I haven't been blogging very much because emotionally.... I was hit hard. I have been grieving and feeling stupid for grieving.

It started on Feb 8... actually it started earlier. As a parent I am constantly preparing my child for her next challenge. She has some learning disabilities that impact reading and math. And she has ADHD.

My darling... more

Food and sleep... These are typically the 2 biggest issues for a post institutionalized child.

I adopted my darling daughter Natasha from Ukraine when she was 3.5 years old. At first I didn't fully understand just how afraid she was of the dark.

And to be honest, it look me a full year to really understand what Natasha was... more

I love FRUA. They are an Eastern European adoption support group. And they have a "chat board" that is typically a source of interesting information. You have to take it with a grain of salt. While folks do have to register to use FRUA's board, anonymous postings are common.

Right now the Admin for FRUA's board is stressed out. He is experiencing... more

My earlier blog this morning left me feeling sad/mad. So I went searching for a happy story..

And I found a sweet story about a single Dad. He adopted his son, Michael, from Ukraine in 2001 at 6 years of age.

When Michael was 9 years old he started ballet class. And it seems he is a natural dancer. He is 11 years old now.

In... more

By this time many folks have read the Alone again news story. Jeff and Michelle Bignell adopted 2 children from Ukraine in March 2001. They adopted a 7 year old boy and 4 year old girl.

Let's call the boy S.

The Bignell family felt like they couldn't cope with S's many mental/developmental issues. He broke his sister's ankles, ran away and killed pets. So we aren't talking about small issues. Feb 2005, S was... more

I wrote about single men and women adopting from Ukraine a couple of weeks ago. Things aren't looking good for singles...

According to Ukrainian family law (as it exists now - Article 213 of the current Family Code), married families are given preference over single men and women. This isn't a new law. And the law actually states that if 2 families want to adopt the same child... the married couple... more

This doesn't directly impact Ukrainian adoption. Ukraine has not signed the Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption (also known as Hague Treaty on Adoption or just "Hague").

The United States is getting ready to implement this treaty. It will only impact families who are adopting from countries who signed the Hague too.

I have had several people tell me it won't impact independent adoptions. But I really don't know if this is true. About 50% of Ukrainian adoptions (by Americans) are done without an agency. This is why... more

Here is a time line to give context to what the Ukrainian delegation said:

June 18-24, 2006: JCICS representative visited Ms Volynets, director of the SDA. She was concerned with the murder of internationally adopted children.

She was talking about Peggy... more

Since Ukraine isn't accepting dossiers right now (they will be accepted in Jan 2007)...

and since Ukraine has draft legislation making single adoption illegal (who knows if it will really pass)....

and I want to adopt another child...

I have been exploring other options. I completed foster care training almost a year ago. I was told it would take 1 year to 3 years to never to be matched. So far I haven't been matched.

So I started researching Haiti adoption about 3 months ago. Because of this research I... more

You probably wouldn't guess just by looking at this picture..... You are looking at the strongest willed person on the planet. This is Natasha at 3.5 years of age. She was black - hole - sucking - everything - in - and - not - letting - light - out strong willed.

She came home developmentally delayed in all ways; emotionally, gross motor skills, language. She was a walking talking puzzle of different developmental ages.

But one thing that she was absolutely clear on. She was the boss. She ran things.

At first when she got angry at me, she would show a... more