Finally some good news for the holidays

Afternoon all,

First, let me catch everyone up on the events of the past few weeks. We've suffered two losses in Greg's family (I'll spare everyone all the medical details).

First, on November 25th, his mom of 80 years of age, fell and broke her left leg in two different places. This put her in the same hospital as Greg's sister Annette who was battling cancer. Annette died the next morning. She was 58 and was laid to rest on November 29th.

The break on Greg's mom's leg didn't heal due to poor circulation and diabetes. On December 12th the decision was made to amputate her leg on the 17th. She passed away peacefully December 14th and was laid to rest on the 17th.

So, a little good news will go a long way!!!

And...we have it!

We have just received travel dates for our first trip to Moscow. We're departing January 23rd and returning January 31st.

Greg, Mary and Katie

Remember my Roller Coaster analogy?

Roller coasters are so much fun! All the twists and turns and those loops are killer! Throughout the ride people experience a wide range of emotions. Fear one moment can turn into moments of shear enjoyment the next. Everyone comes off of roller coasters with a wide smile on their face.

Well, our roller coaster ride continues...

So, we are indeed registered with Moscow. That's a huge step forward.

But...now they've once again closed their doors until January 2009.

This isn't so bad. We weren't really looking forward to trying to fit so much into December. Between the holidays, FRIENDS Christmas party, my niece graduating from college and other things going on in the family, it was almost going to be more than we could fit into the month.

At least now we can enjoy the holidays, rest up and be prepared for travel sometime in January.

That is, unless this roller coaster has more loops it wants to throw at us.

G, M and K.

We are registered!

So for everyone keeping up with what all is going on, you'll appreciate the irony of all this...

Just when we thought that nothing else would happen this year, and that it would be 2009 before anything would break loose...everything changes!

! We are now registered with the Ministry of Education
in the Moscow region of Russia !

We're being told that the Moscow region realized that they had room for two more families to be registered in their region by end of 2008. So as of Friday, 11/14/2008, we're registered there!

So, what does this mean? Our dossier is now in the hands of the Russian officials there in Moscow. Typically, once you are registered, you're looking at 3-6 weeks before you receive word that you are to travel to the region to meet the child they have matched you to.

We've been told, based upon recent turn around times, that could translate to us traveling to Moscow, for our first trip, either the week of December 7th or December 14th.

Of course the bummer would then be that because of the holidays we probably wouldn't get a court date until middle January at the earliest. Russian Christmas holidays are spread from late December to early January. Most of the country pretty much shuts down until 2nd week of January.

So, the roller coaster ride continues... At least now it's moving in the right direction...

G, M and K

Russia has called a timeout!

For those of you keeping up at home, you'll remember that several weeks ago we heard that Russia was in the midst of an 'internal audit' regarding adoptions. Turns out part of the outcome from that audit is the realization that they have adopted out too many children through international adoptions for 2008. So, they have 'closed their doors' to any additional adoptions for this year.

This includes any families:

• Making their first trip to meet with potential children
• Making their second trip to court

So, we'll cool our heels for a while.

bummer...

G, M and K

Update

Sorry it's been a few weeks since we updated the blog. Now that we have the FRIENDS Buddy Walk behind us, we can focus more on other things in life.

(For those of you that are interested, we raised over $24,000 at this year's BW. We estimate we had somewhere over 700 participants this year)

So, where are we on the adoption?

The day before the BW (10/3/2008) we got word about the potential for a referral from Saint Petersburg, Russia. There is a little boy who just turned two that meets our criteria. Carol with CSS asked us if we would like to pursue this potential referral. Of course the answer was an immediate "YES"...but...we knew there would be some hurdles to overcome.

So, what are the hurdles? Well, each region in Russia has the right to have a different set of paperwork requirements for parents adopting from Russia. Saint Petersburg (SP) has some 'unique' requirements. Some of them are:

1. Even though Mary and I have been through very thorough background checks by both the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI...they also want the local sheriff's office to do a background check.

2. In addition to the photos we submitted with our original dossier, SP wants a notarized letter from our social worker stating that she had been to our home and that the photos presented with our dossier are indeed photos of our home. What's the reasoning behind that? Apparently the judge in SP has openly asked during previous adoptions "well, how do I know these photos are of this family's home? Maybe they broke into someone's home and took these pictures." (Writers at SNL couldn't make this stuff up...TOO FUNNY!)

But wait...there's more. This is the part that really 'fumes us'! Before we were allowed to proceed too far with this potential referral, we had to get special permission from the judge in SP. Previous families that have adopted from SP that have children with special needs have encountered resistance from the judge. We got word this week that the judge would have no issue with us as a family proceeding with an adoption in SP.

So...we sit and wait. We keep hoping each day that we'll get a call from Carol one morning and she'll have information for us. We've heard many good things about the orphanages in SP. Many people have told us that all children that come from SP are of exceptional health. Another advantage of getting a referral from SP is that we'll get some medical information regarding the child. I've already prepared Dr. Tasker on this...he's ready to pour over any and all information they give us to help us make an informed decision.

So...that's the update. More as it happens.

Greg, Mary and Katie

The rollercoaster ride continues

Ok, so it appears that we're back to the waiting game. The referral that was being filed in Tula wasn't for us. ;<

Tula currently doesn't have any children that meets our profile for a child. Apparently there are some that will eventually, but that will be 3 months from now. The children have to be 'in the system' for so many months before they can be adopted out.

We're also being told that Kaluga (pronounced Ka-lu-ga) has no referrals for us either.

So, we're back to Moscow.

The big Russian Federal Audit we've been hearing about is actually happening this week, so CSS staff in Moscow are focusing on that. That's on Thursday of this week (10/2/2008), so it will be early next week before they get back to working on finding referrals for waiting families.

What a ride!!!! ;>

G, M and K

This could be the week for a referral!!!

Things have been quiet for a while. I spoke with Carol of CSS week before last and she indicated that things may start moving this week. Here's what we know:

1. Carol with CSS has been checking the Tula region for us for a referral. She knows that a family recently tried finding a child similar to one we're desiring from Moscow and they had no luck.

2. Carol informed me that Svetlana of their Moscow office was going to Tula on business and that she would check with their orphanages for a child that matches our desired profile.

3. We have been in touch with a family who was in Tula last week with Svetlana. They know that Svetlana registered a dossier in that region for a family who was 'near the top of the list'. THAT COULD BE US!!!!

So, we may be putting too many stories/clues together and arriving at an incorrect assumption...but...this could be the week!

We will update everyone as we get information.

Greg, Mary and Katie.

The calm before the storm...

We've gone about a week and a half and no news. We know that the CSS staff in Moscow were both enjoying a few days of vacation and were also preparing for a mandatory audit. Once both of these activities are done, things should swing into 'ulta-high gear'!

There are a number of scenarios of how trip #1 could play out:

1. Our dossier gets registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE), we wait a few weeks more and then we get our phone call indicating they have a referral for us.

2. Our dossier gets registered with the Ministry of Education and we almost immediately get a phone call indicating they have a referral for us.

3. We could even possibly get a phone call with information regarding a referral before our dossier is registered with the MOE. This scenario involves MOE staff giving CSS staff in Moscow information ahead of time regarding a child up for adoption and the CSS staff, knowing our desired profile for a child, would then call us immediately and ask us if we're interested in pursing the referral. If we accepted it, they would register our dossier immediately and take that referral.

Once we get the referral, we would most likely have 7-10 days advanced notice before we would be required to fly to Russia for trip #1.

But...until then...we wait.

Regards,
Greg, Mary and Katie

Offers of help

We've had several people inquire about how they can help us accomplish our goal of adoption. Mary and I have decided to not 'solicit' for monetary donations...but...since we have to make a total of 3 trips to Russia in order to complete the adoption, we would certainly not turn down offers of Delta Skymiles or Hilton Honors Points.

Update

So here's the latest update:

Our I-171H, FBI background checks and updated license for the home study agency have been apostilled in Nashville and are enroute to CSS (the adoption agency - Catholic Social Services) in Asheville, NC via UPS. Currently our tracking number shows that the documents will make it to Carol and her staff at CSS sometimes Wednesday. They will go over to Moscow this week to be translated and combined with the rest of our dossier.

CSS staff in Moscow are busy this month. Not only is September is busy month for vacations, they have been told to expect a audit from the Russian government regarding all of the adoptions they have executed since 2001. This isn't a 'surprise' audit or anything like that...just a normal procedure.

So between the vacations and the government audit, it's probably going to delay us just a bit for our first trip to Moscow. We're still hopeful that we'll be able to complete the adoption by end of year, but it appears that completing the adoption January of 2009 may be in the cards.

Regards,
Greg, Mary and Katie

FBI Background Check Complete!

Well, we have it...the final paper we've been waiting on. Our FBI background check arrived today and we're clean. Now all that we have to do is get this, along with our I171H notarized, certified and apostilled. Then, off they go to Russia for translations.

Our dossier has been in Russia for two weeks now. I've been in San Francisco all week so I didn't get a chance to get an update from CSS on the translation effort. Hopefully I can spare a few minutes on Monday and get an update.

Regards,
G

I-171H received and other exciting news!

Another milestone has been reached!! Today we received our I-171H from the UCIS. This is a major milestone and reason for celebration! This form allows us to file for Daniel's visa for entry into the United States when we bring him from Russia. Without this form, even if we had successfully adopted him from Russia, we wouldn't be allowed to bring him to the US.

Our dossier made it to Russia the morning of the 9th of August. It is being translated to Russia by CSS staff in Moscow.

OK, so everyone is allowed 1 mistake...I've had mine. I forgot one of the forms. In the mad dash to get all the forms filled out, signed, notarized, certified and apostilled...I MISSED ONE FORM!!! ;> Katrina called me on the 8th asking where the form was. I felt like an idiot!!! So...off we go doing the mad dash again. Signing, notarizing, certifying and rushing it to Nashville to be apostilled by the Secretary of State. We're keeping UPS happy with all these packages flying around the state of Tennessee.

But wait...there's more! I got a confirmation that our FBI background check was progressing and that they hope to be done with it within 1-2 weeks.

So, if we can get our FBI background check done and get the results back here in Tennessee, get that plus our I171H notarized, certified and apostilled...WE'LL BE DONE WITH ALL OF THE PAPERWORK REQUIRED HERE IN THE UNITED STATES!!!

(Of course...there's all the paperwork while we're in Russia to take care of...but that's for another day).

Regards,
Greg, Mary & Katie

Dossier enroute to Moscow

We have handed off our dossier to CSS, who in turn handed it off to a family from Greeneville, Tn who is heading to Moscow Friday 8/8/2008. They are heading over on their second trip which is the trip where they go before the judge.

Our fingerprints are on their way to the FBI for the ever popular background check.

Now that word of our blog has spread, we're fielding some questions. Here's some common ones and the answers:

1. Do you have any information regarding the child you're receiving? - No. We have requested a boy up to age of 18 months. We won't get any information until we walk in the door at the orphanage in Moscow.

2. Is the child you're adopting named Daniel? Daniel is the name we have picked out. One of the final things you get to do when you're before the judge on the second trip is have the child's name changed to something more 'appropriate' for your country. It is highly recommended that we keep some part of his Russian name, but as for the first name we have chosen Daniel.

Regards,
Greg, Mary and Katie.

We've given birth to a dossier!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we're pleased to annouce the birth of a 85 page dossier. It was a difficult birthing process but Greg, Mary, several Notary Publics and our laser printer are all doing well.

;>

OK, so what's that mean???

We've finished the paperwork phase!!! Our dossier (packet of certified documents) is complete and we are taking it to Asheville to be sent to Moscow for translation.

Next steps:

1. Once the dossier reaches Moscow, it will be translated to Russian and registered with the Russian Ministry of Education.

2. We're getting our fingerprints done August 6th for our FBI background check.

3. Wait for the big phone call from CSS to indicate they have a referal for us.

The 'current wait time' puts us at traveling on our first trip sometime in October.

Greg, Mary & Katie

So close...and yet so far...

Well, we have all the documents notarized and ceritified in the county they were notarized in. They are all now either enroute to the Tennessee Secretary of State via UPS or are already on their way back from the S0fS. We're hoping that by Tuesday or Wednesday we can offically turn the document packet over to CSS in Ashville.

Next step, fingerprints so the FBI can do a background check on us.

g

Update

Our paperwork phase is coming to an end. We ran into some delays with various offices because of people going on summer vacation. We finally received our completed home-study this week. Armed with this and our completed paperwork, we made the journey to Catholic Social Services in Asheville this week for a paperwork review party with CSS staff. A few minor modifications, which weren't unexpected. Now, almost all of our paperwork is complete and notarized.

Paperwork for many types of international adoption must be apostilled (check out Wiki for a definition of apostille). So, now that the bulk of it has been notarized, the next step in the process is for the notarized paperwork to be 'verified' by the County Clerk for the county in which it was notarized. Then, once it has been verified, it goes to Nashville for the final apostille stamp. Then, and only then, can the document legally stand up in a court of law outside of the United States.

(Note to anyone reading this who is performing an international adoption but who live in a state other than Tennessee: Check with your adoption agency for details specific to your state.)

According to CSS staff, it we can get this paperwork finalized within the next two weeks, we could be doing our first trip to Moscow the first half of October and finalize the adoption by Christmas.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Katie is getting more and more excited and is starting to go around the house making references to "Daniel from Russia".

Regards,
Greg

The first steps of our adoption journey…

…began about 7 to 8 years ago. Mary and I had been married about 2 years and hadn’t had any success in having a child. One morning in the newspaper, there was an ad for an upcoming adoption seminar being held at a local church. An adoption agency called Living Hope was putting the seminar on and their President was doing the presentation. We decided to go and check this out. Dr. Fang of Living Hope detailed the process of adopting a child from China. While we were interested, we still weren’t ready to give up having a child on our own. We kept the adoption option in the back of our minds.

Fast forward up to 2001…we found out we were pregnant with Katie. Katie was born in February of 2002 and has brought joy in our lives ever since.

Having just one child isn’t enough. Mary and I both believe that it would be good for Katie to grow up with a sibling. Plus, we know there is more love in our hearts to give…so, off we go.
Now most people would be asking at about this point “Well, why don’t’ you just have another biological child?”. Katie was born with Down syndrome and we felt like the chances of having a second child with DS were a little more than we wanted to brave. So, adoption came to the forefront of our thoughts again.

By early 2007 we were once again getting geared up “mentally” to explore adoption. We had contacted Living Hope once again, attended another one of their information seminars and this time walked away with an application for their program. We were ready to begin the adoption journey to getting our little boy from China. We filled out the application, wrote the initial check and mailed it off to Living Hope around summer of 2007. We were quickly accepted into the program.

Of course for those of you who know us, you know that life around here is, well, NUTS. Between our home life, Katie starting Kindergarten, raising a child with Down syndrome, Greg’s career, the work we do for FRIENDS (www.dsfriends.net) , keeping up with our families, etc, etc, etc…, things were slow going initially. Then around the end of 2007 / early 2008 we got serious. Time to get this ball rolling…Time to adopt from China.

Now for those of you keeping score at home you’re wondering “wait…I thought they were adopting from Russia?!?”. Keep your shirts on…I’m getting to that.

We contacted Adoption Consultants of Tennessee and started our home study. At the same time we started gathering the paperwork required by Living Hope and the country of China for the adoption. The paperwork can be almost overwhelming. We’ve heard the expression many times, from many people, “The hardest part of adopting internationally is all the paperwork”. They aren’t kidding…

During our first interview for the home study, we were asked “Why China?”. We explained our initially meetings with Living Hope and the seminars we had been to. We had prepared ourselves for adopting from China. We knew that adopting a little boy from China wasn’t going to be quick. The Chinese value a male heir in the families more than females, thus there are more girls in Chinese orphanages. But, there are boys, and we were convinced that one was destine to be our son.

Sharon, our home study advisor, proceeded to inform us that adopting from China is taking longer and longer. We were told by Living Hope in 2007 that the current wait times for adopting a boy from China was 12-18 months. Sharon informed us that it was closer to 24-36 months. 3 YEARS. Wow…that’s too long to wait…right? Why the big change? At one point in the late 1990s, early 2000s, adoptions from China were taking 3-6 months. Well, times are changing in China. First, with China holding the Olympics this year, they have been working on improving their international image for the past few years. With China being squarely in the international lime-light for the next few months, they don’t want anything reflect poorly on them, and being seen as the “one stop shop for adopting a child internationally” doesn’t reflect an image they want the world to have of them. Second, China has had more than their fair share of natural disasters in the past few years, leaving many families without children. As a result, more and more children are being adopted internally within China than ever before. Plus, China is now beginning to relax their “One Child per Family” stance on family planning.

So, China seemed to be out of the picture…so now what? Sharon recommended we check out Catholic Social Services (CSS), based in Asheville, NC. They have an international adoption group which facilitates adoptions from Russia. Sharon explained that CSS has an excellent reputation and a very active Yahoo support group of families in the process of adopting or have adopted through CSS.

So, after checking CSS out, visiting their offices in Asheville, talking to other families in our region that have adopted through them and even attending their annual picnic, we’ve changed to adopting from Russia through CSS. Going this route allows us to adopt our son, perhaps, if the paperwork shuffle doesn’t kill us, by the end of 2008. That’s right…by Christmas 2008 we could be home with our son from Russia.

First post!

Good morning everyone,

Well, we've kicked off the blog to allow our friends, family and colleagues an opportunity to keep up with our progress. Throughout the coming days, weeks and months we'll be posting updates regarding our progress, along with tidbits of information regarding the adoption process for adopting from Russia, specifically the Moscow region.

As this is our first blog, we're still learning how to setup the blog and maintain it. Bare with us if the blog is simplistic initially. We'll jazz it up as we have time.

Regards,
Greg