Often, the Russian adoption lists on both yahoo and EEAC are sources of wonderful advice and information about adoption from Russia. A couple of days ago a post came through from Lana, an adoptive mother, that included much wisdom about the process of Russian adoption. Here's what she said:

- expect the unexpected - something WILL go wrong while you're there - something will be delayed - something will not be as expected - go with the flow - it will all work out

- keep your eye on the ball (ie your baby) - no matter what trials and tribulations you might face during the process, never forget that at the end of the day you're going to have a wonderful new... more

When we adopted Little J in 2003, we took two trips to Russia. One to meet him and accept our referral and one to go to court to adopt him. When we were in front of the judge we had to ask to have our "mandatory" 10-day in-country stay waived. We explained that we had a young child at home who shouldn't be apart from us so long. The judge said fine, and 3 days later we were home.

Well, it ain't that simple any more, folks. Apparently, the 10-day in-country stay is no longer waived so easily. What used to be just a formality that the judges easily let slide is now, in almost all... more

When we adopted Little J my husband, my son, and I had to go to our family physician and have him fill out a forms for each of us for our dossier as well as get a copy of his license - and all that had to be notarized. That was actually a royal pain, thanks to the unkind, unhelpful, and unfriendly office personnel at the family practice office we USED to attend. Now we go to a much nicer place where we can always get an appointment and the doctor will take calls about croupy coughs off hours.

Anyway, I thought that was a pain, but nowadays, as I understand it, the medical part of the dossier... more

Perinatal encephalopathy, pyramidal insuffiency, intestinal dybacteriosis, Hypertension- hydrocephalic syndrome, Minimal brain dysfunction... YIKES! These are common syndromes listed on Russian medical reports and to an adoptive parent or your average American pediatrician seem SCARY as heck! What do they mean? Do they mean anything? Should you just ignore them?

When we were adopting Little J, his medicals listed the following conditions: aftereffects of perinatal injury of the CNS; delay of psycho-motor development; umbilical hernia; hemangioma of the chest. Luckily, before we got... more

Yesterday I ran into a couple of mothers of children in Little J’s preschool class and they were so sweet! Apparently Little J is quite the celebrity at school. “I love his personality!” one mom said. “He’s so much fun!” the other told me. “Ben is always getting put into time-out because of Little J” the third one said. “It’s so funny. They all love him there!”

Ha. Ha. My son, the instigator.

They then proceeded to pepper me with questions about Little J’s adoption. Because of our exchange I thought I’d cover some of these questions in this blog. These are the questions I get... more

In my last post I talked about choosing an agency. Let's say you've done that. Congratulations! I hope you're happy with your choice. Remember, if you see any warning signs (phone calls not being returned, disorganization, a bunch of unhappy former clients) it is not too late to change agencies. The $1000 or two that you will lose at this point is worth it compared to the multiple thousands, lost hope, and above all, time, that you could lose through going with a bad agency.

So now what?

Your agency should provide clear instructions on what to do next and when, but here are... more

So, you've made the decision to adopt from Russia. Excellent! You're in for a wonderful journey, both figuratively and literally. You're going to be forging connections with a fascinating country and a culture very different from our own. Soon, you'll be bringing your little one home and your life will chance forever.

But first you will need to choose an adoption agency. In years past, it was possible to adopt from Russia independently (without an agency but with the help of a connected person in Russia) and no doubt you can still do this, but I don't recommend it. Things have been... more

I've been meaning to write this post for a while. I know why my family chose Russia and international adoption as the way to grow our family and I know that there are as many different reasons to adopt from Russia as there are different families, but I really feel it's time to lay it all out on the table.

Here goes. The majority of people who adopt from Russia do so for two, often overlapping reasons: they do not want to deal with an open adoption (like happens here in the States) and they want a Caucasian child. They also want an adoption that goes smoothly and rapidly, although... more

I have toyed with the idea of becoming a professional organizer. I'm not especially organized myself, but as a librarian (when I'm working out of the home) I am familiar with the general concepts of organization and I am often gripped by the impulse to straighten up some of my less-than-organized friends' homes. I am also a devotee of nesting magazines. You know, the ones that regularly print articles on how to diminish clutter and deal with the mess of everyday life.

I think it would be very rewarding to go into a house that's a big mess and emerge a week later with it all cleaned... more