The Kids' Room Since we don't know the age or gender of the children we will be adopting, we went with a gender-neutral room. We have put twin beds in the room for now. If we see that we need a crib, we will have our parents or friends get one before we get home. Byron is responsible for the mural. He did a beautiful job. He included our cat Pug, and the bluebird of happiness. We hope the kids will like it! All those art lessons Byron's parents paid for finally paid off! Penney is responsible for the bedding and curtains. She made both of the bedspreads and the curtains. Penney and her sister are responsible for the framed tissue paper art on the walls. |
Helpful Links Cathy Harris' Website Information on Ukraine Adoption Nathanson Adoption Services (Our Homestudy provider whom we HIGHLY reccomend) Some Families' websites who have also completed an independent Ukrainian Adoption |
How can I/We help you on your Adoption Journey? Of the people we have told, this question has probably been about the 3rd question people ask after 1)Why are you adopting from Ukraine? (which we've already covered above) and 2)Aren't you excited? (which you should know by now we ARE!!). So...how can you help us? Well first and foremost you can pray for us. And if you were already doing that, continue to pray for us. There is nothing materially that we need. But we do need your support, thoughts, and prayers. But if you would like to do more, you can donate to the orphanages. We will be making our own personal donation to the orphanage that our children come from. After all, this orphanage will have been their home and we will be leaving behind many many children. Most of the orphanages are very poor. We will be taking some medical supplies, vitamins, toothbrushes, and toothpaste with us in our luggage to donate. But, due to luggage and customs restrictions (and the fact we will be there for a MONTH), we are limited in what we can carry. So what most families do and what we also plan to do is buy items to be donated once we are there. This helps in many ways, 1)It helps support the Ukrainian economy (the average person's income is $42/month) 2)Items in Ukraine are cheaper than they are here in USA in most situations 3)For medicine, vitamins, etc, the instructions will be in Russian, which is helpful since most Ukrainians do not speak English 4)The money will go to items that are specifically needed for that particular orphanage. For example, one recent family was able to buy 20 snow suits, mittens, shoes, and hats for $200. This was helpful since they had already received their first snow of the year. Another family was able to pay to have the heating system repaired for about $100 in their children's orphanage. So if you feel led to donate, please feel free to Contact Us. |
Our Adoption Timeline 7/11/02 Spoke with co-worker about adoption agencies. She sent Penney Cathy Harris' information (which she had just received 1 day prior). We both read it for several days and did LOTS of research over the next week. 7/18/02 Emailed Cathy Harris to get more information on Ukraine Adoption 7/19/02 Received 3 emails from IUAFN families in Raleigh/Durham who had completed Ukraine Adoption with Cathy in the last six months. 7/25/02 Met with one IUAFN Family--Wonderful experience!! 7/26/02 Began researching homestudy agencies. Called about 5 or 6. Really liked Nathanson Adoption Services. Instant connection with them 8/ 7/02 Met with second IUAFN Family--Equally wonderful experience!! 8/21/02 Went to Vital Records, got Marriage Certificates. Got notarized copies of passports Got Penney's employment verification letter 9/ 3/02 Mailed application to Nathanson Adoption Services for Homestudy. 9/9/02 Talked with our friends to be a reference for Homestudy (requirement). They were sooo happy for us and said yes! 9/10/02 Mailed I-600A to the INS (this is for US Approval to Adopt) Got Byron's employment verification letter 9/11/02 First visit with Social Worker 9/15/02 Talked with our pastor to serve as final reference for homestudy. He was so happy and said yes! 9/18/02 Second Visit with Social Worker 9/23/02 Penney's doctor's appointment, got medical clearance letter. 9/24/02 Mailed completed reference letters to social worker. 10/4/02 Final Visit with Social Worker at our home 10/10/02 Had fingerprints done for both FBI and SBI clearance. Hand delivered fingerprints to SBI to speed them up. 10/15/02 FBI cleared our fingerprints. Results sent to INS. 10/16/02 Received SBI Clearance letters. Received completed Homestudy and Agency and SW License.copies. Nathanson sent homestudy to INS. 10/23/02 Byron's doctor's appointment. Got medical clearance letter. Completed Petition to Adopt Completed Letter of Obligation 10/31/02 Received I171H, INS Approval to adopt 2 children under age 5! 11/4/02 Notified of who our translator would be. THRILLED!! 11/5/02 Completed Power of Attorney. 11/6/02 Completed State Authentications (in the Secretary of State's Office) 11/9/02 Told Byron's family about our plans. They were very happy. 11/11/02 Told Penney's family about our plans. They were also happy for us. 11/14/02 Mailed dossier to courier in Washington DC for final Authentications. (*we delayed mailing 1 week b/c of the death of Byron's grandfather) 11/17/02 Told our Sunday School Class about our adoption plans. THRILLED! 12/2/02 Dossier authentications complete and shipped to Ukraine. WOOHOO! 12/9/02 Dossier arrived in Ukraine. Translations begin. 12/13/02 Translations Complete. Dossier submitted to the NAC for approval 01/09/03 Visa applications sent via courier to Ukrainian Consulate. 01/14/03 Notified of a major paperwork problem--although it wasn't a problem. This required LOTS of communication with our translator, the State Dept, the US Embassy in Kiev, and lots of other folks. 01/27/03 Received Visas back from Ukrainian Consulate. 01/28/03 Problem (or non-problem) finally corrected. Dossier officially approved. Now we wait for a travel date. 2/13/03 Received our appointment. We have an appointment on March 6!!! 3/5/03 Departed USA for Ukraine! |
What is an Independent Ukrainian Adoption? Ukraine is one of the few countries that allows people to complete an independent adoption. An independent adoption is one that is done without an agency. Agencies are not legally allowed to complete an adoption in Ukraine. The philosophy behind this (which we personally love) is that people should not be making money off of the situation of orphaned children. Being the control freak that she is, Penney liked the idea of an independent adoption, because it meant that we were in control of the process and not reliant on an agency and their bureaucracy. Another upside to doing an independent adoption is the cost. A typical agency adoption costs over $30,000. By removing the cost of an agency, an independent adoption costs about 1/3 of that. That reduction in cost is what is allowing us to adopt two children. We (the adoptive parents) do all of the legwork and paperwork necessary to get the adoption rolling. After doing the paperwork and legwork and knowing what we now know, we would be very upset at paying that outrageous fee an agency charges. But independent adoption is not for everyone. It was just the right choice for us. Now at this point, you are probably a little curious about how the adoption will work. Just because we are doing an independent adoption does not mean that we are/will be alone in this process. Cathy and her group have provided us the guidance we needed to get all of the paperwork done. Once we travel to Ukraine, we will be working with a facilitator and translator who will assist us in completing the adoption. Our translator will be with us at all times during our journey in Ukraine. We have already been in contact with her and we absolutely love her! Ukraine, unlike many other countries, does not allow what is known as "pre-selection". This means that prior to our travel to Ukraine, we will not know which children we will be adopting. Once we arrive in Ukraine, we will meet with the director of the National Adoption Center. We will discuss with her our desire to adopt and what we are "looking for". We are hoping (and have been approved) to adopt 2 children under the age of 5. We are not specific as to gender or age (we are willing to go over age 5 also). We are also willing to accept children that have minor medical conditions that are treatable here in the USA (crossed eyes, heart murmur, cleft palate, etc). We would love to adopt a sibling group, but that is not a requirement. But we will NOT split up a sibling group. We will then review the files of available children. Children that we are interested in meeting, we will travel to their region and interact with them. Once we make our decision, another paperwork chase begins! We will most likely be in Ukraine for about a month, plus or minus a week. Once the adoption is final in Ukraine, we must travel to Warsaw, Poland for 2-3 days to get the children's visa to enter the USA. That is the closest embassy that issues US Visas. Then we come home! |
What? You guys are adopting? Yes. We are! And we are SOOOO excited. During the summer of 2002, we were led by God to create our family through adoption. It was an amazing experience (that we will chronicle at a later time) and we literally felt like God was sending us the proverbial "burning bush". Little did we know 2 years ago when Penney started working at the Secretary of State's Office that all international adoption paperwork must pass through the Secretary of State's office. So Penney asked a lady that processed adoption paperwork about some agencies and programs in the area. This lady then forwarded us some information and contact information from a lady named Cathy Harris who helps people complete an Independent Ukrainian Adoption. She has helped over 600 families and 800 children become forever families. These families have created a network called The Independent Ukrainian Adoption Family Network. They are an incredible group that provides support and guidance to new and existing families who are/have adopted from Ukraine. After talking with several IUAFN families in our area that had adopted through this program and asking lots of questions (we thought it was just too good to be true), we felt that this was for us. So we officially began our journey the middle of August. We started our homestudy in September. We hope to travel sometime in February/March to bring our children home! See our timeline below for how things have progressed. |
Our Ukrainian Adoption |
What? You guys are adopting? Yes. We are! And we are SOOOO excited. During the summer of 2002, we were led by God to create our family through adoption. It was an amazing experience (that we will chronicle at a later time) and we literally felt like God was sending us the proverbial "burning bush". Little did we know 2 years ago when Penney started working at the Secretary of State's Office that all international adoption paperwork must pass through the Secretary of State's office. So Penney asked a lady that processed adoption paperwork about some agencies and programs in the area. This lady then forwarded us some information and contact information from a lady named Cathy Harris who helps people complete an Independent Ukrainian Adoption. She has helped over 600 families and 800 children become forever families. These families have created a network called The Independent Ukrainian Adoption Family Network. They are an incredible group that provides support and guidance to new and existing families who are/have adopted from Ukraine. After talking with several IUAFN families in our area that had adopted through this program and asking lots of questions (we thought it was just too good to be true), we felt that this was for us. So we officially began our journey the middle of August. We started our homestudy in September. We hope to travel sometime in February/March to bring our children home! See our timeline below for how things have progressed. |
What is an Independent Ukrainian Adoption? Ukraine is one of the few countries that allows people to complete an independent adoption. An independent adoption is one that is done without an agency. Agencies are not legally allowed to complete an adoption in Ukraine. The philosophy behind this (which we personally love) is that people should not be making money off of the situation of orphaned children. Being the control freak that she is, Penney liked the idea of an independent adoption, because it meant that we were in control of the process and not reliant on an agency and their bureaucracy. Another upside to doing an independent adoption is the cost. A typical agency adoption costs over $30,000. By removing the cost of an agency, an independent adoption costs about 1/3 of that. That reduction in cost is what is allowing us to adopt two children. We (the adoptive parents) do all of the legwork and paperwork necessary to get the adoption rolling. After doing the paperwork and legwork and knowing what we now know, we would be very upset at paying that outrageous fee an agency charges. But independent adoption is not for everyone. It was just the right choice for us. Now at this point, you are probably a little curious about how the adoption will work. Just because we are doing an independent adoption does not mean that we are/will be alone in this process. Cathy and her group have provided us the guidance we needed to get all of the paperwork done. Once we travel to Ukraine, we will be working with a facilitator and translator who will assist us in completing the adoption. Our translator will be with us at all times during our journey in Ukraine. We have already been in contact with her and we absolutely love her! Ukraine, unlike many other countries, does not allow what is known as "pre-selection". This means that prior to our travel to Ukraine, we will not know which children we will be adopting. Once we arrive in Ukraine, we will meet with the director of the National Adoption Center. We will discuss with her our desire to adopt and what we are "looking for". We are hoping (and have been approved) to adopt 2 children under the age of 5. We are not specific as to gender or age (we are willing to go over age 5 also). We are also willing to accept children that have minor medical conditions that are treatable here in the USA (crossed eyes, heart murmur, cleft palate, etc). We would love to adopt a sibling group, but that is not a requirement. But we will NOT split up a sibling group. We will then review the files of available children. Children that we are interested in meeting, we will travel to their region and interact with them. Once we make our decision, another paperwork chase begins! We will most likely be in Ukraine for about a month, plus or minus a week. Once the adoption is final in Ukraine, we must travel to Warsaw, Poland for 2-3 days to get the children's visa to enter the USA. That is the closest embassy that issues US Visas. Then we come home! |
Our Adoption Timeline 7/11/02 Spoke with co-worker about adoption agencies. She sent Penney Cathy Harris' information (which she had just received 1 day prior). We both read it for several days and did LOTS of research over the next week. 7/18/02 Emailed Cathy Harris to get more information on Ukraine Adoption 7/19/02 Received 3 emails from IUAFN families in Raleigh/Durham who had completed Ukraine Adoption with Cathy in the last six months. 7/25/02 Met with one IUAFN Family--Wonderful experience!! 7/26/02 Began researching homestudy agencies. Called about 5 or 6. Really liked Nathanson Adoption Services. Instant connection with them 8/ 7/02 Met with second IUAFN Family--Equally wonderful experience!! 8/21/02 Went to Vital Records, got Marriage Certificates. Got notarized copies of passports Got Penney's employment verification letter 9/ 3/02 Mailed application to Nathanson Adoption Services for Homestudy. 9/9/02 Talked with our friends to be a reference for Homestudy (requirement). They were sooo happy for us and said yes! 9/10/02 Mailed I-600A to the INS (this is for US Approval to Adopt) Got Byron's employment verification letter 9/11/02 First visit with Social Worker 9/15/02 Talked with our pastor to serve as final reference for homestudy. He was so happy and said yes! 9/18/02 Second Visit with Social Worker 9/23/02 Penney's doctor's appointment, got medical clearance letter. 9/24/02 Mailed completed reference letters to social worker. 10/4/02 Final Visit with Social Worker at our home 10/10/02 Had fingerprints done for both FBI and SBI clearance. Hand delivered fingerprints to SBI to speed them up. 10/15/02 FBI cleared our fingerprints. Results sent to INS. 10/16/02 Received SBI Clearance letters. Received completed Homestudy and Agency and SW License.copies. Nathanson sent homestudy to INS. 10/23/02 Byron's doctor's appointment. Got medical clearance letter. Completed Petition to Adopt Completed Letter of Obligation 10/31/02 Received I171H, INS Approval to adopt 2 children under age 5! 11/4/02 Notified of who our translator would be. THRILLED!! 11/5/02 Completed Power of Attorney. 11/6/02 Completed State Authentications (in the Secretary of State's Office) 11/9/02 Told Byron's family about our plans. They were very happy. 11/11/02 Told Penney's family about our plans. They were also happy for us. 11/14/02 Mailed dossier to courier in Washington DC for final Authentications. (*we delayed mailing 1 week b/c of the death of Byron's grandfather) 11/17/02 Told our Sunday School Class about our adoption plans. THRILLED! 12/2/02 Dossier authentications complete and shipped to Ukraine. WOOHOO! 12/9/02 Dossier arrived in Ukraine. Translations begin. 12/13/02 Translations Complete. Dossier submitted to the NAC for approval 01/09/03 Visa applications sent via courier to Ukrainian Consulate. 01/14/03 Notified of a major paperwork problem--although it wasn't a problem. This required LOTS of communication with our translator, the State Dept, the US Embassy in Kiev, and lots of other folks. 01/27/03 Received Visas back from Ukrainian Consulate. 01/28/03 Problem (or non-problem) finally corrected. Dossier officially approved. Now we wait for a travel date. 2/13/03 Received our appointment. We have an appointment on March 6!!! 3/5/03 Departed USA for Ukraine! |
How can I/We help you on your Adoption Journey? Of the people we have told, this question has probably been about the 3rd question people ask after 1)Why are you adopting from Ukraine? (which we've already covered above) and 2)Aren't you excited? (which you should know by now we ARE!!). So...how can you help us? Well first and foremost you can pray for us. And if you were already doing that, continue to pray for us. There is nothing materially that we need. But we do need your support, thoughts, and prayers. But if you would like to do more, you can donate to the orphanages. We will be making our own personal donation to the orphanage that our children come from. After all, this orphanage will have been their home and we will be leaving behind many many children. Most of the orphanages are very poor. We will be taking some medical supplies, vitamins, toothbrushes, and toothpaste with us in our luggage to donate. But, due to luggage and customs restrictions (and the fact we will be there for a MONTH), we are limited in what we can carry. So what most families do and what we also plan to do is buy items to be donated once we are there. This helps in many ways, 1)It helps support the Ukrainian economy (the average person's income is $42/month) 2)Items in Ukraine are cheaper than they are here in USA in most situations 3)For medicine, vitamins, etc, the instructions will be in Russian, which is helpful since most Ukrainians do not speak English 4)The money will go to items that are specifically needed for that particular orphanage. For example, one recent family was able to buy 20 snow suits, mittens, shoes, and hats for $200. This was helpful since they had already received their first snow of the year. Another family was able to pay to have the heating system repaired for about $100 in their children's orphanage. So if you feel led to donate, please feel free to Contact Us. |
Helpful Links Cathy Harris' Website Information on Ukraine Adoption Nathanson Adoption Services (Our Homestudy provider whom we HIGHLY reccomend) Some Families' websites who have also completed an independent Ukrainian Adoption |
"For this child I prayed, and God hath given me my petition which I asked of him" (1 Samuel 1:27) |
The Kids' Room Since we don't know the age or gender of the children we will be adopting, we went with a gender-neutral room. We have put twin beds in the room for now. If we see that we need a crib, we will have our parents or friends get one before we get home. Byron is responsible for the mural. He did a beautiful job. He included our cat Pug, and the bluebird of happiness. We hope the kids will like it! All those art lessons Byron's parents paid for finally paid off! Penney is responsible for the bedding and curtains. She made both of the bedspreads and the curtains. Penney and her sister are responsible for the framed tissue paper art on the walls. |
This Page Updated
4/12/07
