FROM THE BEGINNING.....

Some people have asked us "Why are you adopting?" Zenon's answer would go something like this: We are so blessed as a family to live in the United States, and have been blessed with the ability to share--- he might ask this question back "why wouldn't we?"

Zenon and I have talked about an adoption from the Ukraine for over three years. He has wanted to adopt ever since our oldest daughter was born. We began to seriously talk about the possibility in April of 2005. At that time, I began the process of surfing the web, reading everything I could get my hands on, and researching what it would take in order to pursue and adoption. I spent hours and hours looking at the requirements, discovering how to proceed, and then we began the paper trail required to adopt. As the end of 2005 approached, we finally had all of our documents ready to mail to Kiev, Ukraine. So, we did. Then, to our disappointment the country "shut down" in December. This means that they would not be taking any new dossiers, or applications. The country went through a organizational process that took most of 2006. All the paperwork that we completed was individually dated and would expire twelve months from the date it was notarized. SO, the original documents were all outdated. The Ukrainian government then opened back up for documents to be accepted in Feb. of 2007.

Back to the drawing board. ALL of our paperwork had to be re-done, all the fees we had paid had to be paid again, and then worked at getting it all ready to resubmit. We mailed our documents to Ukraine and were put on a list to submit them. Our number was to come up in October, and lo and behold, the National Adoption Center office closed AGAIN! So, we knew that once again we would need to wait and then redo some documents, but didn't know how many. We soon discovered that they all didn't need to be redone, and have been pleased with that. We mailed our new "current" application to Kiev (this makes 3 times!) praying that this time we would be able to get our dossier submitted. We were put on a new list, and on Feb. 18, 2008 our dossier was officially accepted! That in itself was a huge milestone for us. I was beginning to wonder if we ever would be able to adopt. Looking, we can see that God was definitely in control of the timing of this process.

The 6-8 weeks of waiting for an Appointment Date began. On March 20, 2008 we received an email from Karen, our contact in Kiev, that we have an official appointment date: Monday, June 9, 2008!!


Phase II

Wow, our very real date!!! This then began the mega search for plane tickets to travel. We were told about a travel agency that works with people who are traveling for humanitarian aid, mission work, and adoptions. This was great because they will handle any travel date changes without adding any date change fees or travel fees to the original ticket price. On top of that, the tickets we were able to get were lower than anything I could find on 18+ web searches that I had done. We decided to travel on Friday and give ourselves a day to rest when we arrive in Ukraine before on Monday appointment. From what we understand the trip will last approximately 14 days or so. Then there is a 10 day waiting period in which we will come home, then we will travel back to Ukraine for a second trip lasting approximately 6-10 days. On the second trip we are planning on bringing home the children that we are hoping to adopt.