International Adoption (1 Viewer)

[John Gates]

My wife and I are preparing to adopt two daughters from Colombia, South America. We've been in the process since February of 2003, and we have about a year to go. Currently, our application was just approved by the Colombian government, and now the search for a pair of orphaned girls can begin. Whew!

Anyone else here done international adoption before or in process? I'd love to hear your stories and/or experiences.

Regards,

John

 

[Randy Tennison]

My wife and I are in the process to adopt from Russia. We are going through Children's Hope, and so far, they have been wonderful.

Right now, we are waiting for the INS (or BCIS) to approve our I-600. Then, we send everything to Moscow.

We just attended the monthly meeting, and saw about 10 kids who have found their "forever family". They were so cute. We saw one couple who adopted 3 kids from Bogota. Two boys and a girl. They were very cute.

Le me know how it's going. This can be a very frustrating process (we are on week 11 of the 6-8 week wait from the INS).

 

[John Gates]

Randy,

Congratulations! My wife says that you can go to the BCIS site and actually check status there. Our 6-8 week wait at BCIS turned into a 6 month deal. Apparently they lost our homestudy the first time around. That's been fixed, and we got our I-171h at the end of December.

In Colombia, there's about a 6 month wait for the Gov to approve the dossier, but after that the search begins for us. We have about 6 to 18 months to go at this point because we are looking for a sib group within a specific age range (5 and younger).

So glad to hear that you are close to sending your dossier to Moscow! How exciting!! Do you have to take 2 trips to Russia to finalize?

We are working through Children's Hope also! They are great.

Please keep me posted on how you are moving along in the process....

John

 

[John Gates]

Randy,

Congratulations! My wife says that you can go to the BCIS site and actually check status there. Our 6-8 week wait at BCIS turned into a 6 month deal. Apparently they lost our homestudy the first time around. That's been fixed, and we got our I-171h at the end of December.

In Colombia, there's about a 6 month wait for the Gov to approve the dossier, but after that the search begins for us. We have about 6 to 18 months to go at this point because we are looking for a sib group within a specific age range (5 and younger).

So glad to hear that you are close to sending your dossier to Moscow! How exciting!! Do you have to take 2 trips to Russia to finalize?

We are working through Children's Hope also! They are great.

Please keep me posted on how you are moving along in the process....

John

 

[Jason Merrick]

Just saw this story on CNN... figured that was what this thread was about.

Romania Virtually Outlaws Foreign Adoptions

 

[Jason Merrick]

Just saw this story on CNN... figured that was what this thread was about.

Romania Virtually Outlaws Foreign Adoptions

 

[Randy Tennison]

Yeah, we have to make two trips. It's expensive, but worth it.

6-18 months? Wow! We are hoping to be done by the end of the year. It should be 2-3 months from the time they get the dossier until we get our referral.

We just had our monthly meeting last night, and saw the new kids. There was a little Russian girl there, 11 months old, who melted everyone in the room. Big blue eyes, blonde hair. And this quizzical look on her face. What a cutie.

Adoption is a test of patience. Good luck!

 

[Randy Tennison]

Yeah, we have to make two trips. It's expensive, but worth it.

6-18 months? Wow! We are hoping to be done by the end of the year. It should be 2-3 months from the time they get the dossier until we get our referral.

We just had our monthly meeting last night, and saw the new kids. There was a little Russian girl there, 11 months old, who melted everyone in the room. Big blue eyes, blonde hair. And this quizzical look on her face. What a cutie.

Adoption is a test of patience. Good luck!

 

[Randy Tennison]

NEWS FLASH * * * UPDATE * * * NEWS FLASH

Last night, in the mail, was our I-600a form, approved! YES! Now, we have to send our dossier to the Secretary of State to be Apostilled, and then, it's off to Moscow it goes!

Prayers work!

 

[Randy Tennison]

NEWS FLASH * * * UPDATE * * * NEWS FLASH

Last night, in the mail, was our I-600a form, approved! YES! Now, we have to send our dossier to the Secretary of State to be Apostilled, and then, it's off to Moscow it goes!

Prayers work!

 

[John Gates]

Right on!! Congratulations, Randy. I'm sure there were lots of happy dances at the Tennison home last night. I'm so excited for you!

John

 

[John Gates]

Right on!! Congratulations, Randy. I'm sure there were lots of happy dances at the Tennison home last night. I'm so excited for you!

John

 

[LDfan]

I've heard it's very expensive to adopt from countries such as Russia. Is this true?


Jeff

 

[LDfan]

I've heard it's very expensive to adopt from countries such as Russia. Is this true?


Jeff

 

[Randy Tennison]

Very true. I would say it will be over $20,000.00. However, there is a $10,000.00 tax credit from the feds, and a $10,000.00 tax credit from the state that helps offset it.

It's just coming up with the money that sucks.

There was some dancing, but we are busy getting ready to go on our last "childless" vacation. We are going on our 3rd Disney cruise. Since we own Disney Vacation Club, the cruise is already paid for, so we thought "use it or lose it". We leave Saturday.

 

[Randy Tennison]

Very true. I would say it will be over $20,000.00. However, there is a $10,000.00 tax credit from the feds, and a $10,000.00 tax credit from the state that helps offset it.

It's just coming up with the money that sucks.

There was some dancing, but we are busy getting ready to go on our last "childless" vacation. We are going on our 3rd Disney cruise. Since we own Disney Vacation Club, the cruise is already paid for, so we thought "use it or lose it". We leave Saturday.