First the press says they’re out of Russia; then it says they’re in. AdoptionLand wants to know what’s going on, but EAC isn’t talking.
As of 10:00 pm August 1, EAC hasn’t posted a word on its webpage about the investigation that the Russian Ministry of Education and Science is running it through over the agency’s alleged failure to inform timely, officials of the death of Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison as required by Russian law. All we find is a gratuitous we-feel-your-pain-cover-your ass note on Dima’s death at the top of its webpage which ends with:
We are currently assessing the situation and continuing to work with the Russian Federation in this matter.
Shouldn’t that read: the Russian Federation is currently assessing us?
SILENCE IS GOLDEN…AND SO IS THE EGG
As far as the public face of EAC is concerned, everything is snug as a bug in Strongsville,
According to the EAC– friendly blogger at Russian Adoption Journey, who finds herself a tad frustrated at the agency’s lack of communication, EAC isn’t sharing much information with anxious paps who ask.
From “Mixed Media Message,”July 21, 2008 (emphasis mine):
Despite internet articles and blogs to the contrary, our adoption agency told me this afternoon that by all indications, they will keep their license. A formal ruling is expected Thursday. Apparently, three agencies have been banned from further Russian adoptions, but have no relevance to this case whatsoever.
Then, “No Word Yet,” July 24, 2008 (emphasis mine)
So far, we’ve received no word from our agency, EAC, regarding the outcome of their hearing today. However, I did find this article online which sounds promising.
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/1010/42/368946.htm
Rather than sit here and speculate though, I’m just going to wait and call them tomorrow. I’m a little frustrated though that they haven’t updated their website or sent out an e-mail as promised! At the very least, I feel like they should put “no decision yet” or something to keep people from going crazy due to our lack of information!
And finally, “Still on Hold” July 26 (emphasis mine):
I called the agency Friday. Although there was a meeting scheduled, one of the main Russian decision-makers is out of town on vacation, pushing any possibility of news at least two more weeks into the future. EAC did say however, that they are still receiving referrals from Russia!?!
Of course, it is! Why should a little matter of a government investigation stop high-end bottom feeders such as EAC from busine$$ as usual? What, after all, are a couple of death-by-adoptions in the global redi$tribution of children into Forever Homes and pap and adopter dollars into the EAC family purse? It’s not like agencies tell anybody what they do anyway.
See, it’s kind of a cult. They break you down and then build you up buttercup baby. You get a second mortgage on your house and sell your old clothes on Ebay. Your church raises $1400 for your adoption fund. Your mother-in-law loans you another $10,000 that she knows she’ll never see again. You turn it all over to the agency, and it gives you baybee-saving God-endorsed entitlement to Sasha, Dasha, Pasha or Masha even if you’ve never seen their picture and don’t know the difference between styl and stol.
GIVE ME MY CHILD LEST I DIE
The agency owns your soul and “your” agency-created child, and it can do anything with them it wants. And it will.
Welcome to the silence!
At least we now have a vague timetable of when events may play out. In 10 days or so we could know if EAC is in or out (barring the possibility that some other official will decide to take off to Latvia on a fishing trip or a week in the village). Will EAC tell us or will we have to learn it off a blog?
Read Beware BBAS: An Experiment in Literary Investigation by Dan and Elizabeth Case to see just how bad it gets.
I’m sure from everything you have documented here that EAC is a shady outfit. Nothing would please me more than to know that they are no longer in the adoption business.
I see the major problem though as being with the Russian government. I would like to be mistaken, but I’m guessing they are probably paying off high level Russian officials to keep doing business. If there was really a will in Russia to stop this sort of thing it would probably end.
I guess we’ll know for certain, soon. My money would be on the corrupt Russian government continuing to let EAC work its harm.
I agree with you. Russian government officials are probably a huge part of the problem. Money talks and bullshit walks. In the case of adoption, though,money and bullshit are the same thing.
what about the thousands of children who get good homes?
what about the good people who just want to be parents?
how could anyone blame this agency?
miles harrison made a terrible mistake. he will suffer forever!
don’t the adoption agencies rely on social workers to approve these families? if they were approved then how is the palcement agency reponsable if there were no signs of a problem with the couple?
I just don’t know that the agency is at any fault. they aren’t fortune tellers. I believe that many agencies have good intentions.
yes it is a business too but at least it is the business where lives are saved.
I just don’t know that the agency is at any fault. they aren’t fortune tellers. I believe that many agencies have good intentions.
yes it is a business too but at least it is the business where lives are saved.
Really? how can you say that. Are you a fortune teller then ?
The agency is accountable. They placed the boy with the parents that were going to be dumping their newly adopted child in daycare.
They should have vetted them better. They should have said NO sorry thats not acceptable.
They as in the agencies are not in it to save lives they are in it because Adoption is Big business – or hadnt you heard ?
yes it is a business too but at least it is the business where lives are saved.
Yes I can see how these kids were saved::
David Polreis
Logan Higginbotham
Viktor Matthey
Luke Evans
Jacob Lindorff
Jessica Albina Hagmann
Zachary Higier
Maria Bennett
Liam Thompson
Alex Pavlis
Dennis Merryman
Nina Hilt
Nicolai Emelyantsev
Chase Harrison
And lets not to forget the saving of:
“Kuzma” Cochran
the Hansen kids
the Gilmore girl
the Thorne girl
Masha Allen
Kelsey Hyre
Oh I almost forgot the kids saved through disrupted adoptions.
ok..so eac was founded on the idea of big business? did the director of the agency decide to open a adoption agency just to make money? is that how this all happened? I read margaret coles story and it didn’t seem that her initial intention was to make money. things happen for a reason. did I read correctly that eac has helped place 7000 children? I agree that the little boy shoudnt had gone to day care so early but can a agency track a families every decision after coming home? what suggestions do you have? how could they have known this would happen? it just seems so judgmental to me to point the finger at the agency only! miles harrison did this! individuals who cause therrible things to happen are to blame…this was clearly a accident though. tgia is so sad. I was adopted and I can’t imagine how my life would have been if I was left behind.
canwe then post a list of every child who has been succesfully adopted? a list that is world wide? a list from every country? can we speak to all adoptees all over the world? many who have made poisitve impacts on society…lets make that list and look at things in a positive light. just a thought.
In response to anonymous:
Yes,there are thousands of children who get good homes and thousands of decent people who want to be parents – good parents, even.
Unfortunately, there are hundreds of others willing to profit on the needs and desires of precisely these people, many of whom are motivated by profit above all else. Our laws and the laws of some other nations allow these profiteers to masquerade as non-profit, charitable organizations, reaping tax benefits and collecting charitable donations while paying the founders substantial salaries and perks, while offering little of real value to either the children or prospective adoptive parents.
If an agency does not conduct its own home studies, does not perform any investigation into the qualifications of those with whom children are to be placed, does not consider the suitability of a particular home for a specific child, and has no agency-initiated post-placement contact with the family, then what is it, but a facilitator in agency drag?
I don’t have enough information to blame EAC for this particular incident. We may as well blame it for the accidental death of any child it places. People die, even adoptees. How anyone ever would have foreseen the possibility of this gruesome event is beyond me. (I also don’t agree that placing a recently adopted child is necessarily the wrong thing to do.)I do, however, have sufficient information to question this agency’s legitimacy, value and motives for existing.
I don’t even think that profit is an improper motive. Most of us spend most of our lives trying to make a living.
It’s the hypocrisy of it all that enrages me, hypocrisy that preys on the needs of children and the emotions of those who seek to become parents through adoption.
Speedy completion of the adoption process is one of the selling points I understand to be used by EAC in its marketing efforts. It is not alone in this. Speed, though greatly desired by so many of us who have pursued adoption (domestically or internationally), is the enemy of ethical adoption and appropriate placements.
J.
I agree with most of what you say.
doctors make lots of money off saving lives. bankers make money off average americans. insurance companies make boat loads off all of us. a car sales dealer makes thousands on sales. people spend more money on cars than they would adopting. I am sure people profit off this but I would imagime the amount of work involved in each intl adoption is unimaginable. pap’s spend gruelling hrs preparing documents and traveling to save these precious children. the agencies must also put a ton of work into each adoption. I’m sure the employees of these agencies hearts break when something as unthinkable as this happens! why do we assume that these people are all so terrible?
god gives life and takes us home when he wants us back. this is hard for chases family I’m sure and as far as his bio mom goes????? maybe she is devasted as well. maybe she isn’t? we don’t know all the facts…like I said earlier..i was adopted and know many other adoptees and I have friends who are adopting and it is a wonderful thing. I know adult adoptees who are making a huge difference for the better in this world. focusing soley on what it cost to get them here is a waste of time.
Anonymous pro-EAC poster:
Oh my, you are lost in the dayze!
OF COURSE Margaret Cole-Hughes began EAC to make a profit. EAC was initially incorporated in 1991 as a FOR PROFIT entity. And, wasn’t it just grand the same month Robert Hughes, Margaret Cole-Hughes FIL was found dead, they received their license from Ohio? (november 1991)
Why should this be so odd? Come now. Robert Hughes was the Cuyahoga County Republican Chairman. He had clout in Cuyahoga County – I’m wagering it was no big deal to get his DIL her own vanity adoption agency, incorporated by his attorney, so she could “place” children for adoption.
EAC did not become a 501(c)(3) entity until late 2000. [501(c)(3) being federally tax exempt – CHA CHING] Why not until 2000? Simple. It was in 2000 that Russia changed its rules an wanted adoption agencies “accredited” to place kids. In order to be “accredited” Russia required an agency to be federall tax exempt (for the USA anyway).
A whole slew of Margaret Cole-Hughes family members work for EAC. Why, they’re even in some of the literature EAC provides PAPs. There’s her mother, Lucille, her late grandmother, her father, her daughter, her sister Pat Whyte, her brother Victor in Florida, at one time her BIL in Illinois – who would NOT want to be a Cole or a Hughes with THAT easy money rolling in.
Yes, we can argue about all the “happily ever after” stories there are regarding adoption. My husband & I have a successful adoption. That DOES NOT negate the fact huge sums of money, have been made from MISERY – the MISERY off of biological families, adoptees, and yes, PAPs too.
I’m all for adoption – again, we’ve been made parents thru adoption – yet I long to see the day where we won’t see the likes of EAC and Margaret Cole-Hughes raking in piles of cash from the hopeful & broken.
E.Case
http://www.bewareofbbas.org
Are you implying something about Margaret Cole and the death of her Father in Law? or am I reading you wrong?
I hear what you’re saying about the boat loads of cash.It is crazy to put a price tag on a human being.
It is clear you have a beef with Margaret Cole and her family. I dont know why and it doesnt matter.
What matters are the precious children that have homes now.
I dont think as many people as you think are in so much misery over the cost of becoming parents and saving a child. To some this money is a drop in the bucket and to others a sacrafice that they willingly decided to make. Nobody forces these pap’s to sign on the dotted line with EAC or any other Intl Adoption Agency. They willingly go into this with eyes open. Am I wrong?
Adults make their own decisions and make their own terrible mistakes. It is not up to anyone on this earth to judge anyones personal choices.
If EAC is so terrible and Maragret Cole and her family are such monsters for making a living then that’s between God and them personally.
Are they are committing crimes against our laws?
I dont know all the details on this EAC Family but I have many friends who used them for adoptions and have been thrilled and have wonderful kids who are thriving! Isnt it the families choice>? If they dont feel comfortable with the process then they dont do a intl adoption. Thats it!
Domestics cost a fortune too!
This judge and jury thing is crazy already. If we dont know these people personally then why pick pick pick. What if we focused on the positive with Intl Adoption agencies.
EAC did not kill Chase Harrison. His Father made a terrible mistake and will suffer forever.
If Margaret has family working for her…so what!
If I had a company that was doing this kind of important work I’d have my family working for me also.
I’m sure she trusts her children and siblings to do well for her.
My sister works for me with my company…is that wrong???
Margaret Cole sure does have some enemies here. I wonder how many thousands of families with children are gratefulto her though? hmmm…
Didnt she lose a child to sids? Was it before she started the agency? I think I read this and I think this is how she started with this adoption thing? Have you done a thorough investigation then on this agency???
Have you met her and spoke with her personally then?
Some of this sounds personal…Maybe she did something terrible to you or someone you know? I’m sorry.
Maybe you know her personally and know much more than I. This all just seems so damaging to many peoples characters. Unless we know them personally then we have no right to spew things out about them like this. Its sad. I’m sure I’ll be next for trying to see things in a positive light.
Pro EAC Anonymous Poster:
I have no personal issue with Margaret Cole-Hughes other than the fact I’ve been in contact with burned PAPs & AParents of EAC since 1999. These PAPs were led to us b/c of our Ohio agency, Building Blocks. They figured & were correct that we’d be a sympathetic ear to their issues.
Many clients, all saying some of the same things, a little digging of our own, and facts were uncovered. EAC’s tale is long – they didn’t get to where they were by being weak willed or utter poor business people.
As for an “investigation” – you better believe I have with the resources that are available. I’ll talk trash, but I can also back it up. Documented. You don’t put up a website like ours without being absolutely certain of what you are saying is the truth and not opinion.
Yes, Margaret Cole-Hughes lost a child to SIDS. She & her husband also adopted a boy domestically afterwards. She had biological children from a prior marriage.
The implication in the death of Robert Hughes, Margaret Cole-Hughes FIL comes from the circumstances surrounding his death. Margaret Cole-Hughes had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with how he died, nor did any members of his family. It was a curious death & the story can be found in an early 1992 article from “The Cleveland Magazine” entitled “Boss Hughes”. Go from there.
Yes. You are wrong about PAPs signing the bottom line, for I was one of them. We sign on the bottom line, after having beend fed the myth lines from the adoption industry monster & fellow AParents. Often some of us totally ignore the obvious signs of corruption, both here & in the USA. We sign up believing in the “goodness” of adoption, the myth of “abandoned babies” and truthfully, the deep down desire to parent a child. At one time, I was that PAP.
It is true thousands of children have found good, loving homes with American AParents. That’s not in dispute. For me, it’s the sausage like process in how these children have been obtained for adoption – and the lies of the myth surrounding I.A. which has created the I.A. industry.
I offer our son from Bulgaria as an example – was he sold to his orphanage? Was he stolen for export? What role did his biological parents play in his placement? To him, at the present time, it just doesn’t matter. To me, it does b/c I now see the inherent abuses in how he came to be with us.
I.A. is a cesspool. It’s getting harder to see the “positives” in it when it was founded on lies, greed and incompetent regulation from the get-go.
E.Case
I hear and respect where you are coming from. paps need to do their homework before going into intl adoption.
I just think about the children and how many would be left behind if some of these larger agencies closed down.
you are angry and anger surfaces from fear and sadness so I’m sorry for your paon and the pain of all the families who feel they were burned for some reason with intl adoption. I’m sure there are two sides to all these stories and I’m sure we can find erro in the paps ways and the agencies. in the end there isn’t always a happy ending but I’m betting that there is way more happy childrens faces than burned paps.
life isn’t always fair and everything happens for a reason. we may not understand it all right now but one day we will.
paps can do there own digging like they should with any agency they consider using.
building blocks has quit the reputation also. but who’s digging?
EAC is not in trouble with the Russian government because they believe EAC is fully responsible for Chase/Dmitry’s death. EAC is in trouble with the Russian government because they failed to notify the Russian government of Chase/Dmitry’s homicide, which is a violation of Russian law and the agreement EAC signed when they were had their accreditation restored last year. The Russian government had to hear about the death of one of their citizens at the hands of his american forever family through the media.
I heard EAC has been cleare dof all charges! Anyone know for sure?
Also, EAC founf out about the childs death on Wed. It happend the day before at 5 pm. From what I undertand they responded as soon as they heard about it. The family did not call EAC as soon as the boy died so they responded as soon as they found out. I was told in leass than 24 hrs. This is a fact.
Maybe the website has info?
Anonymous:
We “dug” into BBAS – and dug and dug and dug.
http://www.bewareofbbas.org
The pertinent information can be found in the section “Building the Blocks”
Denise Lynn Harding Hubbard certainly earned her reputation.
E.Case
Robertssi:
Funny you should just post this – is RIGHT NOW advertising on its website it gets to keep its Russian accreditation:
http://www.eaci.com
Perhaps not is all lost for EAC’s flagship adoption program.
E.Case
Hi Robertssri:
“EAC is not in trouble with the Russian government because they believe EAC is fully responsible for Chase/Dmitry’s death. EAC is in trouble with the Russian government because they failed to notify the Russian government of Chase/Dmitry’s homicide, which is a violation of Russian law and the agreement EAC signed when they were had their accreditation restored last year.”
This is what I thought at first too, but it is incorrect.EAC was not held responsible for Chase and DID contact the MOE. The MOE “INVESTIGATED” the incident, that’s it. The articles mention other agencies (Cradle of Hope Adoption Center and Family and
Children’s Agency), they are the ones that failed to notify the MOE & had the license revoked until the situation was corrected. EAC isn’t going to cut their own throats by not calling the MOE. Not to be cheeky, but i am sure they knew they are not responsible for a accident and better report to save their hides!
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1010/42/368946.htm