[BiaGirl]

I know things are constantly changing so we were wondering if anyone has completed their adoption within the last year - and can share the details of their story?

What was the travel like? The bonding period? The sights, food, people?

[hopedfor]

I would actually look for people who completed travel in the last 6 months when you are looking for references. Even in my first adoption a few years back, things changed every 6 months or so. This time around, for our second, this seems to be the norm too.

And if an agency cannot give you the name of a few families who traveled to Kaz in the last 6 months, I'd see that as a red flags, since famileis aretraveling.

What age are you adopting? The bonding period was amazing. We traveled with a family who adopted an older child (4 yrs), and I found their bonding time to be more amazing than ours, with a 13 month old! While we had a great time, it was astonishing to see that beautiful girl come to love these people and appreciate the love they gave. It was a different type of bond, and the trust had to be earned, and once it was.....wow!

Travel was exhausting, and I expect it to be the same this time around. Well, maybe more, because we're bringing our son . I think travel and cultural things you're asking about definitely depend on region.

It was a beautiful country, and my son's region was very Kazakh. Some are more Russian in culture. The people were reserved at first, which is cultural, but they opened up and were very, very warm and mothering.

I could not imagine going to any country for a second adoption, regardless of the hoops adn waits, for what it's worth!!!