[Vicki H]

I also emailed Oprah and Montel. I also contact the local paper and the online editor forwarded my email to the city editor.

Hope this helps,
Vicki

[bdaddy]

Thank you everyone,

This is not just for us "waiters" this is for the children.

If they close down IA, soo many children will suffer.

Come guys, there are many so of you who I have supported over the past year, we need your help.

Please join us.

Thank you,

-Bdaddy's other half

[emjay]

Count me in...once I get the kids in bed, I'll do my part with emailed lettters...

- Maura

[Kasey]

Ok, I did NY Times, Moscow Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, my local paper:Lansdale Reporter, Oprah, CNN, Dr Phil, The View, Good Morning America.
Hopefully someone will pick something up!

[MominPA]

I just sent and email to Oprah and will be sending more out tonight and tomorrow.

Also, even when you are done with your post placement reports please try to send photos of your children to your agency. I send two photos to my agency every year when I send them my holiday card. I wasn't asked to do this, but I do to try to help the others behind me. I know that my son's photo was sent to the director of the orphanage he was in.

[lovestruck]

I just emailed Oprah.

[Kendal]

Great idea, I'll send off my letters tonight. I hope it works. But I will say this, we completed our first adoption in '01 and our last one in '05. I have been following the climate in Russia for some time now. It has looked this bleak before. I don't know if any of you remember there was a complete shut down for about 6mo(?) in '00. I truly feel this is just a bump in the road. Russian media, like the US loves a sensational story. And this most recent abuse case is definately that! For some sad reason, happy stories don't sell papers. But until this case, Russian adoption were moving in a slow but positive direction. So until Putin says no more international adoptions (which there is no indication that he would do that), I do believe international adoptions will continue. I pray everyday for you parents that are waiting to bring your children home.

[lovestruck]

Kendal, I am soooooo hoping and praying that you are right! Good to hear from someone that's been there before. Thanks.

[FloridaJewel]

Hi all,
This is a great idea.
I just e-mailed my cousin who works at CNN (although low on the todem pole!), and my husband's cousin who used to be a producer for CNN & now is SAHM. (they met at our wedding & she got him in for the interview!)
I'll also email my friend in Buffalo where I grew up, she adopted from Russia and used to work in producing. Who knows. Worth a try.

[tbristow]

Since tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of court and Saturday is the one-year anniversary of picking Hunter up from the baby home, I think I'll wait until then to do my letters and before/after pictures. I can't imagine life without him, and we really hope someday to go back after a little brother for him so this is important for us too. I'm still haunted by images of the three children we saw over there.

[bdaddy]

Thank you everyone, my objective here is not to piss anyone off. I just want people to see the positive side of IA.


Thanks again for all your letters, emails, and phone calls. We can do this together!

[thmc1215]

Ok, I've emailed Oprah, the Washington Post, NY Times, CNN, Mosnews, and Primetime. If anyone finds anymore websites, please post them and I'll send an email to them as well.

Here's what I sent . . . .

I am writing to beg you to tell the positive side of Americans adopting children from Russia.


My husband and I recently completed our family by adopting two wonderful children from Russia.

Because of fertility problems we were unable to have biological children of our own. We thought that our dreams of having a family were bleak until an acquaintance introduced us to international adoption. They had recently adopted two children from Russia and had a very positive experience. After hearing their story, we started attending seminars and knew that this was the way that we were suppose to start a family.

Our journey was not without its share of heartaches. We signed with our agency last January and received our referrals for a 12 month old boy and an 18 month old girl in April 2005 (very quick compared to most couples). In May 2005 we traveled to Tyumen, Russia (Siberia) to meet our future son and daughter. We fell in love instantly with the children and it was very painful to leave them. Our future daughter clung to my husband and was already calling him Papa. Tears filled both of our eyes and we were just heartbroken to have to leave Russia without them. The only thing that we could cling to was the fact that we would be returning in two months for a court date and to complete our adoption. Due to some horrible cases here in America of abuse to Russian children, what was supposed to be two months in between trips, turned into seven months.

We prayed everyday, and I kept a journal of things that would happen during those seven months to help ease the pain and to one day share with our children that we thought of them daily even though we were over 5000 miles away. We contacted Senators and Congressmen to try and speed up the process, with no luck. Finally, after months of waiting we got the phone call of a lifetime that we were granted a court date in December 2005! Even though we have been home just two months, we have all bonded so well and are adjusting to being a Family. A Family, something that we’ve waited some many years to say.

There are still over 800,000 children left in orphanages in Russia. About half of them are eligible for adoption and need a loving home. It only takes one visit to these baby homes and orphanages to fall in love with each and every one of them. Yes, the baby home that our children came from was very impressive and the workers there far exceeded our expectations, but the bottom line is that children need a Mama and Papa to hold and love on them to help them flourish and become loving and successful adults. Our future depends on the children of the world, and there are a lot of children stuck in the orphanages in Russia due to some very bad situations that most of us cannot even comprehend here in the United States of America. Over the past year only the negative side of international adoption has been told in the press and TV, when in fact 99.9% of the international adoptions end in very successful story. Yes, I think there should be more training and education of how to handle a child that has been institutionalized to help eliminate these situations. If Russia were to stop the international adoptions to Americans, this will only hurt the children. Each year that these children remain in an orphanage, they loose more of an opportunity to be adopted. Until one day it is too late, and they are older and leave the orphanages only to enter a life that we do like to think about.

Please, I beg you with all of my heart, do not punish the good hearted people that truly do want what’s best for these children and want to open their home up to them. Give these children a chance to become a Family with parents who love them and are willing to travel to the other side of the world just for them. Please hear our cry to tell the positive side of international adoption and all the success stories that go untold.



Mother to two beautiful Russian children,

Tracy

[leet257]

Hi bdaddy,
This is a great thing you started here, perhaps this will somehow make the road a little smoother for future adoptions as well as the sake of the children. I cant send a success story to the media due to our adoption still in the works. Ive felt the sting of the politiburo, like when I got a court date then lose it the next day because Moscow tells the judge the too many adoptions are not good for their career. Our new court date is scheduled but this kinda negative press can very well stop it before I can get there. We all need the success storys told.

[lovestruck]

Tracy, beautiful letter!! Thank you!!

[bdaddy]

Thanks Tracy...great letter!


-Bdaddy's other half