[rnnurse2be]

Hello everyone. I got a call from our agency this morning with updates on Russian adoptions through Childrens Hope International.

90% of adoptive families going thru Russia (via CHI) are asking for baby girls under 12 months.

I know we pretty much knew this...

but the waiting list is 4+ months for a referal. She said if we requested ages 2-3 it would be 1 month!

Im pretty sure we'll still wait, but I thought it was an interesting tid bit.

I told the gal that I already knew all this... via this forum! LOL

[suburbanmomgw]

Yep. The less specific request the faster the referral. We were told because we want a boy, it will be faster than if we wanted a girl. Also, if you pick a certain region, or what you want the child to look like...it may take longer to match. Still, referrals come faster from Russia than from most other countries.

[ahnasmom]

I'm am looking to adopt another girl from Russia (adopted 1st daughter 7/02 @ 10 mos) & spoke with my agency yesterday & was told it would be only 1 week week for a very young girl. I feel it depends on the agency, their "connections' in Russia and the region.

[rnnurse2be]

You were told it would only take a week? Ive never heard of this before...

[clydster]

We have been waiting two months. We were told that if we wanted a referral right away we could have one but it would be a boy.
Nothing against boys, but now we have the nursery done for a girl and I have my heart set on one. Heck Ive been waiting for over twenty years to be a mommy, what's a few months more?
If the wait gets too long we may switch.
I do know of one couple in the region our dossier is at that got a referral in three days!! They requested two girls, one a toddler and one an infant. They got the referral for the toddler (3 year old) that quickly.

[ahnasmom]

Yes one week. Our last adoption we had a referral within a week, which we turned down due to the region and the fact that our paperwork was not fully completed, and we just weren't ready...too soon. The referral for our daughter came 1 1/2 weeks after that. Our agency deals with AMREX, I don't know if that makes a difference? Our total time for the adpotion, from 1st application to completeion was less than 7 months.
When I called Monday, I assumed it would take longer because we wanted a very young infant girl from a specific region, Tomsk (where we went for the 1st adoption) and they said it would most likely be no more than 1 week. They have 30 adoptions in process and most had the referral within 1 to 3 days...some bringing home infants as young as 5 to 7 mos.
Our experience with our agency was excellent with the 1st adoption and they are NO issues with any of the adoptive parents, that I am aware of or could find. My husband did extensive research prior to our choosing this agency, 3 months worth.
After speaking with many other adoptive parents who went to Russia, I truly believe it all depends on your agency and their relationships in Russia.

[CherAbb]

Would you mind sharing the name of your agency?

I have also heard of referrals coming in a week or even a couple of days...yes even for girls. BUT, I also hear about people waiting much longer than that, so I too am convinced it must be agency dependent. Plus, as my agency mentioned to me...it is also dependent on what children are available at a particular time and sometimes more girls are available and their referrals can be obtained rather quickly...sometimes mainly boys are available.

So, with this in mind...I'm trying to be prepared for a quick referrals, but not expect a quick referral as it may take several months!

[ahnasmom]

I'm new to this group, but does everyone know about one of the best books out there regarding adopting from Russia. The Russian Adoption Handbook....by John H Maclean? We used it constantly and I just found out there is an updated version, which we will get as we start the 2nd adoption through Russia. (Tapestrybooks.com is dedicated to adoption books.)

Waiting is the hardest part, but you will forget all about it once you see your child for the 1st time, hold her for the 1st time. Once that judge declares that little angel yours, nothing else matters.

Even though our total process took just 7 mos...we waited 12 weeks between visits. Don't worry, that was highly unusual, even for Tomsk, which tends to take a little longer than most regions between visits.

[CherAbb]

Thanks...I just recently found the Tapestry site. There is another Russian Handbook by Irina something? Anybody have any good or bad things to say about that one. It must be popular cause the ship date on Amazon isn't for another couple of weeks.

I just bought the Toddler Adoption; The Weaver's Craft - something like that. It was highly recommended by our social worker as were adopting a 18 - 24 mo. girl. I'll let you know if it is any good.

[wierzbor]

The Russian Adoption Handbook is on sale at Amazon.

[ohilda]

Can you please give me the name of your agency? Also, why did you pick that particular region? We are interested in adopting a healthy male infant (as young as possible). I was told that with certain regions you may have to travel only once. Also, were the fees comparable to most agencies? I see they range anywhere from $18,000...and in some cases go up to $35,000! Any info we can get would be great. Thank you so much and God Bless!