Buffalo Grove Adoption Agency Closes

A Buffalo Grove-based adoption agency that specialized in international adoptions is shutting down in response to a new Russian law that prevents families in the United States from adopting Russian children.

Adoption ARK, which opened in 2003, relied on Russian adoptions, the agency stated on its website. The agency has helped with the adoptions of nearly 1,000 children, it said.

"Russia was over half of the agency’s annual income. The Board of Directors and agency management, after carefully reviewing all of our programs, projected income and expenses, and trends in intercountry adoption, made the difficult decision to close the agency," reads a statement on Adoption ARK's website.

Russian's law was in response to a the Magnitsky Act, passed by Congress "as a response to what Congressional leaders felt were human rights violations in Russia," the agency's site further explains. 

Another adoption agency — the only one in the U.S. accredited in Kyrgyzstan — is also closing for financial reasons, according to an Associated Press story on the Daily Herald's website.