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Independent adoption means you do all the work and coordination youself. You need to make sure your homestudy is completed properly. You do your own paperwork for immigration. You need to compile your own dossier and obtain translation, and submit it yourself to the proper agency. You also need to make your own travel arangements, etc. A good resource is the book How to Adopt Internationally by Jean Nelson-Erichsen and Heino Erichsen. There is also information on the web specific to Latvia at the US Department of State web site.
It is very doable if you speak Latvian, but also possible if you don't. You must be a very resourceful person, but you can save yourself alot in agency fees.
You will probably need someone in Latvia to help you, at least when it comes to the courts. It is also helpful to have someone there to do legwork for you when needed. This does not necessarily need to be an attorney.
I am in the midst of an "Independent Adoption" right now myself. I am a Latvian-American and speak Latvian fluently, but it has not been an easy process. I have been learning as I go along. I recetnly made a trip over there just to gather some information. Of course if you use and agency, you would not need to do something like that, but so far it has still been alot cheaper than an agency.
Latvia is a wonderful country and there are approximately 900 children there between the ages of 6 and 18 who need homes. The orphanages there are comparatively good, but of course they are not a home. I encourage anyone who is looking to adopt an older child/children (especially sibling groups) to consider adoption from Latvia. I met with the director of adoptions there, and she seemed very dedicated to getting these children into families, and supportive of foreign adoption. I would not recommend Latvia, however, if you are looking for young children. The wait for children under 5 can be several years.
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