Roy Blunt, wife adopt Russian toddler

e-mail from Roy Blunt's office | April 21, 2006 | Rep. Roy Blunt

[rond]

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) today announced that he and his wife Abigail have adopted a son. Alexander Charles Blunt, 18 months, was born near Moscow, Russia, in 2004.

"Abby and I are so glad to add this little guy to our family," Blunt said.

"So far, Charlie has spent every day of his young life in an orphanage or hospital.

"We are so fortunate and so pleased to be able to share our lives and opportunities with him."

The Blunts had worked with a Texas-based agency for a year prior to the adoption. Blunt has three adult children and four grandchildren.

[rond]

Friday morning news from the House Majority Whip.

[eleni121]

What a wonderful story!

And a happy Orthodox Christian Easter for the Blunt family.

Welcome to America Alex!

[The Lumster]

I hope Blunt doesn't get carpal-tunnel from patting himself on the back

[silverleaf]

What a wonderful thing for all concerned. Congratulations to Rep Blunt and his wife. It is not easy to raise these kids, but Thank God for people who choose to spend their retirement years doing so instead of traveling, playing golf, and overindulging the grandkids.

[TXBubba]

Glad to hear it. We have friends who have been waiting to adopt their son from Russia for over a year now. Wish someone in Congress could help them out.

[yellowdoghunter]

What a wonderful story, thanks for posting. I admire people who are willing to sacrifice in order to help those in need.

This child hit the jackpot!

[alice_in_bubbaland]

Try contacting Mr. Blunt's office, maybe he can help your friends out with the red tape. Worth a try! I hope the situation is resloved and they are able to bring the little guy home!

[adorno]

Roy Blunt, wife adopt Russian toddler

It's great that the Russian kid will have parents who will care for him and have the means to do so.

But, why did Blunt have to go to Russia to adopt? Don't we have enough kids right here in the U.S. who need adoption into a good family?

[Menehune56]

It sounds like there's too much risk in the U.S. that the bio mother will reassert her material ''rights'' to take the kid back and the court system lets them.

[silverleaf]

Very few parents in their late 40's and early 50's have any chance to adopt an 18 month old toddler unless they seek a private placement. Furthermore the cases where birth mothers and fathers decide to reclaim their children after years of not being in their lives, gives many would-be adoptive parents pause. "Open adoption", also popular in the US, can be tantamount to deciding to adopt an entire family, not just the child. It's a choice some choose not to make.

Young children are often adopted out of foster care, by foster parents... Some of us choose not to foster because of the uncertainty and loss and heartbreak faced when a child grows dear but is never relinquished.

As poor as you may think American foster care is, you cannot compare it to the dismal conditions faced by institutionalized babies growing up in cribs in Russian hospitals and orphanages. Mr and Mrs Blunt may well have become aware of the desperate need of institutionalized Russian orphans and decided to act.

And finally, for every critic of an international adoption who snipes that "we need to take care of our own first", I say, I salute your determination to make America better by adopting an American child. Send me some pictures of your children after you adopt them.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Gov. Matt Blunt has a new baby brother ! ;-D

[Clintonfatigued]

That was very generous of them.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

That's really sweet.

[1rudeboy]

No doubt. That a child has found a home is a cause for joy, not idle speculation about his or her geographic origin. Furthermore, I'd like to see anyone argue that this child is any less American now.

[Moonman62]

Perhaps he is trying to set an example rather than brag.