[pdq]

My husband and I live in NW Ohio and we have 5 children, 3 of whom were adopted from Kazakhstan using Building Blocks Adoption Service from Medina, OH. You can check them out at www.bbas.org. We adopted Tayte (9m) and Karenna (23m) in Jan 2001. Their adoptions took 7 m from start to finish. Then we were returned to adopt Garrett (33m) in Dec 2001. His adoption took only 5 m to complete because we already had INS approval from the first time. All three of our adopted children were from baby house #1 in Almaty. We also have 2 biological children. That makes 5 children - 5 yrs and under - WHEW! Quinton is 5.5 yrs old. Karenna and Garrett are both 4 yrs old. Tayte is 3 yrs old and Aneesa was born in Nov 2002. I am a SAHM. My greatest joys are watching my children learn and play together. I enjoy scrapbooking (when I have time), gardening, decorating, and flea market shopping.

I would be happy to assist other families in any way I can. I will do my best to answer your questions and offer advice. I look forward to hearing from you all!

Cheers!
Pat

[nunz]

Hi Pat,

Thanks for your welcome. My wife Missy and I are in the process of adoptng a little girl from Arkalyk. Of course we are very excited, although there seems to be quite a bit of grey area regarding the process in Kazakstan. We have three children now. Sage our daughter who is 10 we adopted from Korea, Tyler our son 9 is also Korean. A few years later my wife became pregnant and we had Jenna. We are all awaiting our new addition, her name is Aliyah. Would love to hear your experiences in Kazakstan.

Regards,

Sal Annunziato

[Dee C]

My husband and I have two sons Gage 3 and Kaden 2. We are adopting our daughter Zuhra from Shutschink. We have been working for 11 months and are paper ready to travel. We are having delays because of our finances. We have applied for grants but recieved unfavorable responses because she is not special needs or an older child. Are there any other suggestions you may have. I just have to ask because I worry that I am missing something. That there is some resource I haven't looked into that is preventing us from traveling. Thank You Donna

[pjlanghals]

Hi Donna!

Have you checked into a home equity loan, personal loan, or 401K loan? I'm not sure what your financial situation is, but these types of loans may work for you.

Pat

[Dee C]

We took out two personal loans and we have equity in our home but I have only been working at home for 2 years and they can not use my income to approve a loan. My husband is 24 and has only been able to put money in his 401 K for the past 2 and a half years so there is not nearly enough. Thanks for your suggestions.

[JAquino]

I have friends in Astana KZ who can assist me with the KZ adoption. Do you know if you are required to utilize a US agent during the entire process?

Thanks,
JA

[gtrrt]

Would you tell me how long does it take and how much is the total cost to adopt a child? I am 53 and my wife is 48, are we too old to adopt a child? Gerard

[pjlanghals]

Hi Gerald!

I don't think your ages would prevent you at all from adopting. I would check with several reputable agencies. They will also be able to tell you the costs associated with adopting from Kaz.

Best wishes,
Pat

[labessiere]

Hi, my husband and I recently signed a contract with Yunona adoption agency and we would like to know more about your experience once you reached Almaty.
Thanks, Lisa

[pjlanghals]

Hi Lisa!

We adopted our children right in Almaty. Once we arrived at the airport, we were met by our translator and driver. They took us to our apartment for the duration of our stay in Almaty. The next day we met with the orphanage director, did some grocery shopping and got ourselves aquainted with our new surroundings. The next day we were taken to the orphanage to begin our visits. We visited once per day for 1-2 hours each time. Afterwards, our interpretor took us to lunch and then sightseeing/shopping. That was pretty much our routine each day, until we went to court and then picked up the kids.

We had nothing to worry about the entire time. Our interpretor took wonderful care of us. She went everywhere with us. I consider her a dear friend to this day.

Our paperwork went very smoothly and there were no problems that caused us to extend our stay.

Best wishes to you!!
Pat

[dianakazakmom]

Pat, I am trying to help get a mission going for a doctor exchange to help bring new equipment and technique to the doctors who do cleft repair etc. I adopted from baby house #4 in Almaty. My son is 4 now. I live near University of Michigan. I need other people to help me, in prayer and to be listed as interested. We have named this Citizens Caring for Kazakh Kids. Please pass the word along. I want to get people's permission etc, and can send more info.
I guess we aren't supposed to give real e-mail addresses over the chat, so I am unsure how to use this as a tool to get the word out, but I will be using formal medical organizations for any fundraising...I am not asking for money.

[lucy99]

Dear Pat,
Hi, I am interested in adopting a child. I have a biological son and I'm looking to add a little girl from Kazakhstan to our family. I'm not sure why I chose this country it just grabbed me that this was were I needed to be. I am looking for the best adoption agengy for this process. Any information would be greatly appreciated! I live in Michigan.
I've been searching the web and the more I look the more challenging it is to find the right agency and to know the process of how to go about this. Also Is the child picked out for you or when you are approved can you go there and see where the connections are made between future parent and child? Anything else you could tell be would be a huge blessing!
Thank you Pat!
Kimberlee

[labessiere]

Thanks Pat
Did you make just one trip? How long did you have to stay? Thanks, Lisa

[pjlanghals]

We adopted back in 2001. At that time, we only had to make one trip to Kaz. The average trip was 3.5 wks or so. Its much different now.
Pat