Friday, April 30, 2010
Considering Adoption or Foster Parenting?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
State Department Issues Warning About Adoption from Nepal
As reported by Adoption Today magazine:
In mid-February the U.S. State Department issued a statement warning prospective parents from adopting from Nepal. A report issued by the Hague Conference on Private International Law pinpointing the weaknesses of Nepal’s current adoption system prompted the warning.
After a visit to Nepal in November 2009, a Hague delegate reviewed Nepal’s new terms and conditions that went into place in 2008. Included in the report were concerns about falsification of documents, improper financial
gain and lack of a child protection system. The report, in addition to one of the first adoption cases from Nepal to the United States being questionable when the child was found not to be a true orphan whose biological parents were actively searching for him, caused the State Department to issue the warning. The State Department states on its Web site: “We caution prospective adoptive parents who have yet to choose a country that the intercountry adoption system in Nepal is not yet reliable. ”
For additional information, visit http://www.adoptinfo.net/.
In mid-February the U.S. State Department issued a statement warning prospective parents from adopting from Nepal. A report issued by the Hague Conference on Private International Law pinpointing the weaknesses of Nepal’s current adoption system prompted the warning.
After a visit to Nepal in November 2009, a Hague delegate reviewed Nepal’s new terms and conditions that went into place in 2008. Included in the report were concerns about falsification of documents, improper financial
gain and lack of a child protection system. The report, in addition to one of the first adoption cases from Nepal to the United States being questionable when the child was found not to be a true orphan whose biological parents were actively searching for him, caused the State Department to issue the warning. The State Department states on its Web site: “We caution prospective adoptive parents who have yet to choose a country that the intercountry adoption system in Nepal is not yet reliable. ”
For additional information, visit http://www.adoptinfo.net/.
Monday, April 26, 2010
40 percent decline in overseas adoptions by Americans since 2004
Idaho's Impact
Haiti scandal overshadows bigger threat to evangelical adoption efforts.
from Christianity Today
The high-profile legal saga of the 10 Idaho-based Baptists arrested in January for attempting to smuggle 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic is winding down. But evangelical adoption advocates wonder what the long-term impact will be.
Leading orphan care advocate Russell Moore suggested in the days following the arrests that the scandal might be a black eye to evangelicals' adoption efforts worldwide. But two months later, Moore said he is no longer worried about a fallout.
"In many ways, the controversy served as an opportunity to clarify what we mean and what we do not mean," said Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "No one in the Christian orphan care community is calling for children to be adopted who are not in fact orphans. And no one is calling for children to be adopted apart from the legitimate processes."
A larger hurdle for international adoptions by evangelicals may be new restrictions on adoptions in countries where they have been most prevalent, including China, Guatemala, Russia, Vietnam, and Liberia.
China, which has traditionally accounted for the majority of adoptions to the U.S., rewrote its qualifications for adoptive parents in 2007. Guatemala, the second-largest source of American adoptions, completely shut down its program in 2008 due to widespread corruption, though it will launch a new adoption system this June. Since 2004, these and other restrictions have resulted in a 40 percent decline in overseas adoptions by Americans—from an all-time high of almost 23,000 in 2004 to fewer than 12,800 in 2009, according to the U.S. State Department.
Read the complete article here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/may/2.14.html?start=1
Haiti scandal overshadows bigger threat to evangelical adoption efforts.
from Christianity Today
The high-profile legal saga of the 10 Idaho-based Baptists arrested in January for attempting to smuggle 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic is winding down. But evangelical adoption advocates wonder what the long-term impact will be.
Leading orphan care advocate Russell Moore suggested in the days following the arrests that the scandal might be a black eye to evangelicals' adoption efforts worldwide. But two months later, Moore said he is no longer worried about a fallout.
"In many ways, the controversy served as an opportunity to clarify what we mean and what we do not mean," said Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "No one in the Christian orphan care community is calling for children to be adopted who are not in fact orphans. And no one is calling for children to be adopted apart from the legitimate processes."
A larger hurdle for international adoptions by evangelicals may be new restrictions on adoptions in countries where they have been most prevalent, including China, Guatemala, Russia, Vietnam, and Liberia.
China, which has traditionally accounted for the majority of adoptions to the U.S., rewrote its qualifications for adoptive parents in 2007. Guatemala, the second-largest source of American adoptions, completely shut down its program in 2008 due to widespread corruption, though it will launch a new adoption system this June. Since 2004, these and other restrictions have resulted in a 40 percent decline in overseas adoptions by Americans—from an all-time high of almost 23,000 in 2004 to fewer than 12,800 in 2009, according to the U.S. State Department.
Read the complete article here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/may/2.14.html?start=1
Monday, April 19, 2010
20 Ways to Become an Adoption Friendly Church or Synagogue
By Paul Golden of Adoption Today Magazine, April 2010.
While most faith groups commonly praise adoption, most American churches and synagogues do not have a single family that adopted a child during the past year. Faith assemblies can and should play a crucial role in encouraging members to “look after orphans in their distress” (James 1:27). Here are some specific ideas on how to become an adoption-friendly church or synagogue:
1. Pray that you and your ministry will become adoption-friendly. Pray that potential couples
will be sensitive to adopting. Pray that the assembly as a whole steps up its involvement
in assisting couples who adopt.
2. Preach key passages on caring for orphans and spiritual adoption. Passages like James
1:26-27 remind us that pure and faultless religion emphasizes care for those who are
least able to care for themselves. Since God cares for us in our affliction, we should care
for orphans in theirs.
3. Invite guest speakers to raise awareness of adoption needs and opportunities. Those
who lead adoption ministries can share their passion in small groups, Sunday School and services. Give members the opportunity to hear about these needs while giving them ways to help.
4. Make adoption resources available to the faith community. A wealth of adoption
resources can be helpful to couples considering adoption. Most of the time misconceptions about the adoption process keep families from considering adoption. The church or synagogue can be a tool to provide helpful facts for couples to make informed decisions.
5. Frequently list pro-adoption ministries and organizations. List them in your bulletin and
have a “resources” link on your Web site connecting to these ministries. You help these
ministries by making them known to your people, but you also assist your people by
providing accessibility to helpful resources.
6. Encourage couples facing infertility to connect with adoptive parents. Some couples hop onto the emotional roller coaster of infertility drugs, and in the process incur huge medical expenses. Graciously counsel those couples to consider the privilege of parenting an adopted child before their emotions and finances are exhausted.
7. Regularly have adoptive parents and birth mothers share their testimony of God’s
goodness and grace. Testimonies can be powerful reminders to the congregation of
what “good” can come out of a “bad” situation.
8. Educate your members regarding the costs involved in the adoption process. Many
members may be unaware of the expenses involved in adoption such as: homestudies,
background checks, attorney fees, airfare and travel costs, especially for international
adoptions. Adoption costs vary from a few thousand dollars to $20,000 or more. The
cost should not scare off potential adoptive families, but should motivate the church
or synagogue to “count the cost” and offer assistance. What price tag can we put on a
young life?
9. Encourage the membership to give financially to adoptive couples. Giving financially to adoptive parents is one of the most — if not the most — significant things you can
do. As potential couples take the giant step of faith in the adoption process, one of the
biggest concerns will be “how are we going to pay for this?” A monetary gift along
with a note of encouragement can greatly encourage the couple by affirming their
decision to pursue adoption.
10. Create a standing fund for adoptions costs. Church or synagogue members can contribute
to this special fund which adoptive families can utilize (either an interest-free loan or one-time gifts to these couples).
11. Challenge Sunday School classes and small groups to raise money for adoptive couples. Love offerings help lessen the financial burden of adoption while exhibiting how the faith community can encourage and support each other. Imagine the surprise on the couples’ faces when they discover that their class sacrificially gave to help in the adoption of their child.
12. Establish an adoptive parents small group in your church or synagogue. Get a key person
to take this on as a ministry. Meet on a monthly or quarterly basis as needed. This support group provides encouragement for those couples in the midst of the adoption process or those contemplating adoption.
13. Create e-mail list-serves of adoptive parents for support and encouragement. Since
the adoption process brings emotional highs and lows, staying connected by e-mail can prove helpful — especially when a couple needs a timely word of encouragement.
14. Connect with local social service agencies. Most counties and states have child welfare and foster care programs in which members should be involved. Many times there is financial assistance for those families who are foster parents or are in fosteradopt programs.
15. Use attorneys or caseworkers within the church or assembly. Some lawyers specializing
in family law are willing to donate their time and expertise to assist a family with the legal documents for adoption. Such volunteers provide both financial savings and peace of mind.
16. Sponsor a child. Find a ministry of like faith that you know and trust — encourage others to do what they can to pray for and financially support orphan and adoption ministries.
17. Participate in mission trips to orphanages abroad. What better way to raise awareness for adoption than to experience the desperate living conditions of others?
18. Maximize special holidays to emphasize adoption. When adoption needs are presented
with sensitivity and discernment, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be ideal times to raise awareness of adoption. A special offering could be collected for an adoptive couple. An adopted child or adoptive parent could give testimony to God’s gift of a family to them. At an
annual Sanctity of Life day, typically the third Sunday each January, discussion of adoption can be a poignant reminder to the church of the devastation of abortion, and at the same time a powerful prompting for the church or synagogue to become adoption-friendly.
19. Celebrate adoption as a faith community. Affirm those who pray and encourage others to adopt. Praise those who give financially to adoptive parents. Celebrate the living object lesson of our own spiritual adoption.
20. Support adopted kids as they struggle with questions of identity, abandonment or
rejection.
Adoption is the ultimate expression and outworking of loving the modern day orphan.
While not everyone will be called to adopt, the faith community can and should do what it
can to encourage and facilitate adoption. Will you help your church or synagogue become
adoption-friendly?
This story can be found at http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=36173&&pn=&p=27
While most faith groups commonly praise adoption, most American churches and synagogues do not have a single family that adopted a child during the past year. Faith assemblies can and should play a crucial role in encouraging members to “look after orphans in their distress” (James 1:27). Here are some specific ideas on how to become an adoption-friendly church or synagogue:
1. Pray that you and your ministry will become adoption-friendly. Pray that potential couples
will be sensitive to adopting. Pray that the assembly as a whole steps up its involvement
in assisting couples who adopt.
2. Preach key passages on caring for orphans and spiritual adoption. Passages like James
1:26-27 remind us that pure and faultless religion emphasizes care for those who are
least able to care for themselves. Since God cares for us in our affliction, we should care
for orphans in theirs.
3. Invite guest speakers to raise awareness of adoption needs and opportunities. Those
who lead adoption ministries can share their passion in small groups, Sunday School and services. Give members the opportunity to hear about these needs while giving them ways to help.
4. Make adoption resources available to the faith community. A wealth of adoption
resources can be helpful to couples considering adoption. Most of the time misconceptions about the adoption process keep families from considering adoption. The church or synagogue can be a tool to provide helpful facts for couples to make informed decisions.
5. Frequently list pro-adoption ministries and organizations. List them in your bulletin and
have a “resources” link on your Web site connecting to these ministries. You help these
ministries by making them known to your people, but you also assist your people by
providing accessibility to helpful resources.
6. Encourage couples facing infertility to connect with adoptive parents. Some couples hop onto the emotional roller coaster of infertility drugs, and in the process incur huge medical expenses. Graciously counsel those couples to consider the privilege of parenting an adopted child before their emotions and finances are exhausted.
7. Regularly have adoptive parents and birth mothers share their testimony of God’s
goodness and grace. Testimonies can be powerful reminders to the congregation of
what “good” can come out of a “bad” situation.
8. Educate your members regarding the costs involved in the adoption process. Many
members may be unaware of the expenses involved in adoption such as: homestudies,
background checks, attorney fees, airfare and travel costs, especially for international
adoptions. Adoption costs vary from a few thousand dollars to $20,000 or more. The
cost should not scare off potential adoptive families, but should motivate the church
or synagogue to “count the cost” and offer assistance. What price tag can we put on a
young life?
9. Encourage the membership to give financially to adoptive couples. Giving financially to adoptive parents is one of the most — if not the most — significant things you can
do. As potential couples take the giant step of faith in the adoption process, one of the
biggest concerns will be “how are we going to pay for this?” A monetary gift along
with a note of encouragement can greatly encourage the couple by affirming their
decision to pursue adoption.
10. Create a standing fund for adoptions costs. Church or synagogue members can contribute
to this special fund which adoptive families can utilize (either an interest-free loan or one-time gifts to these couples).
11. Challenge Sunday School classes and small groups to raise money for adoptive couples. Love offerings help lessen the financial burden of adoption while exhibiting how the faith community can encourage and support each other. Imagine the surprise on the couples’ faces when they discover that their class sacrificially gave to help in the adoption of their child.
12. Establish an adoptive parents small group in your church or synagogue. Get a key person
to take this on as a ministry. Meet on a monthly or quarterly basis as needed. This support group provides encouragement for those couples in the midst of the adoption process or those contemplating adoption.
13. Create e-mail list-serves of adoptive parents for support and encouragement. Since
the adoption process brings emotional highs and lows, staying connected by e-mail can prove helpful — especially when a couple needs a timely word of encouragement.
14. Connect with local social service agencies. Most counties and states have child welfare and foster care programs in which members should be involved. Many times there is financial assistance for those families who are foster parents or are in fosteradopt programs.
15. Use attorneys or caseworkers within the church or assembly. Some lawyers specializing
in family law are willing to donate their time and expertise to assist a family with the legal documents for adoption. Such volunteers provide both financial savings and peace of mind.
16. Sponsor a child. Find a ministry of like faith that you know and trust — encourage others to do what they can to pray for and financially support orphan and adoption ministries.
17. Participate in mission trips to orphanages abroad. What better way to raise awareness for adoption than to experience the desperate living conditions of others?
18. Maximize special holidays to emphasize adoption. When adoption needs are presented
with sensitivity and discernment, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be ideal times to raise awareness of adoption. A special offering could be collected for an adoptive couple. An adopted child or adoptive parent could give testimony to God’s gift of a family to them. At an
annual Sanctity of Life day, typically the third Sunday each January, discussion of adoption can be a poignant reminder to the church of the devastation of abortion, and at the same time a powerful prompting for the church or synagogue to become adoption-friendly.
19. Celebrate adoption as a faith community. Affirm those who pray and encourage others to adopt. Praise those who give financially to adoptive parents. Celebrate the living object lesson of our own spiritual adoption.
20. Support adopted kids as they struggle with questions of identity, abandonment or
rejection.
Adoption is the ultimate expression and outworking of loving the modern day orphan.
While not everyone will be called to adopt, the faith community can and should do what it
can to encourage and facilitate adoption. Will you help your church or synagogue become
adoption-friendly?
This story can be found at http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=36173&&pn=&p=27
T-Shirts that Support Adoption!
Here are some examples of the cute t-shirts that can be purchased through Adoption Bug. You can also help families that are raising money for their adoptions by purchasing items through their "stores" (http://www.adoptionbug.com/fundraiser_current.htm ).
Two Tales From Florida's Foster Care - from the Orlando Sentinel's "Fixing Foster Care" Special Report
One story is tragic:
Can death of a young man save future kids in Florida's foster care?
In the last photo ever taken of him alive, Regis Little is a handsome teen, his head cocked back confidently, a bemused smile across his lips. A faint patch of young beard curls from his chin. Frozen in that moment, he looks invincible.
In reality, the 18-year-old product of Florida's foster-care system was tragically vulnerable.
One night last July, several months after he had aged out of the system, he was found stabbed in a parking lot off International Drive, a crowd of spectators gathered around his body. By the time paramedics arrived, Regis Little was dead.
Continue with story: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-foster-care-freefall-regis-20100413,0,7939142.story
The other is inspiring.
Former foster child travels Road to Independence
When Kamesha Grant turned 18 in November, she packed a suitcase, left her home in St. Cloud, climbed aboard a bus alone and headed for a new life. As a foster child, it was time to move on.
That's the way the system typically works in Florida. But it's not just a shove out the door. In Grant's case, there was something better ahead.
Taking advantage of the state's Road to Independence program available to teens transitioning out of foster care, Grant already had lined up a place to rent, a $1,000 monthly stipend, training in financial matters and life skills, and a detailed plan for her future.
When local child-welfare advocates want an example of how things can go right, Grant often becomes Exhibit A. She is bright, personable and exceedingly polite, and she did something almost unheard of in Department of Children and Families history: She actually asked to go back into foster care.
"Kamesha gets a lot of the credit for being where she is," said Bethanie Barber, her guardian ad litem, the court-appointed attorney charged with advocating for Grant's best interests. "She is very, very savvy, she has incredible internal motivation and she was absolutely receptive to everything we put in front of her."
Continue story - http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-foster-care-freefall-kamesha-20100419,0,2535312.story
Can death of a young man save future kids in Florida's foster care?
In the last photo ever taken of him alive, Regis Little is a handsome teen, his head cocked back confidently, a bemused smile across his lips. A faint patch of young beard curls from his chin. In reality, the 18-year-old product of Florida's foster-care system was tragically vulnerable.
One night last July, several months after he had aged out of the system, he was found stabbed in a parking lot off International Drive, a crowd of spectators gathered around his body. By the time paramedics arrived, Regis Little was dead.
Continue with story: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-foster-care-freefall-regis-20100413,0,7939142.story
The other is inspiring.
Former foster child travels Road to Independence
That's the way the system typically works in Florida. But it's not just a shove out the door. In Grant's case, there was something better ahead.
Taking advantage of the state's Road to Independence program available to teens transitioning out of foster care, Grant already had lined up a place to rent, a $1,000 monthly stipend, training in financial matters and life skills, and a detailed plan for her future.
When local child-welfare advocates want an example of how things can go right, Grant often becomes Exhibit A. She is bright, personable and exceedingly polite, and she did something almost unheard of in Department of Children and Families history: She actually asked to go back into foster care.
"Kamesha gets a lot of the credit for being where she is," said Bethanie Barber, her guardian ad litem, the court-appointed attorney charged with advocating for Grant's best interests. "She is very, very savvy, she has incredible internal motivation and she was absolutely receptive to everything we put in front of her."
Continue story - http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-foster-care-freefall-kamesha-20100419,0,2535312.story
Friday, April 16, 2010
Learn about the Challenges of International Adoption
You may link to and listen to the show here: http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-04-14/international-adoption
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Opportunity to Work with Orphans in India
Children's HopeChest is looking for 9 people who are interested in their FIRST vision trip to INDIA June 20 - July 3. The will be an amazing trip to Delhi to work with a school called the The Good Samaritan. On the trip you will work with Dalit children and orphans.
Here are the details: http://www.hopechest.org/india-trip-june-2010/
or email - vince@hopechest.org
Here are the details: http://www.hopechest.org/india-trip-june-2010/
or email - vince@hopechest.org
Parents are Moving Forward with Their Russian Adoptions
To Russia, for love: Adoptive parents on edge as suspension threatened
By Jessica Ravitz
Valera remembered being left in the Russian snow. How he lost his lower arms and some of his toes, he wasn't always sure. At times, he said he was in a fire. The truth of what the 14-year-old experienced in his early years, no one will ever know.
The orphanage where he lives said Valera was abandoned as a small child at a hospital in St. Petersburg, Russia. He had gangrene, the result of meningitis and an infection, which forced amputations. He was released to the orphanage in Nizhny Lomov, where he's waited nine years for parents and a home to call his own.
On Saturday, Stephen Jack and his wife, Christine, will leave their Goldsboro, North Carolina, home to fly to Russia, the final step in a 15-month journey they hope will give the boy what he's always wanted.
"Having never seen him and only knowing a little bit about him, I still feel attached to that child," said Jack, 53, who already has six children, four of them adopted. "I understand he can talk his way into your heart and mind in no time. When the world is opened up for him, who knows what his capabilities and possibilities are? ... If all goes well, on the 21st he becomes my son."
It is a trip the Jacks will take with trepidation.
The actions Thursday of a Tennessee woman who put her adopted 7-year-old son on a plane and returned him to Russia, saying he was violent and that officials misled her family, puts Americans in the process of adopting from Russia on edge. Officials in Moscow have threatened to suspend all American adoptions and the Jacks face a two-week process involving a court appearance and loads of paperwork before they can fly home with Valera.
"What this woman did to us is put us on pins and needles," Jack said. "My wife has been beside herself, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned."
The adoptions of about 3,000 Russian children by Americans are in progress, according to Tom DiFilipo, president of the Joint Council on International Children's Services, an advocacy group for children in need of families. Russia is the second country this year, after Haiti, in which adoptions have been thrown into a tailspin.
No suspension has been announced, but mere talk of such a recommendation spawned a campaign on Monday by the council to galvanize the adoption community and child advocates. People are being encouraged to sign a letter to President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (which will be presented to them Wednesday morning), post blogs and share videos about adoption successes.
"Our message is this is an isolated incident. The adoption system did not fail. What failed was the decision-making process of this adoptive mother," DiFilipo said. What Torry Hansen of Tennessee did is "outrageous and indefensible, and not indicative of the average adoptive parent. One-hundred-thousand people adopt every year. I don't know of another case like this."
The case has rocked the adoption community.
"I talked to parents yesterday, and they're just devastated," said Deborah Gray, a child and family therapist, trainer and author, based in Seattle, Washington, who has 20-plus-years experience working on attachment, trauma and grief issues.
"It makes it seem like these kids are defective, that adoption itself is not a permanent status. ... It's a public embarrassment," she said. "The vast majority of families are enriched by adoption. To have this kind of approach is really off the wall. I can't understand why it would have gotten to this point."
Adoptive parents can feel overwhelmed during transition
She and other advocates said they wish Hansen had reached out for assistance and tapped services available for parents before shipping the child back to Russia after six months.
"There are so many services that were available to her. She could have contacted FRUA [Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption] which is a resource-rich place, gotten a good psychiatric assessment, including hospitalization if necessary to figure out what made this little guy tick," Gray said.
The incident may have been a wake-up call to agencies and those in the adoption community to make sure adoptive families are prepared for challenges and have resources for help lined up in advance, especially if they live in rural parts of the country, said Sue Gainor, national chair of Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, a volunteer-led nonprofit that offers support and community.
Gainor, who adopted a son from Moscow in 2001, said there are between 600,000 and 800,000 orphans in Russia, with an additional 80,000 to 100,000 in hospitals awaiting placement in orphanages.
"When you slow adoptions, you affect a lot of children," she said. "There's lots of angst in the adoption community. The minute you see the picture of that prospective child, that kid is yours."
Being a parent, child advocates and members of the adoption community add, means helping a child adjust to change and work through challenges.
"This is just so sad because that kid had no chance whatsoever," said Larisa Mason, who directs a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, adoption agency and serves on the board of the National Council for Adoption. "A 7-year-old who changed his whole life within six months -- new language, new food, a new mother -- no question he would have issues. Even a dog would have issues."
In addition to hoping adoptions continue uninterrupted, many also want Hansen punished for her actions.
Natasha Shaginian-Needham is the founder and director of Happy Families International Center in Cold Spring, New York. The agency, established in 1992, helps orphans with special needs (including Valera), with adoptions being part of its work.
"The mother who finds somebody on the Internet, who sold his services for $200 in order to pick up and deliver [him] ... in Russia, demonstrates serious neglect and abandonment," she said. "There was a very high risk that the child could have been met by a pedophile or worse, a killer. The community in Russia is outraged by the fact that the mother may not be punished at all for her inhuman action."
Prospective adoptive mothers like Andrea Wright of Wake Forest, North Carolina, hope she, her husband, Kenneth, and the boy they want to adopt aren't punished because of Hansen's actions.
Leaving St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, Wright was overwhelmed with joy and anticipation. The 40-year-old fundraiser and her husband had just spent a week bonding with a little boy they are on track to soon call their own.
The hopeful first-time parents arrived armed with toys to engage little Andrei, who will turn 1 later this month. In awe and with hearts melting, they watched as the child teetered into the room, clasping the hands of an orphanage caregiver.
Of all the toys they brought him, stacking balls and cars included, his favorite item: Cheerios. Though he was a little reluctant at first, he warmed up during their stay. When they left him, he waved his arms to say goodbye.
In six to eight weeks, they have plans to return to Russia to appear in court, the next phase in their journey to become parents.
"We've been working on the process for close to a year. It's been one procedural thing after another. ... We are so prepared to be parents and have worked so hard to get to this point," she said. "We're hoping that since we've been to Russia once that we'll be allowed to continue. We're trying to go with a lot of faith and prayers at this point that it'll all work out."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/13/russian.adoption.families/index.html?hpt=C1
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