Picture: Natasha at 2 years of age. This is her NAC photo from 1999.


Recently on FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption) a family posted the following questions.

Why are you adopting from Ukraine? What made you choose this country over all of the others?


From: Why Ukraine? Thread

I started to answer the question and then realized I was getting a little too wordy. So I moved the answer to my blog.





There are lots of adoption agencies with tons of programs. There was too much information and I just couldn't sort out all my options. It was frustrating.


And frankly I wanted unbiased information. All those adoption agencies had a vested interest in getting me to select a program and pay them money.


The first unbiased web site that I found was the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC). It is run by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC) was established by Congress in 1987 to provide free information on all aspects of adoption. The NAIC website provides comprehensive information on domestic and intercountry adoption.

From: About NAIC

I read the entire web site, which came in handy later. I discovered that every state in the United States has an adoption specialist. The only purpose of this state employee was to help me.. the adoptive parent.


I gave my specialist a quick call and asked how I could local a home study provider. I had already figured out that my adoption agency and my home study provider didn't have to be the same. And later my adoption specialist came in real handy when the INS (now the USCIS) turned down my I-600A application due to my home study. But that is another story for another day.


You can find your adoption specialist via this link. It doesn't matter if you are adopting domestically or internationally. They understand your state's laws and how they apply to your adoption. You tax money pays for this employee. Take advantage of them.


Ask them how adoption agencies are licensed. Or how do you check to see if anyone complained about a specific agency? Is there a state adoption tax credit and does it apply to international adopted children?


And if you are investigating an adoption agency who is licensed in a different state, don't hesitate to call that state's adoption specialist.


Part 2 tommorrow....