In my March 22, 2006 post I said that I would "try and blog about adoption economics on another day." It is another day........

I decided to adopt independently (without an adoption agency). I thought it would let me understand and control my money better. Boy was I delusional. I knew where my money went, but I didn't have as much control as I thought. The numbers below are from my 2000 adoption.

Starting with the home study... I searched for a reasonable... more

For anyone who is thinking about adopting a special needs child (which all institutionalized children should be considered special needs children) or has adopted a special needs child... you must read Welcome to Holland

NOTE: I am not saying all children adopted from orphanages will be special needs children. I am saying assume there will be issues and research the available resources before adopting. Once my daughter was home with me I didn't have much energy/time available for researching available... 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

I haven't heard of anyone getting an appointment past March 30. And the NAC web site is now down. It appears that a new law was passed on adoption processing. NAC's last day is April 3. The new Department on Adoption and Child Rights Protection gains authority over adoptions starting April 4, 2006. This makes sense based on a past news article.

In my Department on Adoption and Child Rights Protection, I mentioned a news article from Feb 6, 2006. Starting April 4, 2006,... more

Like everyone else I am waiting to hear how adoptions will be transitioned from the NAC to the new Department on Adoption.

I haven't seen this information from any government body, but it seems pretty firm. The last appointment at the NAC will be March 30 or March 31 (depending on who is sharing the information). And the month of April will be used to transition between the NAC and the new Department.

No one is talking about when the new Department of Adoption... more

I posted information from a family who is adopting a 13-year old boy from Ukraine. Here is a link to this older post.

Here is the update.

3/6/06

We are scheduled for court tomorrow. [Our translator] is confident that everything will go well despite the fact that this is the first international adoption they've done in this town.

I am slightly concerned because we ran into a woman in the park on Saturday who knows [our boy]. He was polite... more

I have an email friend who gave me permission to share her story about adopting an older child from Ukraine. She went to Ukraine to adopt a child over 10 years of age.

Friday, Feb 24, 2006

There were several couples in NAC on Thursday. Today (Friday) we went to pick up the referral (at 12 instead of 3) and it was a ghost town. [Translator] says the director is "on vacation".

My friend and her husband received a referral for a 13 year old "gentlemen". They traveled on Sunday so they could visit the orphanage on Monday.

Wednesday,... 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

From 2001 to 2003, I (via email lists) asked other adoptive parents to fill out a survey. The goal of the survey was to compare expectations vs outcome for Ukrainian adoption.

Over 200 families from many different nationalities trusted me enough to answer my questions. They were Australian, American, Canadian, French, Danish, German, Israeli, Irish, Russian, Spanish, Swiss, and Ukrainian. They all granted me permission to anonymously share their answers.

Here is what various families said about accepting a referral.

My Husband was in love right off from Jacob's picture in the orphange [seen at the NAC]. It was a picture of him at 3 months old. I knew... more

Many families trying to adopt from Ukraine are sitting in limbo with paperwork that is aging every day. Your dossier is only good 1 year from the document's creation date. It can be so hard to decide when to move on to another country. During the last 6 months things have been ever changing. And most adoption agencies had closed down their Ukrainian adoption program.

Here is some background...

On September 21, 2005 the Government of Ukraine informed the U.S. Embassy in Kiev that the National Adoption Center (NAC) of Ukraine was suspending the acceptance of new adoption dossiers from U.S. citizens and citizens of several other countries.

from: http://kiev.usembassy.gov/amcit_adoptions_notice_0921_eng.html

They... more