I miss FRUA. It is a great support group for families adopting from Eastern Europe. Their chat board is down while they are upgrading the software. My fingers are crossed that it will be back up Wednesday.

I have been reading blogs again. I am so HAPPPPPPPPPPY for the Schnitzel family. They have been trying to adopt from Ukraine since early 2005. They traveled to Ukraine and turned down their referral in... more

The SDA, a Ukrainian government office, isn't directly impacted by the political conflict between the President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. They are the centralized adoption authority. And they have been processing adoption paperwork. But my pet theory is that the SDA's staff turnover... more

This blog only applies to Americans adopting from Ukraine.

Very recently the I-604 immigration form was modified. It is now called Determination on Child for Adoption. This impacts all Americans who are adopting internationally. And it makes things a little bit harder for Americans adopting from Ukraine.

The I-604 form is filled out... more

Ukraine stopped accepting new dossiers some time between March 27 and April 1, 2007. And the US Embassy in Kyiv confirmed this shutdown on April 5. The April 5 email is at the bottom of this post for reference.

The email confirms what German adoptive families and Mike from Virginia Beach said.

Families who are in Ukraine can continue to process their adoptions. And dossier processing has slowed down. SDAPRC... more

The Ukrainian government has started restricting the number of international adoptions.

This is partly good news. It makes the adoption process more predictable. During the last 2 years it has been a roller coaster. It was a combination of shutdowns and reorganizations.... more

Ukrainian regulation is now restricting the number of adoptions. And it has already impacted the Canadians.

Ukraine will only accept 24 dossiers from Canadians for 2007. And 24 dossiers have been submitted.

So far the quota isn't impacting Americans. Americans are still able to submit dossiers once a week (Monday).

Everyone has been trying to figure out the formula that the SDA is using. It... more

I really suggest reading the 128 page assessment of Ukrainian adoption from October 2005.

The International Social Service (ISS) completed this report at the request of the Ukrainian government. And Ukraine is using it as a guide for reforming their adoption... more

I was waiting for the flurry of emails from the US Embassy in Kyiv to stop. It all started with a March 22 2007 email.

The US Embassy announced that adoption laws were changing and would be implemented within a week or so. The Parliament of Ukraine passed bill #2562 which would... more

Here is official news from the US Embassy on the Ukrainian adoption law changes.

Everyone still is uncertain about how Ukraine is going to enforce the maximum age difference between parent and child. Does it apply to the youngest parent or oldest parent?

I am mainly hearing that the oldest parent cannot be more then 45 years older then the child.

Earlier I heard that this bill becomes law in May... but now I am hearing it may be next week.

All I know is that I won't be adopting... more

I posted back in December 2006 that the Ukrainian adoption had become much more difficult. And the SDA was limiting singles to adopting children 7 or older. And the SDA refused to take dossiers from single men.

Then in Jan 2007 the SDA refused to take dossiers from single women.

March 20 2007 it got worse. Ukraine has just passed a bill making single foreign adoption illegal. Single Ukrainian citizens will still be able to adopt.

I am single... more