1
IV
109TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. RES. 578
Concerning the Government of Romania’s ban on intercountry adoptions
and the welfare of orphaned or abandoned children in Romania.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 18, 2005
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr.
PITTS, Mr. PENCE, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mrs. JO
ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire,
and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
RESOLUTION
Concerning the Government of Romania’s ban on intercountry
adoptions and the welfare of orphaned or abandoned
children in Romania.
Whereas following the execution of Romanian President
Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, it was discovered that more
than 100,000 underfed, neglected children throughout
Romania were living in hundreds of squalid and inhumane
institutions;
Whereas United States citizens responded to the dire situation
of these children with an outpouring of compassion
and assistance to improve conditions in those institutions
and to provide for the needs of abandoned children in Romania;
VerDate Mar 21 2002 14:24 Jun 15, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\022806M\26345.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
26345a.AAB
3
2
•HRES 578 IH
Whereas, between 1990 and 2004, United States citizens
adopted more than 8,200 Romanian children, with a
similar response from Western Europe;
Whereas the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported
in March 2005 that more than 9,000 children a
year are abandoned in Romania’s maternity wards or pediatric
hospitals and that child abandonment in Romania
in ‘‘2003 and 2004 was no different from that occurring
10, 20, or 30 years ago’’;
Whereas there are approximately 37,000 orphaned or abandoned
children in Romania today living in state institutions,
an additional 49,000 living in temporary arrangements,
such as foster care, and an unknown number of
children living on the streets and in maternity and pediatric
hospitals;
Whereas, on December 28, 1994, Romania ratified the
Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation
in Respect of Intercountry Adoption which recognizes
that ‘‘intercountry adoption may offer the advantage
of a permanent family to a child for whom a suitable
family cannot be found in his or her State of origin’’;
Whereas intercountry adoption offers the hope of a permanent
family for children who are orphaned or abandoned
by their biological parents;
Whereas UNICEF’s official position on intercountry adoption,
in pertinent part, states: ‘‘For children who cannot
be raised by their own families, an appropriate alternative
family environment should be sought in preference
to institutional care, which should be used only as a last
resort and as a temporary measure. Inter-country adoption
is one of a range of care options which may be open
VerDate Mar 21 2002 14:24 Jun 15, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\022806M\26345.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
26345a.AAC
4
3
•HRES 578 IH
to children, and for individual children who cannot be
placed in a permanent family setting in their countries of
origin, it may indeed be the best solution. In each case,
the best interests of the individual child must be the
guiding principle in making a decision regarding adoption.’’;
Whereas unsubstantiated allegations have been made about
the fate of children adopted from Romania and the qualifications
and motives of those who adopt internationally;
Whereas in June 2001, the Romanian Adoption Committee
imposed a moratorium on intercountry adoption, but continued
to accept new intercountry adoption applications
and allowed many such applications to be processed
under an exception for extraordinary circumstances;
Whereas on June 21, 2004, the Parliament of Romania enacted
Law 272/2004 on ‘‘the protection and promotion of
the rights of the child,’’ which creates new requirements
for declaring a child legally available for adoption;
Whereas on June 21, 2004, the Parliament of Romania enacted
Law 273/2004 on adoption, which prohibits intercountry
adoption except by a child’s biological grandparent
or grandparents;
Whereas there is no European Union law or regulation restricting
intercountry adoptions to biological grandparents
or requiring that restrictive laws be passed as a
prerequisite for accession to the European Union;
Whereas the number of Romanian children adopted domestically
is far less than the number abandoned and has declined
further since enactment of Law 272/2004 and 273/
2004 due to new, overly burdensome requirements for
adoption;
VerDate Mar 21 2002 14:24 Jun 15, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\022806M\26345.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
26345a.AAD
5
4
•HRES 578 IH
Whereas prior to enactment of Law 273/2004, 211 intercountry
adoption cases were pending with the Government
of Romania in which children had been matched
with adoptive parents in the United States, and approximately
1,500 cases were pending in which children had
been matched with prospective parents in Western Europe;
and
Whereas Romanian children, and all children, deserve to be
raised in permanent families: Now, therefore, be it
1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
2 (1) supports the desire of the Government of
3 Romania to improve the standard of care and well4
being of children in Romania;
5 (2) urges the Government of Romania to com6
plete the processing of the intercountry adoption
7 cases which were pending when Law 273/2004 was
8 enacted;
9 (3) urges the Government of Romania to amend
10 its child welfare and adoption laws to decrease bar11
riers to adoption, both domestically and inter12
country, including by allowing intercountry adoption
13 by persons other than biological grandparents;
14 (4) urges the Secretary of State and the Ad15
ministrator of the United States Agency for Inter16
national Development to work collaboratively with
17 the Government of Romania to achieve these ends;
18 and
VerDate Mar 21 2002 14:24 Jun 15, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\022806M\26345.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
26345a.AAE
6
5
•HRES 578 IH
1 (5) requests that the European Union and its
2 member States not impede the Government of Ro3
mania’s efforts to place orphaned or abandoned chil4
dren in permanent homes in a manner that is con5
sistent with Romania’s obligations under the Hague
6 Convention on Protection of Children and Co-oper7
ation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.
Æ
VerDate Mar 21 2002 14:24 Jun 15, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\022806M\26345.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
26345a.AAF
7
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. The world first learned, in 1989, that
100,000 underfed, neglected children were living in hundreds of
squalid and inhumane institutions throughout Romania. As a matter
of fact, about 4 weeks after the fall of the Ceausescu regime,
having been there several times when he was the dictator, I visited,
along with Dorothy Taft on our staff, one of those orphanages
and saw in one place 60 young babies who were left there as orphans
who could not be turned even because there was such a
shortage of people to attend to them.
However, the good news is that between 1990 and 2004, more
than 8,000 of these children found permanent families in the
United States; thousands of others joined families in Western Europe
and elsewhere.
Sadly, Romania’s child-abandonment rate has not changed significantly
in 30 years. Today, approximately 80,000 children still
live either in institutions or in non-permanent settings such as
‘‘foster care.’’
Hopefully, a time will come when child abandonment in Romania
is just a painful memory, and hopefully the country will someday
have the capacity to help all of the children in need, but that day
has not yet come, and today there is great need for adoption, both
foreign and domestic. But despite this need and the positive outcomes
of most adoptions, outrageous and unsubstantiated allegations
have been made about the fate of adopted children and the
qualifications and motives of those who adopt internationally.
Baroness Emma Nicholson, a member of the European Parliament
who recently served as the rapporteur for Romania’s accession
to the European Union, equates intercountry adoption with
child trafficking for pedophiles and slavery rings. She believes that
it is ‘‘totally false’’ to assume that, for a child, a foreign adoptive
family is better than the family which cannot care for him or her.
Earlier this month, she publicly equated pro-adoption advocates
with organized criminals. Rather than focusing on the best interests
of the child, Romanian policymakers caved in to Lady Nicholson
by banning intercountry adoption in an effort to secure Romania’s
EU accession.
I would note, parenthetically, that as the author of the three
trafficking laws for the United States, the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000, 2003, and 2005, I and Members of this Subcommittee
take absolutely no back seat when it comes to trafficking.
Adoption is not trafficking.
When the ban was enacted by the Romanian Parliament, I would
point out, there were approximately 200 cases pending in which
children had been matched with adoptive parents in the United
States; approximately 1,000 more had been matched with parents
in Western Europe, Israel, or Australia. These cases will be denied
if the Romanian Government applies the ban retroactively.
Each of these so-called ‘‘pipeline cases’’ involves a prospective
family who has proven their good faith by waiting for years for
these children. Many cases involve older children, Roma children,
and children with special needs who will not be domestically adopted
in Romania. In at least three cases, children with severe medical
needs are already in the United States on medical visas and
living with their prospective adoptive parents. Each was abandoned
VerDate Mar 21 2002 14:24 Jun 15, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGI\022806M\26345.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
8
at birth and was legally adoptable until the new anti-adoption law
took effect in Romania. If returned to Romania, they will live in institutions
and will not receive the medical care that they need.
Passage of H. Res. 578 will put the Congress on record as, one,
supporting the Romanian Government’s desire to improve the
standard of care and the well-being of children—they state that
that is their desire; urging the Government of Romania to complete
the processing of the intercountry adoption cases which were pending
when the ban was enacted; urging the government to decrease
barriers to adoption, both domestically and intercountry; urging the
State Department and USAID to work with Romania to achieve
these ends; and requesting that the EU and its member states not
impede Romania’s efforts to place orphaned or abandoned children
in permanent homes.
H. Res. 578 is premised on the belief that all children deserve
to be raised in a permanent family. The Romanian Government’s
current laws and policies do not reflect this principle, and I strongly
urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith on H. Res. 578 follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE
ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
H.RES. 578
I introduced H.Res. 578 to express my deepest disappointment that the Romanian
Government has instituted a virtual ban on intercountry adoptions. This ban has
serious implications for the welfare and well-being of orphaned or abandoned children
in Romania. Last September, I chaired a hearing of the Commission on Security
and Cooperation in Europe which explored these issues in depth. H.Res. 578
has 24 co-sponsors and, on February 14, it was reported favorably by the Subcommittee
on Europe and Emerging Threats.
The world first learned in 1989 that 100,000 underfed, neglected children were
living in hundreds of squalid and inhumane institutions throughout Romania. Between
1990 and 2004, more than 8,000 of these children found permanent families
in the United States; thousands of others joined families in Western Europe and
elsewhere.
Sadly, Romania’s child abandonment rate hasn’t changed significantly in 30 years.
Today, approximately 80,000 children still live either in institutions or in non-permanent
settings such as ‘‘foster care.’’
Hopefully, a time will come when child abandonment in Romania is just a painful
memory. And hopefully, the country will someday have the capacity to help all the
children in need. But that day has not yet come and today there is a great need
for adoption—both foreign and domestic. But despite this need, and the positive outcomes
of most adoptions, outrageous and unsubstantiated allegations have been
made about the fate of adopted children and the qualifications and motives of those
who adopt internationally. Baroness Emma Nicholson, a Member of the European
Parliament who until recently served as rapporteur for Romania’s accession to the
European Union, equates intercountry adoption with child trafficking for pedophiles
and slavery rings. She believes that it is ‘‘totally false’’ to assume that for a child,
a foreign adoptive family is better than the family which can not care for him. Earlier
this month she publicly equated pro-adoption advocates with organized criminals.
Rather than focusing on the best interests of the child, Romanian policy makers
caved in to Nicholson by banning intercountry adoption in an effort to secure
Romania’s EU accession.
When the ban was enacted there were approximately 200 cases pending in which
children had been matched with adoptive parents in the United States; approximately
a thousand more had been matched with parents in Western Europe, Israel
or Australia. These cases will be denied if the Romanian Government applies the
ban retroactively.
Each of these pipeline cases involves a prospective family who has proven their
good faith by waiting for years for these children. Many cases involve older children,
Roma children, and children with special medical needs who will not be domestically
VerDate Mar 21 2002 14:24 Jun 15, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\AGI\022806M\26345.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
9
adopted in Romania. In at least 3 cases, children with severe medical needs are already
in the U.S. on medical visas and living with their prospective adoptive parents.
Each was abandoned at birth and were legally adoptable until the new adoption
law took effect. If returned to Romania they will live in institutions and will
not receive the medical care they need.
Passage of H. Res. 578 will put the Congress on record
• supporting the Romanian Government’s desire to improve the standard of
care and well-being of children;
• urging the Government to complete the processing of the intercountry adoption
cases which were pending when the ban was enacted;
• urging the Government to decrease barriers to adoption, both domestically
and intercountry;
• urging the State Department and USAID to work with Romania to achieve
these ends; and
• requesting that the EU and its member States not impede Romania’s efforts
to place orphaned or abandoned children in permanent homes.
H.Res. 578 is premised on the belief that all children deserve to be raised in permanent
families. The Romanian Government’s current laws and policies do not reflect
this principle. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Would anyone else like to be heard
on this resolution?
[No response.]
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Are there any amendments to it?
[No response.]
Erica,
I’m crying as I read this. It brought back all the memories of the summer I spent at a baby orphanage in Romania. The kids used to love it when I would sing primary songs with them–especially the ones with fun body movements and hand gestures. They also really loved the tune of “I am a Child of God,” but I usually couldn’t make it past the “with parents kind and dear” line.
Oh, my heart just aches for them, and for all your babies. God bless you for all that you are doing. And may angels always accompany you to the baby house.
Thank you, Erica, for sharing this with us. I admire your way of describing it all. Factual, but much left to interpretation and imagination. At the same time, I appreciate you also point out positive things. From our complacent and “advanced” West we have a tendency to consider those places as basically horrible, but I think there is also appreciation to be given for what is being done in spite of limitations and circumstances. Also, again, thank you so much for your wonderful posts that gave Times and Seasons a truly international perspective.
It’s been a long time since I’ve visited an orphanage. The only time was on Christmas day 1984.
But I have often had very similar feelings when visiting nursing homes. So many virtually helpless people, and so much good that needed doing, but so few people to do it. It’s so overwhelming that the fear of drowning in it has caused me (or been my lame excuse) to do less than what I could.
What would have to happen for an American to adopt one of these babies and please don’t tell my husband that I asked this question?
Thank you, Maria and Wilfried. I enjoyed your story, Bookslinger. Thanks for linking to it.
Julie, it is possible to adopt from here, but it can be a little harder than some other countries because there isn’t a lot of experience here with international adoption. The State Department website has no information about adopting from Kyrgyzstan.
The adoptions that I am aware of are by missionaries or volunteers living in Bishkek. They have gone through a local social worker. It may well be possible for a family who doesn’t live here to go through her instead of an agency. She speaks English well and wants to get these children into good homes. There are few agencies working here, but I don’t know much about them. Frank Foundation (www.frankadopt.org) is probably the best bet if you really want an agency, but I’d highly recommend checking carefully into them and talking to parents who have worked with them, whether they adopted or not. Find out how many adoptions they have actually completely from Kyrgyzstan and check into their required fees. Kyrgyzstan shouldn’t cost as much as Kazakhstan.
An agency should take you through the whole process, but if you did it on your own, you’d need to complete a home study in the US and complete the required INS paperwork. You would probably need to make two trips to Kyrgyzstan, one to choose the child you want to adopt and get the process started, and another to pick them up and go to court and to the embassy in Kazakhstan, the nearest US embassy that processes adoptions.
If someone were truly interested in more information, I can ask the local social worker.
I understand that adoption from those countries has become increasingly difficult, not to speak of the financial gain some instances try to make of it, even the official ones. To make things worse, I heard anti-Mormon propaganda is spreading horror stories of what happens to children adopted in those households in the Mormon West. I have no experience in this field, but it seems http://lds.adoption.com/ offers adequate information and help. They have an international section.
I heard a mother on the news the other night who had recently adopted a teenager from Haiti who had lost both of his legs, but had the blessing of receiving two prostheses by the hand of her husband who had been visiting on a doctors abroad type mission (which of course lead to the adoption). At the conclusion of this interview, this women (who my wife guesses is LDS. We live in MN, so my money says they are Lutheran) said that their family is now complete with the arrival of this member.
As a father, I understand this woman. Even though (and I am in no way bragging) we have adopted a nephew, had two of our own, and are in the process of adopting a 2nd nephew, I can tell you that my family still does not feel complete. I look forward to the day that we can add more of these little ones to our family as we look for that point of completion.
My heart goes to the them because of your story. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for your comments, Chance. I do think adoption is a good way to create a family, and one that is too often overlooked except in cases of infertility.
There are some major obstacles to international adoption from FSR’s like Wilfried points out. Kazakhstan has allowed international adoptions for a long time, but it has recently become more difficult as judges in different areas apply laws differently and as the media has become increasingly negative.
The financial gain is a big problem. KZ requires a $15,000 fee (in addition to other fees) that is in large part supposed to go to the orphanages, but I have no confidence that any money in Central Asia actually gets to its intended destination. Many parents end up bribing various government officials to be able to complete their adoptions.
There’s also the good old bait-and-switch, where an agency shows you a picture of a charming baby and then when you get there, that baby doesn’t actually exist or isn’t adoptable. You can either choose a different child (which is actually what you’re supposed to do in KZ; referrals are illegal there) or go home. A careful couple should be able to avoid corrupt agencies though by doing plenty of research and using an agency with an excellent reputation. That’s my concern about agencies in KG since there is no agency with enough experience here to have an excellent reputation in Kyrgyzstan. Maybe they are great in Russia or Kazakhstan, but in-country experience is necessary.
Kyrgyzstan really is a little harder to adopt from because it is almost impossible to find out what the laws actually are and there is very little precedent to be able to predict what might happen here. However, the fees aren’t as unreasonable as those in KZ, although I still wouldn’t bet that they’d be used for what they were supposed to be used for (for example, you’re supposed to pay $1,000 per year that the child was in the orphanage and that is supposed to go back into the system).
The best thing though is that I feel that the baby house administrators want these children adopted. The government isn’t putting up a lot of obstacles right now. The biggest problem really is that there international adoption isn’t very common here. General international adoption information is helpful, but country-specific information is vital, and it’s hard to find here.
Erica, thank you very, very much for this look into a part of the world few of us hear about much less visit. Your posts have been excellent.
In a district I served in towards the end of my mission in Korea, we spent time visiting an orphanage/home for mentally handicapped children; some of them had spent their entire lives in the facility. We couldn’t do much–play with them, talk with them; one sister had a childlike, severely damaged older boy latch onto her hand, and she just held it back for hours. Still, the staff seemed so grateful for us. It was one of the few things I did on my mission that I look back on as a true, unprideful, unambiguous, Christian good.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Erica, and prompting some good but bittersweet memories of my own.
Erica, I’ve been thinking about your post so much over the last couple of days–I just can’t get those babies out of my mind. I don’t really have much to add, but thought you should know how thought provoking this post (and all your posts) have been.
Karen
Once Erica’s guestblogging stint is over, be sure to head over to her blog for more posts like this one.
Bryce, you should have warned everyone that she has some seriously cute pictures of babies posted there.
My husband and I are considering adoption in Kyrgyzstan. Any comments about agencies in the U.S. that are allowed to handle this type of adoption.
Julie is right, you guys. Brace yourselves. Amira, wonderful post. I am smiling and crying. And feeling so helpless.
Hi, my husband and I are considering adopting from Kyrgyzstan, and in my research on the web, I stumbled upon these postings! I am happy to have found these postings, because there is little information on Kyrg adoption. My husband and I are currently in a holding pattern for adopting from Kazakhstan, we started the process 10 months ago, and are in a holding pattern because of the new Kaz regulations. So that is why we are considering switching to Kyrg. Like Kim, I would like information about adopting from Kyrg. Also, I am new to these types of postings on a website. Who is Erica, and is she in Kyrg trying to adopt right now? How do I get to see the photos that everyone is talking about? Forgive me for my confusion! Thank you.
Hi, I am so happy to read all of your postings – I stumbled upon them while using google to look into adopting from Kyrg! My husband and I have been trying to adopt from Kaz for 10 months now – our dossier was actually at the Kaz embassy in D.C. but then it was sent back because of the new regulations. It has become very difficult with Kaz now, so we are considering switching to Kyrg. Like Kim, I would like more info if anyone has it. Also, forgive me, but I am confused about what this website is that you are all posting messages on (Times and Seasons – Comments on Everyday Life in the Bishkek Baby House)? Erica, are you in Kyrg right now? How do I get to view the photos that everyone is talking about? Thank you!
Future Mom–sorry your comment got buried; I hope those with the right information will be able to get in touch with you. Erica does live in Kyrgyzstan, and she blogs regularly here. She isn’t planning on adopting a child in Kyrgyzstan so far as I know, but has volunteered regularly there over the past several months. She has a lot of information on her website.
Thanks, Russell! I’m sorry for posting 2 messages, everybody – I had thought that my first one didn’t get posted! What is the url for Erica’s website?
Future mom:
http://amiralace.blogspot.com/
Good luck!
Kim and Future Mom (and anyone else),
I just saw your posts. You can find my email address at my website that Russell and Julie both linked to. There is very little information about adopting here and you will run into problems because the laws are not well known. The families we have known who have adopted have had a difficult time and they didn’t go through US agencies. I don’t know all the ins and outs since we haven’t adopted yet, but feel free to email me with any questions you might have and I’ll try to answer them or see if I can find out the answers.
yet? (grin)
I have always been interested in adoption and doing volunteer work in orphanages. For that reason, I review the precious.org/child-page on the net. They show a photo listing of many different agencies adoptable children from various countries. Last week, there was a photo of a child from Kyrgystan. He is deaf and if he’s not adopted, they will soon send him to an orphanage for older children with all kinds of physical and mental disabilties. He certainly won’t have much of a future if they do this. As I read through the postings today, I noted that it was against the country regulations to post photos of their adoptable children. I was going to see if I could help find this boy a home in the states, but now I wonder if the agency is legitimate. Perhaps they are a good agency and decided to post his listing because his situation is so unique? What is your take on this?
I have adopted two boys from KAZ. and have just heard about a Kyrgystan program run by ChristianWorldAdoptions. http://www.cwa.org I know nothing about them as I used a different agency but they may have some good info.
Cate
Hi! We are missionaries too, living in Mongolia. But we used to live in Kazakstan and have visited Kyrgyzstan twice! I am really interested–is it Erika? in a response, on this or in private, to what you mentioned in 6. You see, we speak Kazakh–so similar to Kyrgyz, fairly fluently (have studied for 7 years and live among K.’s in the west here). We want to adopt again, and would love it to be Kyrgyzstan but we need to get in touch with the M.’s or volunteers in Bishkek that have done it. We feel we don’t need an agency, as long as that’s Ok with the government. But this social worker that speaks English..she’d be a gold mine. Could you please pass on any info. of contacts you have who’ve adopted who live in Bishkek, or the name and email of the social worker? We’d be SOOO grateful! Feel free to pass on our email too. Thanks for all the volunteer work at baby houses you do..we did a lot, too north of you. Sincerely, Sarah Mechler, [edited] or the above email address
Sarah, I’m the same person (Amira) that you emailed earlier about adopting from Kyrgyzstan. I hope you got my email then. I talked to the social worker and she can’t help with more adoptions. In fact, one that she has helped with isn’t going well despite her best efforts. Even though KG is starting to be talked about in adoption circles, the fact remains that fewer than 10 children have been adopted from here to the US in the last 2 years. The adoption laws were just changed too.
I’ve written more about adopting from Kyrgyzstan here: http://amiralace.blogspot.com/2006/01/adopting-from-kyrgyzstan.html
This includes information on the two agencies currently certified in Kyrgyzstan.