I got a little long winded yesterday so I need to come back to a few other questions that people have asked. Why Ukraine? What is the process? What is your timing?
Let me start with why we picked Ukraine. This was another of those maybe it picked us perhaps? Remember the friend I mentioned in the last background? The one who I had to ask twice to send me the emails? The organizations in those emails were both hosting orphans from Ukraine last summer. That was step one towards Ukraine. Advocates For Orphans International (AFOI) had the statistics for Ukraine on their web site. Here is a summary of those statistics. Children in the orphanage ‘graduate’ from the orphanage at 16 years of age. They have no home, no family, no money, limited education and no job skills. (Think about where you would go at this point...) Of those children who ‘graduate’, 10% of them will commit suicide by their 18th birthday. Of those left, 60% of the girls will end up in prostitution. And 70% of the boys will end up in a life of crime. Those statistics were step two towards Ukraine. And then I saw the picture of that precious little boy. And I couldn’t let go of the thought that this was his future. That was the final step. Done deal, no other investigation needed.
So why not a child from the US? I have been asked that question many times. In the US, we have a foster care system. We can have a discussion on how flawed that system is but in reality, children in the US are placed in private homes where many (yes, not all) get the love and care they need. These children are guaranteed an education through high school. And most if they apply will be given scholarships to colleges. The children in the US have a system to support them and provide opportunities if they so chose to apply themselves. I chose to help a child that did not have those opportunities.
So what is the process? From discussions with David and the families that have gone before us, I will summarize at a very high level the best I can. Some steps we obviously have completed, some are ahead of us yet. We first worked with a local adoption agency to obtain a home study. That home study along with many, many other documents including immigration paperwork was consolidated into a dossier. This dossier was translated and then submitted to the State Department of Adoption (SDA) in Kiev. An interview at the SDA was granted as all of our paperwork was in order (Thank you David!). Things went well today at our interview and our referral was granted, we pick that up tomorrow. This is permission to travel to the town where the child’s orphanage is. From there we will meet with a local social worker and obtain permission to visit the child at the orphanage. Then the paper chase on this side of the ocean starts. Once all the necessary paperwork is obtained (signed, notarized and appostilled), the paperwork goes back to the SDA in Kiev where they will review it all again. They will approve the request for a court date if all is in proper order. We stay in the town where the orphanage is during this process. A court date is assigned in the local town and we petition for adoption of the child. If all goes well, the petition is granted. We will celebrate with the kids at the orphanage and we will return home. Without our new son. There is a 10 day appeals period that starts the day after the court hearing. Once that 10 day period is over, we will pick up the final adoption decree at the courthouse and then go get V from the orphanage. We will need to obtain a few documents locally like new birth certificate, etc. and then will travel to Kiev for several days of US Embassy activity. Once those activities are completed, we will fly home with V. Then the adjustments begin!
The biggest question I get asked now is ‘When will you be home with him?’ If all goes well, we will be home by the 22nd of March with V. If you are interested in the timing on the front end, call me and we can chat. That piece can vary widely. Especially for us, we had some unusual circumstances...for the second part, the in-country part about 6 weeks from initial travel to final travel. We are coming home during the 10 day waiting period, some families do not.
Let me know what other questions to answer. These were the most common but we are happy to answer any others!
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