This month‚ Russias Federation Council brought forward some game-changing family-related laws. The upper-house passed a bill that stops people from countries with legal gender-change procedures from adopting Russian kids (which affects most western nations)
The same law-makers gave a thumbs-up to another interesting piece: a ban on content that tells people its ok not to have kids. Both these rules – part of Moscowʼs pro-family direction – are now sitting on Vladimir Putins desk waiting for his signature
The new adoption rules show how Russia keeps making its family laws more strict: theyʼve been step-by-step adding different limits since last year. These changes fit right in with the countrys push for what they call traditional values‚ and its not the first time theyve made rules about family stuff – theyʼve been doing this for a while now
The whole thing is making international adoption much harder than before‚ and lots of countries that used to adopt Russian kids might have to stop. The lawmakers say its about protecting Russian children but many see it as part of bigger changes in how Russia deals with other countries