U.S. public organization shocked by Russian adoptive child incident

The head of Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption (FRUA), a U.S. public organization uniting over 2,000 families who adopted children born in former Soviet bloc countries, said her organization is shocked by the story of a Russian boy rejected by U.S. adoptive parents.

"FRUA is shocked and saddened by the news that an American family sent their son to Russia claiming they couldn't parent him. The parents' actions were extreme and must have been horribly traumatic for this young child," Sue Gainor told RIA Novosti.

Seven-year-old Artyom Savelyev, adopted some six months ago and renamed Justin, flew to Moscow on April 8 on his own after being accompanied to the plane in the United States by his adoptive grandmother. He brought a note in which his adoptive mother said they will not take care of him any longer because he was "mentally unstable."

"This child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues," Torry Hansen of Shelbyville, Tennessee said in the note.

"I was lied to and misled by the Russian orphanage workers and director regarding his mental stability," she added.

The story has been widely covered by news media. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called the adoptive parents' behavior "a monstrous deed" and the activities of the U.S. adoption agency World Association for Children and Parents (WACAP) that assisted in the U.S. couple's adoption of Savelyev have been suspended in Russia.