President Boris Yeltsin has vetoed a controversial bill regulating international adoptions, sending the bill back to the Duma for rewording.


Alexander Maslov, who heads the president's legal department, said Wednesday that Yeltsin rejected the Duma's decision to outlaw all forms of intermediary activity in the field of adoption. As written, the clause would ban baby brokers -- who allegedly make thousands of dollars placing children with foreigners desperate to adopt -- as well as official representatives of non-commercial agencies. Yeltsin, in effect, banned the ban, allowing for nonprofit, licensed agencies to maintain representatives in Russia.


A total ban would essentially shut down American adoption agencies who rely on intermediaries to maintain contact with orphanages and collect information on the whereabouts of available children. Americans accounted for the majority of the 2,000 international adoptions recorded in the last fiscal year.


Although the president vetoed the bill, Maslov said Yeltsin was not opposed to its other major policy change, which allows a Russian child to be eligible for foreign adoption only after a thorough search has been made for a Russian home. Current legislation permits foreigners to adopt only when it is in the medical interests of the child, leaving the door open for corrupt adoption practices.


International adoptions became a highly politicized issue after a number of Russian press reports of international baby trading.


Yeltsin's refusal to sign the bill may buy more time for thousands of foreigners who wish to adopt Russian children. After the Duma passed the draft in November, the U.S. Embassy issued a warning that a suspension on all international adoptions could begin as early as Dec. 1.


A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said Wednesday that 228 Russian children were adopted by Americans in November alone -- surpassing the previous record of 189.