Karyn,
Our situation is a 'little' bit different then normal.
Bmom was the sister of an online-friend of an online-friend
But..it just means that we weren't registered with an agency. We have a completely open adoption. And we visited bmom at 20 weeks pregnant, for the birth (in Utah for 5 weeks), at 7 months old, and at 13 months old. (Added expenses..)
Our experience was AMAZING! We had lawyers in both countries who made sure everything was going 'right' and basically we just formed a relationship over MSN, email and the phone.
As an aside-- if you watch Adoption Stories you might be able to catch our story there - we did the whole thing on camera.
Nope, my son is blond with blue eyes and his bmom looks ALOT like me (fluke?!) and we were mistaken for sisters in the hospital.
I'm totally thinking about the US again for #2, but hubby worries more about $$ than me! So for now, we are looking in Ontario
Michelle