We love being able to tell our friends about our adoption. There are usually more questions than answers and we try to share as many details as possible. We've come up with a FAQ about the Fong Family Adoption.
Why are you adopting?
We really feel this is God's plan to increase our family. Things have been lining up lately that point straight to adoption. We were most recently encouraged during a family service at our church where families shared their adoption stories.
Why Russia?
We were certain on international adoption because of the need and the finality of the adoption. Both China and Russia were on our hearts and we looked at China first. China's wait time is steadily increasing (4+ years). We decided on Russia because 1) the wait time is shorter and 2) the possibilities of sharing our adoption story because of its intercultural nature. It's quite possible that our friend would never know our child was adopted if she was Chinese. With a Russian adoption we hope to share our story as much and as often as opportunity provides.
What age and gender?
We are requesting a female under two years old.
How much does the adoption cost?
Agency payments, orphanage costs, government fees and travel expenses will total roughly $60,000.
How will you pay for the adoption?
We have already used all of our savings to pay for expenses. We've sold many of our possessions as well. We held two large fundraisers (a garage sale and a holiday marketplace) and Courtney ran the Chicago Marathon with several sponsors. In addition, we continue to sell handmade notecards (prices recently reduced). We'll be borrowing from our 401(k)'s next and applying for grants and loans. There is also a tax credit available after the adoption.
How can I help?
Why are you adopting?
We really feel this is God's plan to increase our family. Things have been lining up lately that point straight to adoption. We were most recently encouraged during a family service at our church where families shared their adoption stories.
Why Russia?
We were certain on international adoption because of the need and the finality of the adoption. Both China and Russia were on our hearts and we looked at China first. China's wait time is steadily increasing (4+ years). We decided on Russia because 1) the wait time is shorter and 2) the possibilities of sharing our adoption story because of its intercultural nature. It's quite possible that our friend would never know our child was adopted if she was Chinese. With a Russian adoption we hope to share our story as much and as often as opportunity provides.
What age and gender?
We are requesting a female under two years old.
How much does the adoption cost?
Agency payments, orphanage costs, government fees and travel expenses will total roughly $60,000.
How will you pay for the adoption?
We have already used all of our savings to pay for expenses. We've sold many of our possessions as well. We held two large fundraisers (a garage sale and a holiday marketplace) and Courtney ran the Chicago Marathon with several sponsors. In addition, we continue to sell handmade notecards (prices recently reduced). We'll be borrowing from our 401(k)'s next and applying for grants and loans. There is also a tax credit available after the adoption.
How can I help?
Please pass on our website and information to others. We can earn referral fees when you purchase magazines, buy items at Amazon.com or mp3s from iTunes if you click on our website links before you buy. Click here for more info.
How can I make a monetary donation?
You can send a monetary donation through PayPal or by check. There is a PayPal link on the front page (Click "Donate"). Email us for our address if you would like to send a check.
What agency are you using?
From reading other notes and blogs it seems best not to list that here. Send us an email if you really need to know and we'd be happy to share our experience if you're interested.
Will you need to learn Russian?
We will have translators while we are in Russia. Initially, we may need basic Russian as our daughter will likely respond only to Russian.
How do N and C feel about having a little sister?
They are excited! They both really understand the need for adoption and are ready to help nurture our new family member. N has already donated some of his video games to sell for the fundraising.
How long will the adoption process take?
Once our documents are sent to Russia, it may take 12-18 months to complete the adoption. As of December, 2009 we are officially registered in our region. Our region is located in Siberia.
How does the Russian adoption process work?
There are several phases to the adoption process. This is a much simplified summary. I'll break these down into Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, waiting, travel, paperwork, travel and paperwork.
Application to adoption agency - Send an application to adoption agency. This application states the basic facts to ensure you are eligible to adopt in a specific country.
Home Study - The home study can be one by the adoption agency if it licensed in your state. In our case we are using a local agency to complete this as our agency in not licensed here. The home study includes several interviews and an inspection of our home. The social worker will create a report to be included in the dossier.
Dossier - The dossier is the package of documents that goes to Russia. This includes the home study and various other letters and document that need to be notarized and apostilled. It is then sent to Russia to be translated and we are assigned a particular region in Russia where we wait for a referral.
How can I make a monetary donation?
You can send a monetary donation through PayPal or by check. There is a PayPal link on the front page (Click "Donate"). Email us for our address if you would like to send a check.
What agency are you using?
From reading other notes and blogs it seems best not to list that here. Send us an email if you really need to know and we'd be happy to share our experience if you're interested.
Will you need to learn Russian?
We will have translators while we are in Russia. Initially, we may need basic Russian as our daughter will likely respond only to Russian.
How do N and C feel about having a little sister?
They are excited! They both really understand the need for adoption and are ready to help nurture our new family member. N has already donated some of his video games to sell for the fundraising.
How long will the adoption process take?
Once our documents are sent to Russia, it may take 12-18 months to complete the adoption. As of December, 2009 we are officially registered in our region. Our region is located in Siberia.
How does the Russian adoption process work?
There are several phases to the adoption process. This is a much simplified summary. I'll break these down into Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, waiting, travel, paperwork, travel and paperwork.
Application to adoption agency - Send an application to adoption agency. This application states the basic facts to ensure you are eligible to adopt in a specific country.
Home Study - The home study can be one by the adoption agency if it licensed in your state. In our case we are using a local agency to complete this as our agency in not licensed here. The home study includes several interviews and an inspection of our home. The social worker will create a report to be included in the dossier.
Dossier - The dossier is the package of documents that goes to Russia. This includes the home study and various other letters and document that need to be notarized and apostilled. It is then sent to Russia to be translated and we are assigned a particular region in Russia where we wait for a referral.
Referral - After the dossier is submitted to Russia [We are here], we wait for a child to be assigned to us. The child is assigned based on our request and the child's needs. This is the longest part of the adoption process and can take up to 18 months as of now. Once we receive the referral we will receive a picture and brief medical report. We will have the opportunity to reject the referral if the child has any issues that we could not properly take care of.
Travel, Trip 1 - Once we accept our referral we will arrange for our first trip to Russia. This is a short trip of 6-8 days where we meet the child and request a court date in Russia for the official adoption.
Waiting for Court Date - When we get back to the U.S. we will have to update any dossier documents and get new medical exams. Once a court date is assigned we will arrange travel for our second trip.
Travel, Trip 2 - Trip two will last approximately 3-4 weeks. We will go to meet the child and appear before the Russian court stating our case for adoption. If approved there is a ten-day waiting period and then we can finally pick up our daughter for good! We'll then travel to Moscow to have an appointment at the embassy to finalize any citizenship paperwork.
Arrive home, post-placement reports - We'll need to have periodic visits by our social worker so she can send reports back to Russia. This allows the Russian government to keep track of its citizen (she'll have dual-citizenship) and also fosters a good relationship between the agencies and future adopters.
3 comments:
I am so excited for you guys and look forward to hearing all the updates. We will gather some of our stuff and bring it to the garage sale!!
Wow, guys! I had no idea Russian adoption was SO expensive. Our adoption will probably cost half of this, and we're adopting two. We're going to be praying for you guys like crazy! I'm putting up a post right now with an update on our yard sale, and I'm posting a link to your website in there! - Amy (and David) Watson
(www.EthiopiasCalling.blogspot.com)
We adopted from Romania in 1997. While it's nice if you have a translator available, what you should do is learn all the kid phrases you need - Are you hungry? Thirsty? Tired? Do you have to go to the bathroom? Yes. No. That's dangerous/hot/cold. The first word I taught our daughter was "Yuck" - I thought the thing a kid would REALLY want to be able to tell you is when they don't like something or want something. Do you want to go outside? Inside? Stop. [That's really important]. Also the names of your child's favorite foods. I was lucky in that, while we were waiting for our appointment at the Consulate, our daughter met some very nice older children who were learning English at school, & I learned a lot of the words I needed to know from them [it was summer & they weren't in school; they were learning English at school & were much better at it, at age 10-12, than our agency's personnel]. Anyway, by the time we went home our daughter [4 then] knew she could teach me words she thought I needed to know.
But about the child sent back to Russia: before we adopted internationally, we registered to adopt from a state in the US. We were told all their children available for adoption come with serious baggage, & there are virtually no infants available because even if they're removed from an abusive/neglectful home as infants, by the time the birth family's rights are terminated, they are mostly no longer infants.
People with experience in international adoptions say that 75% of the kids who've been in orphanages longer than 2 years have neurologically-based issues. Yes, our daughter does, too. Fortunately for us, they're all in the form of mild physical impairments & learning disabilities; she's never raged, been violent, or mentally ill etc.
There are newsgroups for parents of adoptive children where you can get help from people who've been there, done that, & gotten the t-shirt, should you need it. Schools are NOT prepared to educate children with multiple learning disabilities - our daughter had to go a school for kids with LD to learn to read & I'm home-schooling her for high school. I learned what to do from newsgroups.
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