International Adoptions

[cynsaun]

No advice but best of luck to you.


(Did you clear this with Duke and his pet mouse?)

Yes, Duke and his pet mouse are thrilled.

Thanks for the link, nelle!

 

[scubamouse]

more later but our DS was born in Russia (i'll switch out my siggy picture tomorrow. we adopted him thru Cradle of Hope in silver spring in 2001. he's a joy! holt is an excellent agency.

you're doing the right thing reaching out to parent. when we adopted we got pictures and a video and it was one trip. things have changed a lot. i'd encourage you to go to www.frua.org - it's the russian adoptive families board. more tomorrow - gotta run!

 

[mickeyfan2]

I have not personally done this, but I now have 2 boys and 1 girl from Russia (my cousin's kids) and a Korean Niece in our family. I have talked with them about the process extensively and found it very interesting. I know it is harder to get kids from Russia than it use to be. I believe you need to make two trips now instead of just one.

I know the one with the Russian kids when with World Child. Not sure about the other one. They switch at one point from Lituania to Rumania and then to Korea.

 

[Dznypal]

my sister and brother in law have 2 adopted boys from Vietman and in Nov get their little girl from Korea! She is 9 months old and just adorable

for the boys they spend 3 weeks in Vietman Joey is 10 and was 9 months when he came and Davey is 7 and he was 6 months--my mom and BIL went to get Davey my sister didnt want to leave Joey for that long of a time even though there would have been plenty of family members that would watch him.

My mom said she wouldnt have missed the experince for anything-- both boys were in orphanges Kaili was in foster care-she was brought over with in escort-that was a fun day my mom and sister and her family went to Ohare to pick her up--it was a great day-

she also is a special needs but physical one of her hands didnt form and she only has one big finger on her right hand it dosnt seem to bother her she grabs on to things with it

congrats on the adoption

some child will get a great home with parents who will love them

my sister went through International Mission of Hope and everything went real smooth the hardest part was the waiting but the time passed--I think from start to the day she came home took 18 months--

again best of luck and please keep us posted

 

[ash&abby'smom]

My cousin is currently in the process of adopting from Russia. She is hoping to go this summer. She had told me she has to spend 2 weeks over there. The babies are released for adoption at 9 months of age. So after she goes over there, she gets to spend very little time with the baby. She will return home and after all the red tape and approval she goes back to court I believe she said and to bring the baby home. I can get more info from her. She lives in TX, so I will get her email and ask her what agency she is using and what other info she can give me. Hope that helps some. Best of luck. I think this is one of the greatest things someone can do.

 

[Kim in TN]

Congrats on your decision to adopt.

DH and I adopted DS from Kazakhstan, it took us almost a year in paperwork and 8 weeks in country. We used Yunona in California (I
can't say I would use them again although WE had NO major agency problems, we used them because we saw DS's photo on www.precious.org website and we used the agency that had him, we used a local agency for our homestudy.
DS was 4 years old when we adopted him and he was speaking fluent english in less than 3 months. He learned english so fast, much much faster than we learned russian.
Another HUGE help for us was the yahoo group boards, you have to be approved to sign up but those folks have tons of info and for us we able to join an international adoption board for our state (paperwork type questions, one for the country and one specific to the region we adopted from. We learned so much that way!

It is a LONG journey but so worth it in the end!!!!

Feel free to email or PM me if you have any other questions
marcusplus4@charter.net

 

[mom2kazkids]

Another Kazakhstan momma here. DS and DD were adopted in 2001, both are of Russian decent. We used World Partners Adoption, and they also have a Russian program.

Good luck with your plans

Barb

 

[AnaheimGirl]

A book recommendation, if you're interested...

I thought Toddler Adoption, the Weaver's Craft by Mary Hopkins Best was very helpful in understanding what a toddler/preschooler goes through in an adoption. Basically, a toddler (and an internationally adopted older child who doesn't speak English) is old enough to understand what is happening, but does not have the verbal skills to discuss his feelings with his new parents, so they can sometimes have a hard time with the transition.

Some people think this book is too pessimistic, but I personally believe that knowledge is power, and if you know what negatives might possibly occur, you will be much better prepared to handle them if and when they do.

Again, good luck with it!

 

[scarlett873]

I'm so happy for you guys!!

We're in the very, very beginning stages of adopting our daughter from China. I can't wait until we're knee deep in the paperchase!!!

 

[scubamouse]

I'm back

We adopted DS (in siggy w/our bio DD) 9/01 on his first birthday. We started the process in Jan 2001 and our process was smooth and uneventful. The process has changed a lot since we went. We were one trip and had medical info before traveling. Neither is allowed anymore. And the process is longer.

DS has been a joy - we are the luckiest parents ever! He's smart, funny, and has the sweetest soul. He was terribly underweight and short at a year but was on the charts by 18 mos and is 60% for height and 10-20% for weight today. His head size is 50%. The only issue we've had has been some oral sensory issue which OT has largely resolved. They seem to be mostly a function of a lack of stimuli in his first year. His orphanage was quite good with a caregiver ratio of about 5:1

Finding an agency starts w/talking to adoptive parents and you're doing that. do it IRL too. I was stunned at how generous APs were in sharing their 'birth stories' - even people in grocery stores! From there, attend some information meetings - they usually are done monthly. For us it was obvious which agencies were good, you can smell professionalism a mile away!

For most of your questions about the process, i'm going to direct you to http://www.frua.org/chat_main.html since my experience was VERY different than it is now.

As for adapting. At a year DS could only say 'da' so he was pretty language delayed. After a week at home he had 'at' for cat and 'no' two days later At 2 when we had his OT evaluation he was advanced for language and still is very articulate and social. He shows no signs of FAS at all. The older the child is at placement, the more pervasive the delays will be and w/toddlers you do run a greater risk of RAD than w/infants.

Best of luck to you! If we hadn't done Russia we would have done Korea since it's a wonderful smooth established program

 

[POB14]

Both our girls are Chinese. Mary was 2 1/2 when we adopted her, so we've done the toddler thing.

Happybratpack, how the heck did you get a homestudy done in one month? Ours (first time) took six, what with visiting the SW, writing up pages and pages of homework ("Your child is 14. A boy at school refuses to go to the prom with her because she's Chinese. She barricades herself in her room, playing Marilyn Manson records at top volume and refusing to speak to anyone but FBI hostage negotiators. What would you do?") The second time was easier, because we didn't have to re-do all that . . . uh, stuff.

We had to collect paperwork from all over (DW was born in CA, me in Chicago, and we live in central IL); birth certs, marriage records, fingerprint checks from the police and from child abuse authorities. You have to get every piece of paperwork (this is for China, now) either certified or notarized; then the State certifies that the clerk or notary is valid; then the Chinese Consulate certifies . . . something or other. Each step costs money.

And it's all worth every penny and every second.

Wait times vary widely. For China, we got photos and some sketchy medical info beforehand; I know Russia used to do videos, may still do.

We spent about 2 weeks in China each time. 14 hours each way in coach. Yuck.

Our agency was Holt International. They literally invented international adoption (there was no procedure for it before Harry Holt petitioned Congress to let him and Bertha adopt eight (!) Korean war orphans). We figured, correctly, that they would have the procedure pretty much down by now. I know everybody says their agency is the greatest, but Holt is the GREATEST!

Please, please PM me or post here with any specific questions about the China process or adopting a toddler. It's my favorite subject. It's also the most rewarding thing you'll ever do. Good luck, pixie dust, best wishes.

 

[scubamouse]

FYI - we did our homestudy in 5 weeks. We were on top of it but not racing around. we started getting the paperwork going before we started the HS. Make sure and check into what's required from your HS - ours had none of the stuff that POB14 had to do re/essays. Her post reminded me that there are a lot of differences in what a HS agency requires.

 

[POB14]

And I should point out that Holt was NOT the agency that did our homestudy. That was Catholic Social Services. So don't hold the goofy homework against Holt.

And Scubamouse -- no offense but, lemme check -- yeah, I'm a male. "BaBa", over there, in my profile, means "Daddy."

 

[cynsaun]

Thanks so much for all the replies! Everyone has had such good stories, it is so uplifting.

Has anyone heard of Orson Mozes Adoption International Program, Inc.?

Thanks again!

 

[Mom2be]

Congratulations! That is wonderful news - Sending pixie dust that the paperwork is done quickly and you will be with your child in no time. Adoption is a beautiful and wonderful way to expand your family.

~Amanda

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Awww, that is wonderful!!! Congratulations to you!!

 

[scubamouse]

And Scubamouse -- no offense but, lemme check -- yeah, I'm a male. "BaBa", over there, in my profile, means "Daddy."

sorry - I went with the odds - I did a survey poll a few weeks ago and 75-80% of respondents were women. ok now, re-reading i see the DW mention


And I haven't heard of Orson Mozes. One more thing on Russia is to make sure the agency is accredited. Holt, Cradle of Hope and a dozen others are accredited.

 

[ksjayhawks]

Another HOLT parent here. We went with them because of their reputation--as another poster said, they wrote the book!

Our ds is from Korea. We started initial paperwork in late March, then put it on hold as there was a chance of domestic adoption--shich fell through. Picked it up in earnest in late June, did home study, paperwork, went to the info classes, and final report was sent in on Oct. 23--so about 4 months in all.

Received call on Dec 8, met with social worker to see pics and get report on Dec 11. Completed all paperwork by end of Dec and were told he would probably come home in May. Got a call Feb 5 that he would be here Feb. 12! So, it was less than a year from the initial paperwork start.

DS was born on Oct 23--the day our paperwork was sent in--so we are convinced he was meant for us!

We did not go over as at that time--13 years ago--we would not have had him with us and I did not want to use days to sit in a hotel room. He was escorted over on the plane by a nun and a college student.

HOLT does Russian as well as other countries. There was a couple in our class who were adopting an older child from Russia and I remember them saying that there was a lot more paperwork, etc that was involved.

Congratulations on your adoption choice!!! Keep us informed!

 

[POB14]

For the OP and others interested in Russia, I found this:

Families for Russian and Ukranian Adoption

They seem to have a lot of good info, including a message board. My very brief skimming makes it appear that AIP and Orson Mozes are rather controversial figures over there. Kind of like mentioning resort mugs on here . I know nothing about them personally.

The internet is a fantastic resource; we used various FCC (Famiilies with Children from China) websites and the Adopt-Parents-China email list extensively. I don't know what we would have done without them.

 

[happybratpack]

Happybratpack, how the heck did you get a homestudy done in one month? Ours (first time) took six, what with visiting the SW, writing up pages and pages of homework ("Your child is 14. A boy at school refuses to go to the prom with her because she's Chinese. She barricades herself in her room, playing Marilyn Manson records at top volume and refusing to speak to anyone but FBI hostage negotiators. What would you do?") The second time was easier, because we didn't have to re-do all that . . . uh, stuff.

LOL, I lucked out to be honest. I caught my SW in a lull, she crammed all 4 meetings into a few weeks, had the draft done the 4th Monday and the final the end of that week. AND no homework required.
Two of the meetings we met at Starbucks and just chatted, one at my office and one at my home. Super easy.

What IS taking me FOREVER is the damn I-171H from the Dallas office. I'm in my 7th week of waiting and about to jerk my hair out.