Atlanta Adoptive Families

As you may or may not know, November is National Adoption Awareness Month. And November is right around the corner!

I'm getting set to write a series of articles called Faces of Adoption, highlighting Georgia families that have been touched by adoption in one way or another. The series will appear on my Examiner page (here).

It could be that you have adopted, are thinking of adopting, you were adopted, you are a birth mother that chose adoption, or you have foster children.

If you fit the bill and would be willing to participate, please email me HERE. I'd like to focus on a minimum of 2 stories each week, and still need several more to make that happen.

Thanks!

Post-adoption: don't be afraid to ask for help!

My part 2 article was published yesterday.  It addresses getting help if you experience struggles once you bring your child(ren) home. You can read the article HERE.

I also want to clarify that contrary to many reports (and despite what I said in a previous post), Russia has not suspended U.S. adoptions. They may very well halt things if the U.S. and Russia cannot create a bi-lateral adoption agreement. Things have slowed down in some respects, and as is always the case in Russia, situations vary by region. Bu things are still moving.

A high-ranking U.S. delegation was scheduled to meet with officials in Moscow this week in an attempt to create a bi-lateral agreement regarding U.S/Russian adoptions.  Due to the ash clouds from the volcano, that trip has been postponed until next week.  Please pray that these negotiations go well. From all I've read, the delegation we're sending is not only powerful, but also well-connected in the area of adoption. The outcome of this meeting will be significant, but there seems to be a lot of confidence around the fact that they're meeting.

We don't know all of the story about the boy on the airplane.  It is very possible that the 7-year-old did make threats and exhibit the behaviors that Torry Hansen claimed in her letter. It is also possible that Torry went into it knowing about the 'bad adoption stories' but thinking it would never happen to her. There are many possibilities.

But Hansen had other options.  I read an article yesterday that said Hansen spoke with psychologists about her son's behavior, but never actually took him for any therapy or counseling. I can't help but wonder if the outcome would have been different if she'd tried to get him (and herself) some professional help.

Okay, off my soap box.  The Joint Council's site (HERE) gives the latest information on the status of Russian adoptions.

I'm so thankful that I've been given the opportunity to write about adoption topics. I pray that my words will help people understand what adoption is - and isn't, what's really involved, and give them a dose of reality that often isn't portrayed correctly by the media in general. And I pray that some who read my articles might even consider expanding their own families through adoption!

And in our adoption news, we are less than 2 weeks away from our scheduled submission date. Please continue to pray for our process, our last few pieces of paperwork (on its way to Ukraine this weekend, it was also delayed by the ash cloud), and our little one.

What to Expect When You're... Adopting

With all of the press about the little boy sent back to Russia by his mother, I thought it might be a good opportunity to write about setting expectations when adopting.

The first article in a 2-part series talks about education prior to adopting.

Click HERE to read it.

Paperwork Pregnant! What's next?

Now that we have our paperwork completed, we wait.  17 days. Yeah, just 2 1/2 weeks until our dossier submission date! 

A number of people have recently asked "what does that mean?" and "what's next?"

So as we await our submission date, I thought I'd explain the next little bit of the process...

We have a facilitator in Ukraine (well, actually 2, but one of them will be handling this step of the process) who works on our behalf.  She has our dossier (except for 3 documents that will be hand-delivered to her on Wednesday).  She translates all of the documents and has them authenticated. 

On May 6, she will go the SDA (The State Department of Adoption in Ukraine). She will take our dossier and hand it over to them. 

The SDA will then take some time (right now it's usually 10 - 14 days) to review our dossier, to determine if it meets their requirements. If it does, they will assign us a date to come in for our appointment.

Our facilitator will return to the SDA and will receive notice of our assigned appointment date.  At that time, we'll begin making travel plans!

If you have other questions about the process, post them here and we'll be glad to answer!

Adoption 101: What is a dossier?

The next chapter of my Adoption 101 articles attempts to answer the question...

What is a Dossier?

Click HERE to check it out - and while you're there, click on the Subscribe button towards the top to receive email updates anytime my articles are published!

What is a home study?

Have you ever considered adopting?

Does all the terminology leave you a bit confused?

I just published a new article that begins what will be a fairly regular series called Adoption 101. This series will answer adoption questions that those exploring adoption might ask.

The first article is Adoption 101: What is a homestudy?, and you can read it HERE.

If you have ideas for the Adoption 101, I'd love to hear them. What terminology is confusing? What are some questions that could be answered to help those looking into adoption? Leave a comment and let me know!