We've posted an Adoption Journal page that gives the whole story of how the Lord lead us through His great adventure. We'll keep this information here for those interested in the how and why.
Why Ukraine?
Early in 2001, after getting back on the international adoption bandwagon (following an unsolicited domestic opportunity that fell through) we heard of Ukraine cost and child selection advantages from a friend, and after much prayer & information gleaned from the EEAC Ukraine listserve we decided to pursue that. Ukrainian adoption has several advantages over other countries in our opinion...
- Ukrainian law prevents agencies from "baby-selling"
- The adopting couple chooses the child or children themselves...on the same trip the adoption takes place
- It can be accomplished very quickly...less than six months in many cases (eight in ours)
- Affordability - Total cost for adopting two children from Ukraine is about half the cost of one from Bulgaria
- Child availability - we were seeking two children under six yrs old, preferably of mixed/minority race such as Tatar or Roma (Gypsy)
How You can help
There are many ways anyone can help a family undertaking international adoption...first and foremost is prayer. We certainly felt the prayers of many family members and friends through the whole process. To us Ukraine was attractive because we felt one had to be lead by the Lord in order to "choose" a child or children and have peace about it. Without His leading, we would have been incredibly anxious about medical conditions, were we making the right choice, etc.
This entire process is also a very expensive proposition, and we depended on the Lord to guide and provide. He did, in a very big way! We were blessed with gifts that enabled us to complete our adoption without borrowing - Praise the Lord!
The orphanages in Ukraine have very significant needs, and we very much wanted to help more than just one or two children.
We wanted to do something more for the children there - and created the Orphanage Donation Pool! How it worked: Individuals donated between $1 & $5 for each submission (some were lead to do much more) - half of the total amount collected was used for a needs-based donation to the orphanage we adopted from, and the other half became a charitable donation to His Kids Too in the name of the winner. These children have more needs than we can even imagine, and it breaks our hearts. Well, the Lord blessed and despite a slow start, the pool bore much fruit! We collected almost $400! We spent about $200 on items the orphanage in Orshivtsi had requested (itemized in the journal), and sent $200 to His Kids Too in the name of the winner...drumroll please...Janet Benett of Grace Bible Church! We know kids have & will benefit, and that's the best thing.
The Process & Timeline
We signed up with Sense Resource Center Inc. to be our facilitator, and what a blessing that was! Their web site has lots of information as to how the process works & what the expected timeline and expenses are.
Here's how it went...
- Applied for copies of Chris' birth certificate for INS paperwork ~ 2/20 ($30)
- Sent in application to Sense Resource Center Inc. ~ 4/23 ($35)
- Phone interview w/Sense Resource Center Inc. - 5/4
- Received certified copies of marriage certificate from NV - 5/7 ($14)
- Gave up & asked Chris' dad to get birth certificates ~ 5/25
- INS I-600A submitted - 6/2/01($455)
- Received authenticated marriage certificate from NV ($20)
- Home study updated/submitted to INS - 7/2/01(free)
- Fingerprints taken for INS - 6/23/01
- Police clearances obtained - 6/25/01(free)
- Passport applications filed - 6/25/01($140)
- Medical clearances obtained - 7/10/01($20 copays)
- First significant hitch...received letter from INS requesting more official records...in work - 7/11/01
- Passports received - 7/19/01
- Praise Him!! INS Approval received even though we could not get the requested info - 8/1/01
- Had final dossier forms notarized - 8/2/01
- Sent dossier to Richmond, VA. for authentication - 8/3/01($130)
- 8/3/01 - Got travel date from SRC Inc.!! We'll be in Ukraine by 10/16/01!!
- Received authenticated forms back from Commonwealth - 8/7/01
- Bundled and sent dossier for Federal authentication/Ukraine Consulate - 8/9/01($480)
- Dossier assistance/preparation fee paid, SRC Inc. - 8/9/01($1985)
- Ukraine Visa & Travel Arrangements fee, GT&C - 8/22/01($1000)
- Dossier arrives in Kiev Ukraine! - 8/31/01
- Dossier translated and submitted to National Adoption Center - 9/5/01
- Received Ukraine Visas - 9/7/01
- Purchased tickets; Swiss Air - including two children's return tickets - 9/20/01($2274)
- Dossier approved by NAC! - 9/28/01
- Swiss Air bankrupt and grounded, uh-oh, this could mean our tickets are worthless - 10/2/01
- Swiss taxpayer funds help Swissair take off again - 10/4/01
- Additional child adopted in same court hearing, SRC Inc. - 10/5/01($1000)
- Departed - 10/13/01 - praise the Lord, no problems with the airline!
- Arrived safely and sleepily - 10/15/01 - Ukraine program fee, SRC Inc. ($2000)
- Visited NAC and departed to Chernivtsi region to see twin Gypsy boys - 10/16/01(train tickets $52)
- Met our boys & started paperwork - 10/17/01
- Gotcha Day - Court hearing where we officially became parents of Brandon Dmytro & Benjamin Victor - 10/24/01
- Took custody of the boys & boarded train back to Kiev, after ALL day getting passports - 10/26/01 (train tickets $32)
- Visited Medical Center ($50 each boy) & Embassy ($96) - 10/29/01
- Flew to Warsaw, Poland - 10/30/01 (plane tickets $927)
- Visited Warsaw Embassy & got US entry Visas by 12:30 - 10/31/01($650)
- Got home & were greeted by 30 or more friends from church - 11/1/01
- Personal Travel Expenses all together (~$2500)
- Food - $400 or so for the whole trip
- Trains, planes (excluding to/from US) - $1010
- Taxis & automobiles - $didn't add separately
- Internet use & one 5 minute phone call - $16
- Hotels in Ukraine - $600
- Hotel in Warsaw - $300
- Personal Orphanage donations, cash for care takers, OTC meds, etc. (~$300)
- Fees & gifts ~ $550
Adoption Links
|
