Russia ratifies foreign adoption pacts

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MOSCOW, July 10 (UPI) -- The State Duma in Russia Tuesday ratified a law limiting adoptions of Russian children by couples in France and the United States.

The new rules stipulate Russian nationals may only be adopted by foreign families if they cannot be placed in a Russian home, and prospective French or American parents must also undergo psychological evaluation.

In addition, the children will also maintain dual citizenship in Russia and their new homelands.

The RIA Novosti news agency said the Duma's vote would help end a deadlock over the surge in adoptions by U.S. parents, which were suspended in 2010 when an American woman put her newly adopted son on a plane and sent him back to Russia by himself.

Pavel Astakov, Russia's ombudsman for children's rights, told RIA Novosti he hoped to see the adoption of Russian children by foreign families end altogether in the next five years.