Good news/bad news day for us.

jillianmb · February 2012

Good news: we had our home visit and it went great! Our caseworker just walked through the house and wrote a few notes down. She even didn't look in closets or in the basement. It was very easy. She just needs our tax info yet and then she will be finished our homestudy! It feels great to finish this stage of our adoption.

Bad news: just read today in the news that Russia is putting a hold on all adoptions to the US. Has something to do with them wanting stricter regulations on adoptive parent screening (after a few horror stories of parents abusing Russian kids or that one where the mom sent her son back to Russia). From what I can gather it sounds like the regulations are already in a document signed by Hilary Clinton this summer, but they have not yet been put into effect. Russia wants to stop all adoptions until they are put into effect. We are praying that both governments act quickly to resolve this situation!

We thought we'd be celebrating finishing our homestudy tonight but now we feel apprehensive. The roller coaster begins. Thanks for reading. Smile

jessica_gail2 · February 2012

Congrats on finishing the home study! It seems like this entire process is a roller coaster, but you at least sound like you're in a good spot with it. Hopefully they can speed things up and get everything into effect and you can have your forever baby soon!!

Jenn is Silly · February 2012

I could be mistaken, but I believe they've done this previously, put a hold on all US adoptions of Russian children. If I remember correctly it only lasted a few months. As much as they would like to, unfortunately their country can not support all of the children needing homes, considering how long it's taken Korea (who still isn't even 100% there) I don't see this being permanent.

Praying for you, your husband, and your son!

CaptainSerious · February 2012

I'm glad the home visit went so well!

I'd talk to your agency and see what they think about the situation with Russia. I know that Russia has been talking about doing this for years, and even said at one point that maybe they should just stop all adoptions to the US permanently. Truth be told, I think they just like threatening that so that they look strong when abuse allegations and other stories make the press. As Jenn said, I don't think they can handle the kids they have, and they need to still allow US adoptions. That being said, a need never stopped a headstrong government from shooting itself in its own foot.

I just checked the US Dept. of State (DOS) website, and they haven't issued an alert on this. The last thing they have for Russia is about the accord they signed with Clinton. Is it possible that the article was older, or talking about the threats the Russians keep making but have yet to follow through on?

Again, your agency may be able to shed some light on this. Short of calling the DOS directly, they'd be the ones who'd have access to the most recent information.

jillianmb · February 2012

The article was not older (there were a number published on Feb 12), but you are right that this is something Russia has done a few times in the past decade. I am not worried that our adoption will be "canceled," only that it will be delayed. Thanks for the advice- it makes me feel more optimistic. Our agency sends weekly updates so I am waiting to hear what they say about this in the update.

CaptainSerious · February 2012

Okay, I just did a search and read a few articles. It seems the Foreign Ministry has asked the government to halt US adoptions until an agreement is signed allowing them to have monitors inspect prospective adoptive homes. There is no word on if the government will follow that recommendation and the US DOS says that reports that adoptions will be halted have not been confirmed.

I completely understand the fear that the process will be delayed indefinitely. We almost switched programs due to similar fears at one point. If they do halt adoptions, does your agency operate in any other countries you might be interested in adopting from? Since you haven't put together a dossier yet, there's likely to be minimal cost in switching programs at this point, if it comes down to that.

jillianmb · February 2012

CaptainSerious:
Okay, I just did a search and read a few articles. It seems the Foreign Ministry has asked the government to halt US adoptions until an agreement is signed allowing them to have monitors inspect prospective adoptive homes. There is no word on if the government will follow that recommendation and the US DOS says that reports that adoptions will be halted have not been confirmed.

I completely understand the fear that the process will be delayed indefinitely. We almost switched programs due to similar fears at one point. If they do halt adoptions, does your agency operate in any other countries you might be interested in adopting from? Since you haven't put together a dossier yet, there's likely to be minimal cost in switching programs at this point, if it comes down to that.

Well I just got an email from our agency and it looks like Moscow (which is where our little guy is) is not accepting any new dossiers for one month. This will not delay us much, if at all, because we do not even have our dossier put together yet. Additionally, they said the DOE (Department of Education) is typically more cooperative with special needs adoptions, which ours is.

Yes our agency works in other countries so worst case we could switch, but since we are pursuing a specific little boy it would take a lot to get us to switch. Hopefully it never comes to that!

CaptainSerious · February 2012

Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were working towards the adoption of a specific child.

Best of luck to you!

BenandSuzy · February 2012

We adopted from Russia back in 2007, but I still follow it. I read yesterday briefly on our agency's website that as of now there are a few regions/ judges that are not approving adoptions but for the most part it is business as usual.

I have a hard time thinking they will halt adoptions with the amount of money international adoptions are bringing into the country. Now Russia is 4 trips (it was three by the time we traveled) and they are making it harder, but it is still happening.

Hope you bring your little boy home soon!

jillianmb · February 2012

BenandSuzy:
We adopted from Russia back in 2007, but I still follow it. I read yesterday briefly on our agency's website that as of now there are a few regions/ judges that are not approving adoptions but for the most part it is business as usual.
I have a hard time thinking they will halt adoptions with the amount of money international adoptions are bringing into the country. Now Russia is 4 trips (it was three by the time we traveled) and they are making it harder, but it is still happening.

Hope you bring your little boy home soon!

Why do you say 4 trips? It was 2 when we started and now it is 3 for us.

BenandSuzy · February 2012

jillianmb:
BenandSuzy:
We adopted from Russia back in 2007, but I still follow it. I read yesterday briefly on our agency's website that as of now there are a few regions/ judges that are not approving adoptions but for the most part it is business as usual.
I have a hard time thinking they will halt adoptions with the amount of money international adoptions are bringing into the country. Now Russia is 4 trips (it was three by the time we traveled) and they are making it harder, but it is still happening.

Hope you bring your little boy home soon!
Why do you say 4 trips? It was 2 when we started and now it is 3 for us.

Thats just what I have seen/read through our agency and adoption.com I believe. Maybe some regions are still three though.

Good news/bad news day for us.

Re: Good news/bad news day for us.

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