At present, Russia does not have laws regulating training for foster parents.
Russian families wishing to adopt an orphan are not obliged to undergo any special psychological training prior to approval of a formal adoption.
"A (parental) candidate and the family (adoption) centres must realise this is a global responsibility," Medvedev said during a visit to an orphanage in Russia's Ivanovo region, Xinhua reported, quoting the Interfax news agency.
The president called parenting "a super serious matter". He said that to obtain a driver's licence one had to pass more rigorous exams than those who wish to adopt a child.
In 2010, the number of orphans in Russia reached 697,000. This exceeded the 678,000 parentless children immediately after World War II, when Russia lost 27 million people.
Two thirds of present-day orphans have living parents who abandoned them. However, to abandon a child in Russia, a parent needs only to produce a hand-written note to the local custody office.