[boatsun]

My wife and I adopted our son from Russia a little over two years ago. We would like to adopt another child in the near future. Russia seems almost closed at this point as do several other countries. Kazakhstan looks promising at this point. Could you please give me some feedback regarding the process, cost, and travel time?

[auntuptonow]

Hi, Jeff..

Price: this is going to vary somewhat depending on your agency, the region you will travel to and probably even the state where you live (when you get down to fees like notary and apostilles). However, I think most people on this board will tell you to expect to pay approximately $40,000.00, maybe more if your son is going to travel with you. That should include your agency's application and processing fees, home study, foreign fee (usually betw. $15-$20k for the agencies I looked at), and travel expenses.. I am sure you know this from your first time around, but make sure you know all the fees upfront.. Find out if your agency uses apartments for the parents or hotels, and what the rates will be.. For most, by the time you travel, things are getting tight-- so you don't want any surprises..

The trip: The reason your travel expenses add up is that this is a long trip. In one region, Almaty City, I understand they may now require 3 trips-- but I don't have the most up-to-date info on that. Otherwise, you have a choice between one trip that lasts about 7 or 8 weeks, or two trips, with the first one being approximately a month and the second one lasting about a week (less if all goes well).. Some agencies also offer an "escort service" that would eliminate your need to make a 2nd trip.

The process: Why does it take so long? THis is the deal.. When you arrive in country, the first step is to identify the child you are going to be adopting or meet your child if you are using an agency that uses referrals. One note about that: technically, referrals are not recognized by the Kaz government, but there are a number of agencies that still use a referral system of sorts.. Just know that if you do get a referral, there are no guarantees. Picking a good agency will help with that, and talk to other parents who used the agency to see if they came home with the baby they thought they were adopting. There is a mandatory 2 week bonding period where you spend a few hours a day with the baby at the baby house. After the bonding period ends, you are assigned a court date-- it's not automatic that you go to court on day 15, unfortunately, so it can take up to a week to get your court date. Once you go to court, there is a 2 week waiting period before the adoption becomes final.. You do not have to stay in country during the waiting period, and for most people who are doing 2 trips or using an escort to bring the baby home, this is when they leave.

I hope this helps

[JenniferKaz]

Our trip in May/June 2006 was was 8 or 9 weeks (i lost track).

2 weeks of bonding
2 weeks waiting for court (depednda on region)
2 week (15 day) appeal period
1 week for post-appeal paperwork
3 - 4 days in Almaty

Throw in a couple days for travel and an extra day or 2 of waiting a voila, you spent 2 months in Kaz, which we really did enjoy. We were tld it could be 10 - 11 weeks, so we were happy with 8 or 9.

We spent $39k for everything, including all fed ex fees, our immunizations, passport fees, blah blah blah. I still have the spreadsheet if anyone is that interested.

[Mich71]

We were in Kaz Aug & Sept 2006. We spent 54 days in country, with a extra day of travel on each end. We traveled blind. All we were told by our agency was there were some children that met our criteria were available. I think even when you travel blind the agencies have an idea of which child. But because of Kazakh laws they are not really allowed to say ahead of time.

As for the cost our agency gave us a pretty accurate cost list. We stayed in an apartment (much cheaper than a hotel) and had the benefit of another family arriving with the same agency so we were able to split the daily cost of driver and translator with them, not something you can count on. We also limited our eating out to once a day. We were around $35,000.

The Kazakhstan baby houses are well run and very clean. I believe in our sons room/group there were 3 care takers on duty for 8-12 kids. As much as we were homesick we enjoyed our time there. We learned a lot of things to share with our son later on.

Best of luck in the research.

[boatsun]

Thanks for the replys. Hopefully we will be able to start the process at the start of the new year. We have to do the final homestudy for John in January so we might as well have our social worker do one for another adoption.

[DET62]

I have adopted both from Russia and from Kaz, and the Kaz process was easier, IMHO. The Kaz orphanages I saw or heard about were cleaner and better maintained and the caretakers better. My daughter came from a very poor orphanage in Russia. Of course, the orphanages for older children are never as nice as the babyhouses...

I heard from several families that the babyhouse in Petropavlovsk was really wonderful, so you might ask if your agency works in that region.

I did two trips to Kaz, and I am glad I did it that way, even though it was tough. I was in country 3 weeks, then home for a month, then back for a week. I had plane issues is the only reason it took a week to finish up when I went back.

My adoption ended up costing right around $22K, but I am single and additional travel tickets would've upped it considerably.

There are always pluses and minuses to any country, and people's experiences vary. I would go back to Kaz in a heartbeat, if I could afford another adoption.

Good luck!
Dee