There has been no official word on when the SDA would start processing adoption appointments again. In my Rumors and Transdniester post I mentioned the rumors that SDA would open on May 1 or May 3 or May 9.

I heard a new date recently, May 17. And one family is claiming to have a May 8 appointment.

A FRUA poster pointed out the holiday schedule. So I went to United States Embassy in Ukraine site... more

Starting with the current rumors....

The SDA is going to open May 1 or May 3 or May 8. All the dossiers (without problems) have been transferred and they will quickly issue appointments. The SDA wants to get rid of the backlog as quickly as possible.

A few families who registered in Feb to June 2005 are waiting for an appointment. Some of these families traveled to Ukraine and failed to find their child, so they are returned a second time.

It seems like the bulk of waiting families registered between July and Sept 2005.

I keep saying... more

I adopted my daughter, Natasha, from Ukraine about 5 years ago. She is in a good place emotionally, physically and mentally. She is so ready to be an older sister. And I want to parent 2 children.

So I started exploring my option adoptions again last year. I wanted to adopt from Ukraine again. But then adoption was closed down in September 2005 to Americans unless they want to adopt a child 10 year or older, handicapped or a sibling of a previously adopted child.

Natasha needs to be the oldest child and will be 9 years of age in May. I want to... more

Here is the latest news..... It is what I expected. However it sounds like adoptions won't be processed between April 3 and May 3.

So any family who hasn't finished their adoption by April 3 may have to leave Ukraine and return in May. At least that is my opinion based on the translations below.

RUMOR ALERT: I did read on http://www.frua.org/chat_main.html that officials of the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports stated no adoptions will be processed during April.

I hope, I hope... more

We are still waiting for the Ukrainian final election results. Election was on Sunday. This election is for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Some folks shorten it to Rada. By the way Rada is an Ukrainian word meaning council.

The election was reported as fair by the election monitoring groups (European Parliament members, Organization for Security and Cooperation, European Election... more

A family just finished adopting their 13 year old son from Ukraine. They gave me permission to share some of their emails.

First blog on their adoption is here.

Second blog on their adoption is here.

3/23/06

Coming home tomorrow with [our son].

........those of you who have gone before know how it is to run from place... more

The National Adoption Center (the primary adoption authority in Ukraine since 1996) loses authority over adoption on April 30, 2006 to the new State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child (SDAPRC). These are both Ukrainian government departments. Ukraine adoption is centralized and 100% controlled by the government.

Good-bye Scooby-Do hallway in the National Adoption Center (pictured above).........

Translation for anyone who doesn't watch Scooby-Do cartoons. A group of 4 kids (young adults) and a dog named Scooby-Do try to solve mysteries.... more

As many know the Adoption Center is going to close in 2006. And authority over adoptions will be transfering to a new Department on Adoption and Child Rights Protection on May 1, 2006.

Deborah who has adopted from Ukraine twice (2002 and 2005) translated from Ukrainian some information about this new department. She posted her translation to the email list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adoption_from_Ukraine/.

I have known Deborah since 2002 and she gave me permission to post her translation here. She wanted me to mention that she learned the Ukrainian language from her son. Neither Ukrainian nor English... more