Update November 20, 2006 —  On November 17, 2006, a Chapter 11 Trustee was appointed by the US Trustee. I will post an additional update, with more information and contact information, following the Thanksgiving weekend. 

Our prior entry dated October 10, 2006 –

A story in today’s Atanta Journal (Adoption Services Firm Faces Criminal Investigation) (registration req.) concerns Amrex, Inc., a local adoption services firm that apparently facilitated international adoptions.  The company filed a Chapter 11 in the Northern District on September 21, 2006, Case No. 06-71679-PWB.   

Click here for a copy of the Chapter 11 petition filed by Amrex.

The story reminded me of my trips to orphanages in Russia and Romania.  International adoptions are a big "business" (many non-profit).  The starting point for prospective parents may be $25,000 and go up from there.  There are usually two or more trips required for the parents to the birth country, and waits of a year or more.  Money has to be allocated for "gifts" to various people in the birth country, including government officials.  Sometimes it falls through at the last minute, and the parents have to start over.  If you know people who have gone through this process, you know what a difficult road it is. 

Here is a (cached) story about a Russian girl we randomly met in an orphanage near the Ural Mountains, near the border of Siberia.  We found out she later made her way to Atlanta a few months later for a much better life.