[another2]

Here he is!

[amyfk]

Congratulations to you on becoming a family of 7! Enjoy every moment together.
Amy K, NJ

[lunamuna]

Your new son looks very happy.

I'm just starting to research adoption. Would you mind posting a brief summary of the process you went through for Latvia? How much time you spent in country, how many trips, total cost, etc? I'm trying to compare countries (I have a lot of info on Ukraine, but just "discovered" Latvia today).

Thanks

[mschaefer]

Congratulations! I just checked the Lativa board the other day wondering how you made out. Enjoy every minute

[another2]

To start with, if you are looking for an infant or toddler, Latvia is not the place to adopt from. They are occasionally available, but the wait times are so long (up to 5 years) it is not practical. Very young children are available if they are part of a sibling group or special needs, but single healthy children available soon (immediately to a few months wait) for international adoption start at about 8 years old.

If you are interested in an older child, I could not recommend Latvia more. The dossier paperwork is easy and the ministry and courts over there are very adoption-friendly. We hosted our son last Christmas (mid-December to mid-January) and then started the paperwork in February. Our dossier went to Latvia in April. We received our Latvian approval in May and travelled on the first trip in July. There are 3 trips but they are relatively short and Trips 2 and 3 only require one parent to travel. Trip 1 is the longest (ours was 10 days including travel time), during which the child lives with you for a bonding time. The orphan court (similar to our social services) visits to make sure you are getting along. About 1 month later one parent returns for court. You only have to be in country for the day of court so it is 3-4 days including travel. Five weeks later one parent returns to bring the child home -- trip is 6-7 days including travel time.

I am not exactly sure how much we spent -- the bills are still coming in and we have a refund coming back from the agency. But I think all-inclusive (homestudy, post-placements, travel with sightseeing and DH and I both went on Trip 1 and 3), it will total about $25,000.

Also, we used an agency, but Latvia does not require it and it is an easy enough process that, in hindsight, I probably wouldn't if I were to adopt from there again. And that should save a few thousand dollars.

Not as brief an explanation as I had planned, but hopefully it gives you the info you need. Good luck!