[covaultamanda]

My husband and I are about to start the adoption process for either a Russian or Ukranian child. Any thoughts on a good agency to use? Has anyone used Faithful Adoptions?

[ripples]

Hi Covaultamanda,
You might want to check the International Adoptions forum http://forums.adoption.com/international-adoption/ since more adoptive parents who have experience adopting, rather than adoptees, seem to be on that forum.

My main recommendation that I provide to prospective adoptive parents is to see just how much any agency divulges about the possible post-adoption needs of the child and you as parents. As a comparison of agency practices, the Department of Child Safety in Queensland, Australia, provides quite a bit of information to prospective parents. If you do a search on 'child safety', 'Queensland' and 'international adoption', you can reach the section on international adoption advice in general but it doesn't seem to source from Russia or the Ukraine.

If you haven't done so already, I would also recommend that you do some preliminary reading about parenting tips regarding adopted children. While I'm no expert about Ukrainian or Russian adoption, I recently read the book, "20 Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew" and thought the general advice was good, practical and clear.

Altho' there is plenty of information about pre-natal and post-natal care regarding non-adopted children, unfortunately pre-adoption preparation and post-adoption care issues still seem to be rather sparse in some places.

All the best,