[Anita]

Just wondering if anyone viewing the board is involved in the process of a Polish adoption now. We sent our dossier over Labor Day, and have been approved as eligible parents by the Adoption Committee. We are now waiting for a referral.

We are hoping for a 3-4 year old boy. We have a birth daughter who has just turned five.

Anyways, just wondering if there is anyone in the same boat? Anyone travelled or travelling soon?

We are using an adoption consultant to help us through the process.

[reneetaylor]

Hi, my husband and I have looked into a Poland adoption and I would be interested in hearing about your experience. We found a couple of agencies that sounded good, but have not signed on with anyone yet. We too are looking for a young boy, because we currently have a 5 yr old daughter who was adopted fom Russia in 1998.

I'd love to talk with you.

[walt]

WE HAVE BEEN MATCHED WITH 3 BOYS AGES 4 1/2, 3 1/2,1 1/2.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY CHILDREN OF OUR OWN. THE PROCESS WAS STARTED IN JAN. OF 2002 WIITH THE HOME STUDY. THEY TOLD US OF THE BOYS JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS. WE ARE USING THE SERVICE OF MIMI,AND WE ARE BOTH OF POLISH DECENT.

WALT

[Anita]

What wonderful news! You must be very excited.

Have your travel plans been made yet? What part of Poland will you be travelling to?

We are still waiting for our referral.

[rowinchick]

Hello.
My husband and I are currently in the referral process with Huminska's Anioly. The waiting period is the toughest. We are waiting for 2 children. One will be a boy and the other child's gender does not make a difference. Can't wait!!!!
Best Wishes to everyone. Beatrice

[mkaffar]

Hi, our dossier went to Poland yesterday. We are using Catholic Charities of Chicago for our intl agency. I'm not sure how long the wait will be for our referral. We've requested siblings, either gender, age 4-8. We have heard that the wait for siblings is shorter. Please email with any questions: mboquinn@hotmail.com

[MJCZYK]

We are preaparing to travel to Poland on June 16th. We have a court date on June 25th. Our paperwork is almost complete, with the exception of authentication from the Polish Consulate. We have gone through a lot since we began the process at the end of February 2003. Our agency has children available, and they like to keep you motivated to get everything done within a short time frame. If our return date of August 2nd holds, it will have been a 5 month process from end to end.

We are using Saint Mary's International Adoption.

[Anita]

I can't believe you started your process in February 2003 and are already travelling to Poland. That is wonderful.

Our wait has been MUCH longer. We've had all our paperwork into Poland since September 2002. We are still waiting.

How long will you be in Poland for your first visit?

Best wishes!
Anita

[MJCZYK]

Our trip begins on June 16th. My wife will return on June 29th. Because this particular orphanage does not take the child back after we become his parents, I will remain in Poland (my company gives me an extra 4 weeks paid vacation for adoption). Add water, instant Dad.

My wife will return in late July, and we will all return on August 2nd, hopefully.

[Anita]

Your post has me very curious. If you don't mind sharing, where in Poland are you traveling? Were you warned that you'd have to stay in Poland the whole time when you were given the referral?

My husband and I are debating staying the whole time. It gets complicated, as we have a 5 year old daughter already at home.

Are you staying in a hotel or apartment or is housing provided for you?

Do you know Polish?

I am so excited for you! Congratulations!

Anita

[MJCZYK]

We knew there was a possibility of having to stay because the another couple who used Saint Mary's and dealt with this particular orphanage had to stay as well. It was a surprise to both the couple as well as the agency.

We will be six hours (1hr car, 5hrs train) outside of Warsaw.

Our agency is arranging an apartment for us close to Warsaw for when we travel back to Warsaw after the court date. I think the cost is approx $300 a week. It has a washer and dryer.

Although both my parents are Polish, we do not speak the language. My wife and I have travelled to foreign countries (Germany, France) and we are confident that we will be able to survive.

We are travelling on Polish Lot airlines and a round trip ticket is usally less than $1000, so if you can rent an apartment, it may be feasible that only one of you stay.

Let me know if your plans come through, and if you will be travelling any time during our stay in Poland. I will have a laptop, and hopefully the telephone connection in the apartment supports dial-up internet access so I can stay in contact.

[janetp]

I just found this website! We are in the process of adopting in Poland, began in January 2002. Started out independently, then through an agency (they closed their program mid-stream) and now with another agency and have our referral.

Our home study has to be updated for us to proceed - it is over a year old and also needs to include the correct age of the older child (10) - our initial study was for up to age 8.

I had not heard of the St. Mary's program. The only agencies that I was aware of for Polish adoptions are Huminska and Island Coast.

[MJCZYK]

Janetp,

Saint Mary International Adoption is relatively new in dealing with Poland (we are their 2nd couple adopting in Poland). Catholic Charities of Chicago also has Polish adoption available. I found both these agencies via the internet.

Do have a time frame to when you will be traveling to Poland and where?

MJCZYK

[janetp]

No, we unfortuantely don't know when we are going to travel yet. I am hoping this summer sometime.

We have to have our homestudy updated as it reflected that we were "approved" for up to age 8. The oldest child that we have been matched with is age 10. Our agency told us to have a one page addenum added to reflect this change, but because it is over a year old, they want us to re-do the home study (new physicals, financial information, new police clearance, meet with the social worker) so that is all going to take time.

Now that we have been matched, we greatly anticipate being united with the children as you can imagine!

We never did receive a formal medical report on the children but rather information piecemeal from the agency (a few bits of information in e-mails). Have you or anyone else out there experienced that - is that normal to receive such little information?

You asked about travel. Are you folks planning on traveling soon?

If so, what an exciting time for you!

[PolishMom]

Janet -

We adopted through Catholic Charities. We found out when we were in Poland on our first visit (courts decreed a first initial visit because our son was older), that we had to have our homestudy updated because it was more than 6 months old. (All regions can make up their own rules and laws). All it took for us was our providor for our homestudy met with us for 1 hours when we got back and wrote up a one page addendum to our original homestudy, stating that all items included in the original study were still valid. I don't know if your region will accept that but ours was fine with the one page summary.

I'll chime in the health records also. I was amazed at the extensive amount of health information we were given, both ahead of time, and when we arrived. With our referral, we were given certified reports from the orphanage doctor, an independent doctor, and a licensed phsycologist. When we met with his doctor in Poland, we were given his medical "red book", which we were told all children are issued when they are born and it describes the birth conditions, and then all recorded heights and weights and immunizations, all hospitalizations, allergies, etc.

I have never heard anyone else talk about the "red book" but his doctor assured us that all children have them.

Can I ask what region are your children in?