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Unless something has changed since last August, avoid Perm at all costs. We were sent over on a "blind referral" because our agency (World Links) wanted us in country before regulations changed in September. We were assured that tons of kids were coming into the system then and siblings should not be a problem. When we arrived, we were referred to an unfortunate 2 1/2 year old boy with severe genetic dysmorphisms due to FAS. We were then told that a 14 month old boy was available, but he was 2 months preemie and unable to sit up. Our doctor in the US recommended that we not meet this child. We were then told about 5 and 8 year old brothers but were then told we were not eligible for them because our home study approved us for children 3 and under only. We were then told that no more kids were available. After some frantic calls to our agency, we agreed to take a six hour ride by car to Izhevsk to work with another agency to Izhevsk. This was an incredible experience. In ONE DAY they obtained a referral for us with a beautiful, energetic 15 month old girl. We could have received a second referral if we were able to stay in Izhevsk a couple more days. The people in Izhevsk (Alexander and Julia) affiliated with the Cradle are the absolute best. Adoption was completed in mid-October. The judge was OK but she grilled me for over an hour and barely asked my wife anything (I think she knew I was an attorney and wanted to have some fun) and the prosecutor and orphanage director were helpful. The only downside -- Izhevsk was expensive. Facilitator fee was $18K, which was 4-5 times what it would have been in Perm. Moreover, World Links expected us to pay their program fee ($10.5K) on to the Izhevsk facilitator fee after leading us by the hand into the debacle that was Perm, but that is a different discussion in a different forum.
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