Doctors aid couples in adoption of Russian children

Friday, July 10, 1998

Doctors aid couples in adoption of Russian children

Drs. Platonov and Kogan founded Small World Adoption Foundation in 1992

St. Louis Business Journal - by Lou Kalosc

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When Mike Hogan and his wife Martha decided to embark on the the exciting journey that led to the adoption of their 7-month-old Russian baby boy, Andrei, they carefully screened a number of agencies.

They chose Creve Coeur-based Small World Adoption Foundation (SWAF) for many reasons, but one of the most significant was the hands-on involvement of a pair of Russian-born American doctors -- Dr. Viacheslav Platonov and Dr. Yelena Kogan -- who founded the agency.

"The fact that Slava and Yelena are both physicians and that they have ties back to other doctors in Russia, that was huge for us," said Mike Hogan, who works as controller at Monsanto Co. "They are medically astute physicians who are talking to other physicians in Russia and there are no language barriers, technical or linguistic."

The Hogans, who have three biological children, brought Andrei home from Pyatigorsk, Russia March 28.

Platonov is the chief anesthesiologist at Washington (Mo.) Surgical Center. Kogan is a pediatric emergency room physician at Christian Hospitals in St. Louis. Both are from St. Petersburg, Russia. They founded SWAF in 1992 with the original purpose of providing Russian orphanages with relief. Two years later, they began assisting families with adoption.

In four years, SWAF has helped more than 370 Russian, Belarussian and Ukrainian children, from 19 orphanages, find homes. But the children aren't cleared for adoption until checked by Drs. Platonov and Kogan.

"What sets us apart from other agencies is that Slava and Yelena have input on each child placed," said Brenda Henn, program director of SWAF. Henn, who runs the agency, is an adoptive parent herself. They visit the former Soviet Union about four times a year and see prospective candidates personally. They videotape the children and consult with doctors who have cared for the children.

"You know up front that you can trust the information you've been given," said Suzanne Ebel of Webster Groves. She and her husband, Robert, went through SWAF to adopt 14 month-old Alex from Maykop, Russia, near the Black Sea.

The Ebels said it wasn't a priority that they adopt a healthy child -- they were open to children with special needs. But the presence of doctors made them feel more at ease.

"The fact that they were open to letting the people be involved in choosing the child was also important. Some agencies hand you a child and that's it," explained Suzanne, who researched 30 different agencies before settling on SWAF.

Because it can take up to 10 years to adopt a child in the United States, families are seeking options internationally. Many American families have turned to China, South America and the former Soviet Union.

In the most recent fiscal year, the United States provided homes for 3,816 Russian orphans. More than 11,000 have been placed here since 1991. An estimated 533,100 children are in Russia's orphanages. More children are becoming available each day.

At SWAF, where Henn and her staff work to oversee the process, four more agencies have contacted them requesting assistance with finding homes for children.

The agency has been working to get the word out about the available children. Parents would be able to bring children to the United States, in some came cases, as soon as paperwork is complete. "Overall, in May we'll have about 80 to 100 kids available for adoption," said Henn.

Parents select their children from videotape and receive assistance through the adoption process. Adoptive families have few restrictions and can qualify for a $10,000 Missouri tax credit and a $5,000 federal tax credit to offset the cost of the adoption.

Adopting a Russian orphan through SWAF can cost up to $25,000 from beginning to end. With some agencies, the cost could be upwards of $50,000, said Henn.

Six to nine months into the process, prospective parents journey to the area where the child they have chosen is housed. For the Hogans, it was a 28-hour journey to pick up Andrei. They spent just under five days in a spa or sanitarium near Pyatigorsk, which is just north of the Georgia border.

Once the children are united with their new families, SWAF does post-placement follow-up on all children. The reports are obtained in written form for a period of three years, at six-month intervals, and are supplied to the orphanage and adoption officials in the foreign countries.

"I sent Slava and Yelena a letter the other day and I said `I don't know why you do what you do, but it's good,'" said Hogan.

Lou Kalosc is a St. Louis free-lance writer.