Our Letter to the Embassy

June 27, 2008

Dear Mr. Zhanbolat Ussenov:

In your recent e-mail you requested our support for the efforts being made toward a more transparent adoption process in Kazakhstan. While we applaud the Kazakhstan government for these beginning steps in limiting the corruption in the adoption process, we feel it has come too late to help the adoption of our sons. However, we are committed to our goal in educating prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) and being a catalyst for the end of corruption within the Kazakhstan adoption process. In an effort to demonstrate our support I have created a new blog titled KIN: Kazakhstan Information Network at http://www.kazinfonet.blogspot.com/. It is our hope that this blog will provide prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) with clear, concise, and factual information about the adoption process in Kazakhstan from a neutral party.

Our continued support is contingent upon a face to face meeting in the very near future. We hope to communicate positive news during upcoming media interviews regarding the efforts being taken by the Kazakhstan government to protect the rights of all members of the adoption triad. Some questions that we have after reading the press release are:

What monitoring procedures does the Kazakhstan government have in place for weeding out greedy orphanage directors who play God with innocent children’s lives?

• Where is the transparency of the steps in the adoption process? Are PAPs made aware of the waiting period where family members can come back to take the child from unsuspecting adoptive parents?
• What process does the government have to ensure that PAPs won’t be asked to pay “extra fees” and that type of corruption will be eliminated?
• Where or what is the process of monitoring the orphanages so our children are not left homeless and helpless in the orphanages?
• Is there a process to investigate individual adoptions to look at unique situations that would allow for an appeal process to complete adoptions where money has been paid to these orphanage directors who refuse to allow the adoption to complete?
• Is there a process to ensure that no government officials are financially tied to unscrupulous agencies from any country? What are the punishments for those found to be profiting from failed or false adoptions?
• Is the Kazakhstan government willing to post a list of agencies that they have found to use unscrupulous procedures in adoption? What is the mechanism for preventing these agencies from working again in country?
• Is the Kazakhstan government willing to speak to those PAPs who have paid money to people in Kazakhstan but had to leave their children behind? Are they willing to help us complete these adoptions which are in the best interest of the children and their future?

We are aware that there are changes needed in the United States to move toward a centralized system, but the current system in Kazakhstan doesn’t appear to be in the best interest of the children. We are glad to hear of changes being made to the current Laws on Family and Marriage and are interested in hearing about the proposed changes.

We also believe that the Kazakhstan government misunderstands how the current adoption process in Kazakhstan provides fertile ground for the exploitation of children and corruption on both sides.

Joe and I look forward to meeting with the Ambassador in Washington, D.C. and hope that we can have these questions answered or assist in the proper reform of the adoption process in Kazakhstan. Please be aware that this communication will be posted on our blogs as we have a loyal following of PAPs and parents who have completed adoptions in Kazakhstan who share our concerns.

Yours truly,
Dawn and Joe De Lorenzo