By Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
If you’d like to discuss family law, contact with Kaine Fisher, kfisher@roselawgroup.com.
Elisabeth and Charles Smith of Phoenix have been hoping and waiting.
But their plans to adopt a child from Russia now seem terminated after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a measure banning all U.S. adoptions of Russian children.
“All we can do is pray,” said Elisabeth Smith on Friday after she got the news from Russia.
She and her husband, residents of central Phoenix, have been in the process of trying to bring home a 5-year-old boy from Russia whom they call Malcolm.
They have been to Russia once, in October, to meet the child, who suffers from cerebral palsy. The child worked his way into their hearts during several meetings during a weeklong stay.
The next step was to return to the country for court hearings to finalize the adoption, which they expected to do next month.
Another month after that, they would be allowed to return to bring Malcolm home.
