[katie8471]

we are in Mason City. I posted once but got no replies. I see a lot of you are in the Eastern part of the state. We actually considered moving to Davenport, but ended up here in Mason city instead. We used an agency out of Des moines to do our homestudy and it has taken FOREVER. our last visit was in MARCH and we still do not have home study in hand. bordering on ridiculous! I keep hoping we will have it SOON. We are adopting from Russia. Would love to hear from anyone in Iowa, especially N Iowa. Not a lot of support up here. you can also email me at Katieostar@yahoo.com

[lyonchildcare]

Hello, I just joined this site and my family and I live in Fort Dodge, IA

[katie8471]

we are in Mason City. only about 2 hours away. hope your adoption goes better than ours has been going!!!

[Cheryl in Iowa]

There is an adoption group down the road from you in Clearlake. The woman who runs it has children adopted from Korea and most people who attend have children from that country. However, she might know of other groups is your area. If you want me to contact her and ask, I will, just let me know.

[katie8471]

I think I know who you are talking about. Is her name Jill? My neighbor goes to church with her. I had no idea there was any support around here! man I could use some about now! the wait is unbearable!

[Cin97]

Hello Katie

My husband and I are from Mason City and we are adopting from KAZ. I am new to this forum.

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your home study. We had Avalon here in Mason City do are home study. They did everything in a timely manner and are very helpful whenever we have questions.

They don't do International Adoptions but they helped us find agency out of CA that we are working through but Avalon has helped us with all our paperwork. If you are still having problems with the agency in Des Moines you could always try and call Avalon just to see if they could help.

You are right there aren't alot of people around here that have adopted. We should try and stay in touch since we are both from the same town.

[Scarlet]

Hi there. Hubby and I are in Des Moines. Hubby's parents live in Mason City. What agency are you getting the homestudy done through, just curious? Welcome to the board. We are just begining, still looking for an agency. We looked at Catholic Charities in Des Moines but they seem to take a really long time. Any way I would love to have another email buddy if you would like. I am not at home right now, lol I am in Mason City but I will email ya when I get home.

Laura

[Cin97]

We had two home studies done one from Avalon Center in Mason City and the other done by Hillcrest in Cedar Rapids. Both agency are very good at providing home studies. Long story on why we did two (because you only need one)

There currently isn't alot of placements so we are now pursuing international adoption.

Feel free to contact me.

[Mysticah]

I am also from the Mason City area. We have done state adoption and are working on possibly another. I know the gals at the Avalon Center as they were involved with my last adoption. We are looking for adoption support. We do belong to the adoption group referenced above. But are always looking for more support. I would be interested in talking with any of you further.

[Cin97]

Hi Mysticah!!

Welcome to the Board!!

I live in Mason City as well. My husband and I are also looking for other support also. We haven't contacted the support group over in Clear Lake yet but are planning on doing that as well.

We currently don't have any children but just sent our dossier off to our agency. We are going to adopt 2 childern from Kazakhstan hopefully by the end of this year we will have them home.

Look forward to talking to you.

Cinda

[Mysticah]

Wow that sounds like a huge step! Can you tell me how you chose to adopt children from that country?

[Cin97]

Well it's kind of one of those things that is hard to explain. The positives from Kazakhstan are the children are better cared for in the orphanges, there are really no restrictions as far as age and income, also the time frame is suppose to be quicker. They also finialize the adoption in Country. So when you board the plane to come home the children are legally yours.

It's one of those things that you know is just the right place to go.

Hope that helps.

[Mysticah]

Wow! I find that very interesting! I hope we stay in contact here through your adventure. I would like to hear how things work out. I have never given that country a thought before. We do state of Iowa which are generally older kids.......that have been through difficult times. Its a struggle, but well worth it, I hope.

[Cin97]

I will try and keep posting updates as we go through the process. Right now we are in the waiting mode. We sent our dossier to our agency and now they translate it into Russian. Then it will be sent out to New York to the Embassy of Kazahkstan and then it will be sent to the Office of Education in Kazahkstan and then after that we will get our invitation to travel. This process takes some time so that is why I say we are in the waiting mode.

We are getting the rooms ready and also trying to buy clothes and other things we will need.

My hat is off too you for adopting older kids from Iowa. We talked about doing that but it just wasn't for us. I believe everyone knows what is right for them when it comes to adopting.

Let's keep in touch and share our adoption journeys.

[Mysticah]

Yes, please keep in touch! I am definately interested to hear what happens and how long it actually takes for you. I never knew how difficult parenting an older child who has gone through so much would be. No one prepared us for what we have been through. But it is so much fun to look back at a year ago or even 4 years ago and see how far she has come. Then you say to yourself, WOW! It's because of us. I think of all the things she has and how she is being taken care of versus how things were for her prior to her living with us. It just takes her a lot longer to realize the big difference. I couldn't imagine myself as a child being taken from the family I knew and loved. Its been rough, but each year gets a little easier.