Since the mid-1900s images of foreign poverty-stricken and disadvantaged orphans have filled the media, prompting Americans, in particular, to adopt these children, thereby providing them a higher quality of life. This intercountry adoption relationship is linked to a power imbalance between the receiving and the giving countries, where the receiving nation is perceived to be superior. However, for some time children adopted from China and Russia were the highest numbers in America, despite China’s and Russia’s status as global superpowers. Due to adoption’s imbalance between countries, this dynamic is creating tension in relationships that would normally be balanced. By comparing intercountry adoption to the United States from these countries, this project analyzes how American diplomatic relations with these countries have evolved as a result of a greater understanding of children’s rights and public opinion, the economy of the country of origin, and the perception of political opportunism. Growing tensions between these countries and their improving economies indicate that this situation is unlikely to improve in the near future.