Tag Archives: Ukraine

First Adoption

Two at a Time

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Another question we get asked a lot is why we would chose to adopt two unrelated children at the same time. As much as I could sugar coat it for you, the biggest answer is money. We knew we wanted to adopt two kids sometime, and it is much, much cheaper to adopt two children at the same time. Around $25000 for the first child and $4000 for the second child. That saves us over $20000… which is um, a lot of money.

Money being our main reason might sound selfish or greedy, especially considering there are some disadvantages to adopting two children at the same time. It can make it a bit harder for them to adjust and take them longer to adjust. Of course, it can be harder for the parents to have two new, needy children around.  But the truth is, we simply couldn’t afford to adopt one child and go back in a year or two for the second.

I think almost all of us would agree that having their needs met is best for both Reed and Scarlett. Even if it is not the easiest or best way to go about adopting two children, it means that both Reed and Scarlett will have a family.

Adoption, Orphan Care

HIV in Eastern Europe

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A friend treated me to ice cream tonight (thanks again!) and we were catching up and talking about adoption. She asked me why, in reference to a previous post, advocating for children who still need families, HIV is so common in Eastern Europe.

I always read about things, get educated, and then when someone asks me a question like this… I can’t remember or I am not so good with words.

But, why is HIV so common in Eastern Europe, specifically the country we’re adopting from?
Well, from what I understand, most of those who are HIV+ are generally at risk individuals to begin with: prisoners, drug addicts, street children, prostitutes. It is not uncommon for drug users to share & reuse needles. I think in a culture where HIV/AIDS education is not prioritized, people may be familiar with the effects of the virus, but they may not know it is transmitted or they may just think that it won’t happen to them. They may or may not know that there are medicines out there which will help them, but they probably do not have access to them.

BBC did a great series on HIV/AIDS across the world. Here is an article about HIV+ orphans in Eastern Europe. There are a couple more in Eastern Europe too.

What can you do to help?
If you are able, you can adopt one of these beautiful children with HIV. Bring them home, give them a family and the medical treatment that they need. If you can’t adopt, there is also an opportunity to sponsor an HIV+ child in Eastern Europe. This involves sending at least two packages a year to an HIV+ child, filled with things like clothes, toys, basic needs. Interested?

Adoption, First Adoption

Moving Along

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We are moving right along with our dossier. All we still need is our homestudy & a couple of other documents from our social worker and our USCIS approval. I doubt we will get our USCIS approval for quite some time.

That means, we have gotten our state clearances, my medical form, proof of home ownership and proof of mortgage! Yay!

We should have our home study any day now…

We’ve also made some progress on Scarlett and Reed’s room… I will share it with you once we have it more together for photos! And Aaron’s sister gave us lots and lots of boy clothes and some books yesterday. And my sister gave us lots of books this weekend.

Today, I was a Goodwill, and I saw this book…

Um, for 49¢, with Scarlett’s new nickname, it’s perfect!

First Adoption
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I have to admit that I’ve been frustrated lately. On Friday, I went to pick up my medical form from the doctor’s office. And there were several mistakes on it. Most of which were stupid mistakes, mistakes which I think the staff at the doctor’s office made because they were busy or thought the directions were too complicated. So now, it has to be redone.

I got a letter in the mail today from the IRS. I got excited, thinking it was finally our tax refund… a very large check. I opened it and it was saying that they were reviewing our case and it could be up to 45 days because we hear from them again, with our check or requesting more information.

And I’ve been really frustrated with the fundraisers. We’ve had one person buy coffee, one person interested in a t-shirt and one person who was interested in the photography sessions, as of this afternoon. Thanks to a sweet friend not only saying she’d like a session, but also sharing it on her facebook, we now have three families interested in photo sessions. I am so grateful to my friend Amy for this wonderful idea and offering to do it, and also to those of you who have shared it with others!

I really should be more positive about everything though. We have our final homestudy meeting tomorrow. We got our passports on Saturday. We also went to several garage sales on Saturday morning and found some clothes for Erika, a pair of pants for Ilya and a few toys and books, too… spent around $11 for 3 little girl outfits and 2 pairs of shoes, one little boy pair of pants, four books, building blocks and a train set. And on Sunday, we scored a double Baby Jogger off of Craigslist, which just needs one of its tires repaired, something Aaron can easily do… $30.

I’ve had a couple of comments, that I’d like to address…


I don’t know if this little girl is who I think she is but if she is, she has a sister. You might want to go check it out 🙂
The little girl listed on that website is, in fact, the same little girl we’re adopting, but they are incorrect in listing them as sisters. I checked with Andrea at Reece’s Rainbow. Both of their birthdates are correct and they are not related. Darya does look very sweet and she is available for adoption through Reece’s Rainbow. She is listed here in orphanage 33.

So does this mean that the children know that you want to adopt them now? How exciting, one step closer! 
I wish that they knew, but they do not know and they will not know until we arrive there and we meet them.

Please feel free to leave question in the comments! I am happy to answer them if I can.

First Adoption

YAY!

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Today, our Child Specific Petition and Power of Attorney forms arrived in the country we’re adopting from. This is the first bit of the paperwork that announces that we’re coming! That we want to adopt Erika and Ilya. Once it is submitted, no other family can try to adopt them internationally, I think. Another family in their own country could still adopt them though. Or they could be pulled into foster care, like Quinn was.

We’ve completed 3/4s of our homestudy. Just one meeting left! So, right now, we are waiting on our passports, waiting on our fingerprinting appointment for immigration and waiting to finish up our homestudy. We’re also looking into loans to get the money we’ll need to complete the adoption.

Does anyone need a cute photo? Hmm… I could always use one…