WRISTBANDS...........

The Disabled & Vulnerable Orphans of Ukraine (DVOU) is a non-profit foundation that was founded around 2000.

Lillian Horodysky (Founder and Executive Director) is a first generation American. And she has very strong ties to Ukraine.

Her parents are from Ukraine. She speaks fluent Ukrainian. She is connected to families who adopted from Ukraine. And she lived and worked in Kyiv. I know her only through email, but she is a very pleasant person.

She became aware of the circumstances faced... more

This morning I had breakfast with my daughter at IHOP.

I blame the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) for this monthly breakfast ritual. My darling daughter, Natasha, take 2 pills for her ADHD every day.

These 2 pills are Schedule II drugs. It is a little confusing, but both pills are the same medication. She takes Concerta... more

I listed the primary Ukrainian adoption email lists here.

There are some additional email lists (Christian, Expat, Older Children, State Based) that are Ukrainian adoption focused or of interest to families adopting from Ukraine here.

All the email lists below are for post adoption or if you are hosting a child.

ukrainepostadoptionsupport... more

I listed the primary Ukrainian adoption email lists here.

But there are many others. The email lists below focus on Ukrainian adoption or are of special interest to families adopting from Ukraine.

********************** CHRISTIAN **********************

If you are Christian and adopting from Ukraine you may want to join ukraine_christian_adoption. This is an... more

Just a quick recap.... Ukrainian adoption is shut down as authority over adoption is transfered from the NAC (National Adoption Center) to the SDA (State Department on Adoption and Children's Rights). Both of these are Ukrainian government departments.

The NAC was in the Department of Education. The SDA is the in Department of Youth and Sports. All adoption processing is shut down from April 3 to May 1...... or May 3. I have seen a couple of different dates.

There is one exception to the shutdown. Anyone who started their adoption process (traveled to Ukraine... more

As I mentioned in Ukrainian Adoption Email Lists: Flame Wars email lists are good places to get support and experience a sense of community.

I was sooooooo excited when I got my 171-H, but my friends and family just didn't understand why I was so emotional over a piece of paper. My email friends "virtually" jumped up and down for me when I shared the news.

One of the largest (3,310 members) Ukrainian adoption email lists is Adoption_from_Ukraine.... more

Email lists and forums/boards can be great places to get information and support. But there are hot button topics. And flame wars have been known to break out over

independent vs agency to circumsize or not negative adoption experience

About 50% of Americans adopting from Ukraine use adoption agencies and 50% of families adopt without an adoption agency.

Sometimes I see an email on a Ukrainian adoption email list, that will imply... more

After I decided to adopt from Ukraine, I started looking for an adoption agency and ran into situations that made me uncomfortable. For example:

All the agencies refused to explain the "international fee". I wanted to know exactly what service I was paying for. One agency refused to tell me anything about their program until I paid their $100.00 application fee. One agency actually asked me for more information on the "Ukrainian adoption process". The agency has just started doing Ukrainian adoptions and were open to... more

Blog on why I accepted my daughter's referral is here.

Families' stories about accepting a referral for analytical reasons (Part 1) is here.

Families' stories about accepting a referral for emotional reasons (Part 2) is here.

As I mentioned in Part 2, I have some more stories to share on why families accepted the referral for their child. They are from my "Expectations vs Outcome... more

Part 1 is available here.

As I mentioned in Part 1, I am fascinated by why families accept a referral to a specific child. There are 2 basic stories; analytical reaction and emotional reaction.

I shared the analytical reactions in part 1. The emotional reactions are below. Since people are more likely to share their emotional reactions, I have more of of these types of stories. I will have a "part 3" tomorrow with additional reactions.

There is a story... more