by December 1, 2010 is the expected day for a final agreement between the U.S. and Russia regulating American adoptions of Russian children. Russia had initiated the request for such a treaty after a now-infamous incident in which a woman placed her seven-year-old adopted son on a flight to Moscow with a note saying he was violent and mentally unbalanced.Since the 1991 fall of Communism, more than 60,000 Russian children have been adopted by foreigners, primarily Americans. Fifteen of those children have died, apparently due to abuse by their adoptive American parents.In response, the Russian government requested the establishment of a system that would monitor the treatment of such children and institute guidelines regarding the responsibilities of their adoptive parents.A fifth round of talks regarding the planned agreement is scheduled for December 1st, when the two countries’ representatives are expected to complete a document that can be signed soon.
