Why Ukraine? Why not?

My husband found a particular agency that he wanted to use for Russia, several years back, but they were waiting to receive their accreditation back. We called them and they said they would receive it at any time. So, we sent for an application packet. We kept checking the website. No accreditation. About a year later we mailed in the papers. Still no accreditation. My husband called after a few months to ask about their accreditation. They still didn't have it. They were returning people's deposits back to them. We hadn't given them any money, but they had our papers. We hoped they would contact us. They never did.

We had inquired about a couple of other agencies. My husband didn't want to use any other agency but this one that wasn't accredited. During our wait time for this agency's accreditation, we heard about several adoptive families at church. Our church is large and we just never ran into these people to ask them questions. Everyone has such busy lifestyles these days also. We also heard about a hosting program that brought children from Russia. I asked the person who mentioned it. She said she would find out and get back to me. She never did. We waited still. There were few agencies with Russian accreditation then.

We wanted to go with an agency in our state for convenience sake and because we didn't know the first thing about international adoption. I decided to look on the internet for other former Soviet States to see their requirements for adopting. We had heard about Romania years ago, when our second one was a baby. We saw that famous (or infamous?) documentary on TV. It showed people going over there and adopting the babies and children. At that time, it never occurred to us that we could do that. Then again, at that time, we had young children that were keeping us very busy. We looked at Kazhakstan. We even went to a seminar where they told us they wouldn't allow us to adopt a child over eight. They told us that children over eight had more emotional problems. We were really hoping for an older child. So, we knew this agency wasn't for us and kept looking on the internet.

Ukraine became an option, but we just didn't know anyone who had adopted from Ukraine. Also, at the time we were looking, Ukraine was shut down. I mentioned to a friend of mine, who had adopted a brother and sister from Russia who were twelve and thirteen at the time, that we had been considering adoption for several years. She gave me her friend's number, but I never got around to calling. It didn't seem like the right time. One day, the friend who adopted the brother and sister, called me up to tell me of a Day Camp sponsored through her church. They were looking for host families. This Camp, several years before, was how she met her children. Their intention was just to host, then they fell in love with their children. (They are very sweet children and have adjusted very quickly. I would never have guessed they were from Russia unless I was told.) This time the Camp children were coming from Ukraine. My husband was very interested, so I signed us up.

And the first agency? They still don't have their Russian accreditation. We would still be waiting.