[lastpaige]

I think it depends on the orphanage and the situation of the children before they arrived. Our boys came from a regular (not a Catholic) orphanage and while at one point we were told they were baptized, there were never any records to indicate that this was so. So – upon arrival home we had them baptized at our (CREC) church.

Name changing issue alert!

The plane ticket must match the passport. So – if you know what their names are going to be before you buy their plane tickets home, then great – you can purchase tickets in their new names, and the court will change the names for you in Poland, and their passports will be issued with their new names.

While we had some ideas, we didn’t solidify the name selection until after we met our boys. So – the plane tickets and passports were issued in their original first names with their new last names. Once we got back home, we re-adopted (although not required by our state, it did offer some perks), at which point we were able to change their first names, give them middle names, and they (of course) kept their new last names.

Once we had the boys 24/7 (in Poland), my husband read bible stories (about people who received new names from God after a big change or event in their life) to the boys each night before going to bed. After several nights of this we sat the boys down and talked about how they were going through a big change in their life and that we were going to give them new names. They thought it was fabulous, and love the fact that along with their new names comes a new life. They also like that parents name their children – and if we’re giving them new names, then they most certainly must be our children.