[Pattyo11275]

So I was talking with a friend and she was telling me about her Russian adoption experience. Later, I remembered her saying that the region she adopted from was a "good region." Made me think... Why would one region be better that another? What should I be thinking about/researching about the region when we finally do get a referal? Socioeconomics? Health issues? Location?

Sometimes the hard part is knowing what questions to ask rather than trying to figure out the answers to the questions.

Thx, Patty

[marjo]

That is a really tough question. Some people think a good region is a place where you can get a fast referral. Some people think a good region is a place that is considered "adoption friendly" that is not as tough with the paperwork. Some people think a good region is a major city near Moscow because maybe they don't like flying. Some people think a good region is where they have a an orphanage that takes good care of the children.

LOL, I guess you get my point that a "good region" means different things to different people. I probably will think my region is the best because that's where my daughter is.

[Littleruler3]

Like most things in life...its all relative!




Mary

[waitinginnj]

Regions have various practices about waiving the 10 day waiting period, which is important to many people.

Reasons that I think that my region was good are:

Easy access from Moscow(within driving distance)
Children well cared for.
Hotels available that were "comfortable"
10 days usually waived
Quick turn around between trips
Manageable and fair court proceedings
Nice people in the area

[ahnasmom]

What is 'good' depends on your definition of good. For our daughter, we were not assigned a region and just went to the region offered. For our son, we specifically requested Samara.

Our reasons:

Young referrals (he was 4.5 months at referral and OFF the reg.)
Healthy referrals
Great orphanages/decent caretaker ratio (4-1 for infants)
Good ecomony/very industrial
5th (or 6th) largest city in Russia
Direct flight from Frankfurt
10 days always waived
System works well 2nd trip almost always within 4 weeks of 1st
Shorter stays...trip #1 5 days, trip # 2 8 days.

So you decide what is good and then pursue that region, of course it also depends on your agency and where they work.

[keithww]

Other things to consider.

How do the judges feel about large families. Some judges can not understand why anyone would adopt when they already have 2, 3 or more children.

Older Children
Some regions are more friendy towards older couples adopting children.

Which Regions your Agency works in.
I think this is the most important issue. Be carefull about your agency, they will place you in a region that they work in based on what you specifics are.

[Korrie Sue]

A girl at my office also adopted from Russia. When she talks about the reasons she picked her region she says she picked the one with the lowest level of alcholism so that she had a better chance of avoiding a child with FAS.

Nobody has mentioned this as a reason so far. So I am wondering, are there some regions that have rampant alcoholism problems and some regions that are known to be better?

[Dobby]

My siblings-in-law adopted from Kazakhstan, and our region was just north of the Kazakh border. We were told by our coordinator that the higher the Muslim population in the region (such as our area), the less alcoholism (and thus FAS) there will be.

I'm not certain that's a good enough explanation as there are many factors that lead to alcoholism, just relaying what we were told.

[waitinginnj]

Some regions allow single parent adoptions, while others do not.

[Vicki H]

Some regions are tougher with the questions than others. The region we adopted from grilled me for a very long time that they did not feel we were trying to have a biological child for very long.
I think the judge did not understand the money involved with infertility.

They asked me many times if I would treat my son any differently if I were to become pregnant.

I haven't heard this happen to may others in that region though.


Vicki

[Littleruler3]

I am blown away by this!!! In China, the court hearing is a formality! The day we received our child, they bought the 3 babies in and then after awhile, we just signed some paers...then the three families took the orphanage director and nannies to a 8 course meal...which was interesting to say the least!!!!!




Mary

[Waiting4Skip]

It IS all relative - depends on what you consider priorities.

We adopted from Irkutsk.

Pros:
---Very little wait for referral
---Children are VERY WELL cared for
---Baby Homes are very well maintained
---Overall, children are healthy, happy, and adjust very quickly
---Caregivers are extremely loving & caring and are very forthcoming with information.
---Availability of babies & older children, boys & girls
---Wonderful region to visit - close to Lake Baikal
---All the regional agengies "work together" to help in the adoption facilitation

Cons:
---A very long wait for a court date
---Only one judge in the region - only hears the minimum number of international adoption hearings per month: 8
---Last year alone the judge took off more than 12 weeks vacations so if you do the math, only 80 children or sibling groups found homes. In Angarsk alone, there are at least 500 children under the age of 4. That's not even counting the children 4 - 16!
---Judge is very strict, has many "quirky" requirements
---Court is typically 3 hours (at least) of grueling questions.
---Rarely are there babies under 9 months old
---Another 6 1/2 hour flight from Moscow
---10 day wait is NOT waived
---Alot of additional paperwork required by the judge
---Court trip typically requires 3 week stay in region, then another2 - 5 days in Moscow


So if you look at the two, many would opt for a region where the wait between visits is quicker (we waited 9 months between trips), that is closer to moscow, the judge isn't as tough, and where the 10 days are waived. We could have gone elsewhere, we were aware of all these cons (except for the 9 month wait) going in, and looking back, wouldn't have changed a thing. A shorter wait would have been nice, but if EVERYBODY looks for the easier regions, the judge wins! (Not judging anyone elses decisions here, please no flaming - we're acknowledging that the Judge makes the other regions so much more attractive!),


Waiting for Skip was very difficult, yet til the day I die, I'll encourage familes to adopt from this region. These kids deserve consideration too, and perhaps it's my one-woman crusade here, but if I can convince even one family to adopt from Irkutsk, I know one more child is happy at last. The fact that one judge controls the fate of all these beautiful children just breaks my heart, and having spent almost 8 weeks in the region over the last year, and have even made friendships with people. there.

When I return to Russia for a baby brother for Skip, I will be definetely be headed back to Irkutsk!

Judy

[Littleruler3]

If one is new to russia, then how is one to know the good from the not so good?





Mary

[kimber413]

Littleruler, you ask on this board. Many, many regions are represented here, and we can tell you the good and not so good for each.

We adopted from Kemerovo, and we felt that court was more of a formality. The judge asked us questions directly from our home study, and after a 15 minute hearing, and maybe 5 minutes to think about it (again, we felt it was just a formality), the judge told us we would make a wonderful home for our little girl. Kemerovo is very adoption friendly. Our orphanage was clean, the caregiver to child ratio very low, and the people were wonderful. Our daughter is beautiful. We will definitely request Kemerovo for our next adoption.

[Littleruler3]

Our referral comes from rostov(there is more than one), but been informed that its close to Moscow( about 125 miles from Moscow). Andrew was 5.5 months in October at the time of his referral.Am told he is from a first time pregnancy and abandoned from birth. A local family here said that they heard that this region does waive the ten-day rule, but no confirmation of this. Am told he came off of the registery in september, but we have to wait the four month waiting period, which will make it january before we can leave!Told that all tests were negative and he is healthy, his pic shows a cute cute baby! At 6 months he is 15 lbs and 25 inches, so this sounds normal to us!



Mary