991 and 2013. In December 2012 it banned U.S. adoptions in retaliation for the Magnitsky Act. The law was named for a toddler who died and justified by real abuse cases, but it functioned as geopolitics, with children as bargaining chips.
Who's who
- Vladimir Putin+1 more episodeRussian president who signed Federal Law 272-FZ
- Ekaterina LakhovaUnited Russia deputy who proposed the adoption ban
- Sergei MagnitskyRussian tax lawyer who died in custody in 2009; the U.S. sanctions act bears his name
- Barack Obama+3 more episodesU.S. president who signed the Magnitsky Act
- Michael McFaulU.S. ambassador who said the ban tied orphans to unrelated political issues
Where it happens
- Moscow, RussiaSite of Magnitsky's death in prison and a January 2013 protest of about 20,000
- Strasbourg, FranceSeat of the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled against the ban in 2017
- Russia+3 more episodesSecond-largest historical source of U.S. adoptions
Timeline
- April 2010A U.S. adoptive mother sends a child back to Russia alone; Russia freezes adoptions and demands safeguards.
- December 14, 2012President Obama signs the Magnitsky Act.
- December 28, 2012Putin signs Federal Law 272-FZ, the adoption ban.
- January 1, 2013The ban takes effect with over 1,000 adoptions in progress.
- January 2017The European Court of Human Rights rules the ban was unlawful discrimination against prospective parents.
- September 2024China announces the end of its own program, completing a pattern of closures.
Still debated
The account of Magnitsky's death is widely reported but countered by Russian state media. Whether Russian adoptees were mistreated at higher rates than other U.S. children is disputed, and China's 2024 motive is interpretive, not settled.
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