[Archive]

Originally Posted By Kimberly

I have found as said in the messages I have read recently that the Bulgarian people are wonderful and traveling in Bulgaria was exciting and a great experience. As a matter of fact, I traveled alone because my husband couldn't get away. I felt very secure. That was for my visit trip and in the first week of May....I still do not have my daughter home with me. I could use some advise, I am becoming concerned with the integrity of my agency....is this wait normal for Bulgaria?
Thanks to anyone with help or support.
Kimberly

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Bethany

We were told that we would have to wait six to nine months for our second trip - Our first trip was July of 2000. We brought our son home on April 26, 2001. There are many things to be processed in Bulgaria and the wheels turn very slowly there. There is only one court date each month and if that court date is postponed for any reason (like a bomb threat) then you have to wait until the next month!!! I know someone who had three court dates between one thing and another. The one thing you should check is that because of the length of time the adoption took, we were required to supply some of our paperwork a second time, fortunately our agency advised us of this and we were prepared. I know that we had to redo the medical report and also get a good conduct report from our sheriff's office. I think that was all - but you might want to look into it.

If you want e-mail me directly you can at bethanyej@yahoo.com

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Natalie

Kimberly, e-mail me back at volt15_@hotmail.com. The wait is long, but rewarding.

Natalie

[HMG]

I want to let Kimberly know that my husband and I are adopting from Bulgaria and we also went there in May to see our little girl. We will be bringing her home the end of May the following year. Apparently, this is perfectly normal for this country. Some seem to go faster and some slower for some reason.

HMG

[cgilderhus]

Hi Kimberly, wanted to share our experience with you, hope it helps. We waited a total of 11 months for our daughter who was adopted from Bulgaria. Our 1st visit was in 1/02 and we finalized the adoption in 11/02. I do know that their court system shuts down for the entire month of Aug, so depending on where you are in the process, you may be affected by this additional wait time. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to talk further & best of luck.

[Sonja G]

Just wanted to let you know that a long wait for Bulgaria does not seem uncommon (although we have met a few people with 6-7 month waits). We first saw our daughter in March of 2001. She came home with us in June of 2002. It was the most frustrating time of my life. We had a judge that made us do everything our adoption agency had ever had a judge come up with. Usually, it doesn't all happen to one family!

Despite the experience we had last time we are delighted that Bulgaria has changed some regulations so that we can adopt another Bulgarian child. We plan to start the paper work in Feb or March.

Our daughter has been such a joy! We loved the Bulgarian people, culter, etc. We also believe that the chldren are well cared for inthe orphange and are grateful for the love and care she recieved - it helped tremendously with the adusctment.

I know the emothional ride during the wait is draining. At thetime we were waiting we really knew noone that had experienced anything close to what we were going through. If you have nay questions or jsut want to vent please e-mail me (SJTGenke@juno.com).

[Now1125]

We too are adopting from Bulgaria. We should be dossier ready at the end of February, YEAH! We have our first homestudy visit next Sunday and are nervous and excited.

Our agency told us that they don't see any reason why we won't have our son with us for next Christmas. They are hopeful that with the new process, things will move faster (that is once the 'bugs' are ironed out).

Generally how long did it take all of you from point of referral to your first trip?

[Sonja G]

Our refferal came March 7 and we left for Bulgaria on March 17 of 2001. I think that the wait for the first trip depends more on your agency and your needs than on things in Bulgaria - much different thatn the second trip!

[crisger]

we are adopting from Germany and have sent our dossier to Bulgaria on May 2003. Our agency told us End of June that we had a child matched, but that we could not travel to Bulgaria to meet the child because of the implementation of the new law (ratification of the Den Haag agreement on internation adoption), which was effective on July 23th, 2003. We are in contact with some other German adopting couples and nobody was invited to Bulgaria for the last six mounths, except for couples who had adopted before and had to take the children home.
We have heard that after the 10th of January things will begin to work again and that many people will be invited to Bulgaria again.
What kind of information have you in the US?
It will be nice to know about your approach to adoption in Bulgaria.
The waiting makes one very sad and frustrated.
Kind regards

[KJBraun]

We travelled to meet our new daughter in early July, 2003. While we were there our attorney told us he anticipated that we would be back around the first of the year to pick up our little Molly. At this time we're waiting for our court date. The agency did indicate that things are moving more slowly now due to the law changes. When we started this process, our agency said that it's usually a 4-6 month wait between the first and second trips; I'm getting the impression that different agencies do things in a different order. The gap between the two trips has varied widely from the different message board postings on this subject.

Best of luck who are all waiting patiently to be reunited with their children! It will surely be an experience worth waiting for.