Russian laws governing adoptions by foreigners have become stricter in recent years. Even accredited adoption agencies are finding it difficult to manage the changes in the Law, primarily because of the pervasive corruption among bureaucrats.

Adoption in Britain has changed dramatically in the past few decades. In the 1950s and 1960s, adoption was much more common: the number of adopted children peaked at 28,000 in 1968; last year there were just 3,300.