Another bill update

As everyone knows there's been a draft circulating around the Kazakh Parliament that would prevent both single and people over 50 from adopting. This email came across the yahoo adoption group today. It seems "reliable" even though I don't personally know the author or his adoption agency. Here's his email in its entirety:

"Meeting with U.S. Consul Jeff Lodinsky at U.S. Consulate Almaty—On 
January 16, I (I'm assuming an agency representative) met with U.S. Consul Jeff Lodinsky to discuss the current 
state of adoption in Kazakhstan . Mr. Lodinsky feels it has 
stabilized. A couple of years ago—around the time of elections—
there were vocal politicians speaking out against international 
adoption. He says there are not so many now. He believes that 
Kazakhstan has come to terms with the fact that they are a provider 
of children to other countries, but they never want to be one of 
the top countries. Though international adoption in Kazakhstan 
peaked at over 800 visas issued to adopted children of U.S. parents a 
few years ago, the number of visas is now down to 540. Mr. Lodinsky 
feels it could possibly go up again, but will never go over 700 given 
the small population of the country. As long as there are no new 
cases of Russian children being abused by U.S. parents, he feels that 
international adoption will continue in Kazakhstan. But he 
emphasized how much Kazakhstan and Russia are linked: "When Russia 
sneezes, Kazakhstan catches a cold." 

Things could also improve once the U.S. ratifies the Hague Treaty. He 
feels it is beneficial that the U.S. will ratify it before Kazakhstan 
does.

This shows U.S commitment should put to rest fears of 
Kazakhstan kids not being taken care of in the U.S. 

I asked about the proposed legislation that could prevent single 
women and anyone over age 50 from adopting. Apparently, this is 
proposed by the same legislators each year, but hasn't gone anywhere 
yet. Mr. Lodinsky does not expect it to pass. About 20-30% of U.S. 
adoptive families processing through U.S. Consulate Almaty are single 
women, and he thinks these are wonderful adoptions that show serious 
commitment by these adoptive moms."

So, hopefully this will put to rest all all the rumors and worries associated with it. Hallelujah.