[Sdenny]

Hi everyone, this is all new to us, we just started the process of looking at international adoption and feel drawn to Kazakhstan but we also really like an adoption agency that just started going to Kazakhstan and has only had one adoption from there (so far) and only works in one region. Any advice? Should we go with another adoption agency, one with more experience? Oh and we are also interested in adopting 2 children at one time, any advice on that (I read the threads last night about Kazakhstan cracking down on that).
Thanks in advance for your time!!

[Delmom]

Hello and welcome! Our experience in attempting to adopt from Kaz with a new agency was not a pleasant one. We selected an agency with a very new Kaz program and while we were waiting to travel they admitted that things were pretty hopeless and closed the program.

We were offered the choice of switching to Ukraine or leaving the agency altogether. We went with an established Kaz agency and the experience was night and day different. (We were there in about a month after switching.) Our BEAUTIFUL son was 7 months old when we arrived (the agency we were initially with kept raising the age of the baby we would be able to adopt.)

I want to say that this was not a new agency. It was a well-known and respected US agency, but they were new in Kaz and their people were not known and respected there.

Regarding adoption of unrelated siblings from what I have read it seems like some people are getting promised this lately and then told later that it can't be done. When we went 2 years ago we were told that the region we went to was the only one still allowing it. It was not a law then (although it might have been regionally), but not usually approved by judges. Does anyone know if it is a law now?

Delmom

[hml1976]

I would definitely go with an established agency or at least one where the Kazakhstan portion of the agency has been around a long time. Kaz is tricky and you want someone who knows it well. Good luck!

[sienna5]

Hi.

Unlike the whole "referral" issue, that seems to be only slowly converting over, this one seems to now be a hard rule. While I don't know if it is law, everything I read re-establishes that you cannot adopt more than one unrelated child at a time (it is in bold in all my new agency info sheets) and a few parents that have been paper ready seem to have been told that they would not now be allowed to bring two unrelated kids home.

All my expectations in the early months of my paperchase was that I would be going to Almaty - it was the biggest region my agency worked with. When it closed, it was a huge comfort that the agency worked with multiple regions and it has not slowed my process at all (have my LOI for next month). So I would certainly want an agency that worked in multiple regions.

Another feeling that is hard to gage early on is how vulnerable you end up feeling at the end. Other people seem to hold your whole family's future in their hands. So having an agency that you have a lot of faith in is really important.

Good luck on your adoption no matter where you go.

[JuleQuin]

I would be cautious of one region only. Last summer, when Almaty closed down, we had a referral from there. After a heartbreaking decision, we decided to travel on, since it seemed almaty would be shut for at least 6 months (or so they said at the time).

We opted to travel blind and found our baby boy. Had our agency not gone to so many other regions, this would have been a huge issue and delay.

If you are switching over from another country, though, then it may be worth it to stick with your agency even if Kaz is new. Friends of ours are doing that because they don't want to lose the money they've invested.

Julia
Mom to 2

[dlbmcgill]

A more established agency is likely to be a safer route, but I'd also listen to your instinct. We know a family that was the first or second family to go to Kaz with our agency and had a wonderful experience. They too only worked in one region at the time. They now work in a second region and we are only the 4th or 5th family to go to that region and are having a great experience too. That being said, I'm not sure if they hadn't worked in Kaz, somewhere, before that I would have been willing to be their test case.


As for the 2 unrelated children, that was the first criteria for makin our short list of countries. We did all the paperwork for 2, but as the rules changed we heard it was getting harder, but still not impossible. Now our agency tells people that it is not possible, but we did not find this out for sure until a few days before we traveled. We asked again when we arrived in Kaz, twice, and were told that it was not possible. Our coordinator even asked at DOE for us again, just in case. They have said that there are now many waiting families and not as many children available as the economic conditions improve. I don't know if this is a law yet, but I've heard similar things from people that have traveled to other regions recently.

FYI - You will see many children at the orphanage when you get there, but only a small percentage are available for adoption because the others' parents have not relinquished them or a relative calls occasionally so they cannot be adopted.

[Tussen]

I have read all the posts regarding this topic and have to agree that you should do your research and pick the right agency that handles many regions. In my mind a red flag raises when i hear that there is an agency that only represents one region.

With respect to unrelated adoption, we have also heard of the rule. However being that we are adoptiong older children not babies, our hope is that the MOE will work with us. Ther "rule" is undrestandable from the perspective that most families are seeking babies and there are more parents than there are babies so the "rule" makes sense. But we are hoping that it does not apply to older children. Our agency is uncertain and basically when we are no longer a piece of paper and are actually in the country we will address the issue with our coordinator, agency and the MOE. We honestly believe that the "rule" is strictly for the very young or babies.

Good luck to you

[DET62]

You cannot adopt two unrelated kids on any age, even older kids. My agency just told me this last week.

I ouwld never use an agency that wasn't well established. You need one that works in several regions.

[Tussen]

We were told the same thing, however this is only a guidline rule and not law, therefore it is not impossible. I have read a few blogs where families were able to adopt 2.