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Did you hear about that family that "returned" their adopted child to Russia? I read it was because they were scared for their safety. How do you return a child?!

I will not pass judgment on this mom without the full story. I think people are disillusioned about overseas adoptions. I would imagine some of these children have lived in orphanages all their lives with very little loving contact. Many people are not equipped with the knowledge and skills to deal with the emotional problems these children bring with them. If I was afraid for my children or my safety, I can honestly say that I might do the same thing.

However, I do not agree with putting that child on a plane by himself and sending him half way around the world. That was wrong!

I researched international adoption quite extensively and I have to say that adopting an older child does present issues that might arise that aren't as common with the younger children who are adopted. There are major attachment issues and institutionalization is a very real problem. The crazy thing is that she put a 7 year old on a plane that legally was a US Citizen (since he was adopted, the minute he stepped foot on US soil he was officially a citizen of the US). I know she had to be at her wits end, but her actions justify taking the consequences of putting a young child on a plane by himself. He may be mentally unstable, but imagine all that boy has now been through... he was abandoned by his natural parents.. now, his adoptive parents decided they didn't want him either.. it isn't like returning a puppy that was a little hyper back to the pound. I don't know what I would do in the same situation, but I can honestly say she should be punished for the harm that could've happened to that little boy (by abandoning him).

I sympathize with the mother that the child she adopted came with some psychological and behavior issues that she wasn't expecting, that has to be very difficult to deal with. But to use it as an excuse to return a child is awful. From what I've read she only had him for 6 months, and that in January things seemed to be going well. I wonder what went wrong, and if the mother tried any family counseling or therapy or sought any help at all before taking such a drastic measure as to ship him back to Russia. I think it is just a terrible situation and I feel awful for the little boy. I do think the mother should get into some trouble for the way she handled it. Being a parent isn't easy, being a parent of a child with problems is hard, but you can't just get rid of your kid because it's hard on you.