[angelkisses0102]

What can you tell me about this region? I know it is about 1000 miles south of Moscow on the Black Sea but has anyone been there recently? What is the opinion of international adoption by the judges and orphanages and the general population? Time between trips? Economy of the region and condition of the orphanages?

Just doing a little research...

[Katie63011]

Mycodybear's son is from Krasnodar.

Our agency worked there and I believe there was a slow down because one of the abuse cases came out of there. Don't quote me on that, but I think things are moving again but they won't process adoptions unless the agency is accredited.

[blueprints]

Karen,

We adopted from Krasnodar in Sept 2004. It's very hot in Krasnodar this time of year. Our first trip was in July, the pick-up trip was Sept. They waved the 10 day waiting period, we had doctors from home telling the judge it was for medical reasons. Everyone there was nice, however almost no one spoke English outside our translator. We stayed at the "Hotel Moscow".... Apartment style, livingroom, bedroom, full kitchen, balcony, not bad at all. Bring things like mac and cheese, oatmeal, (for the kids), dry soups, peanutbutter, crackers.... If you don't speak Russian it's kinda hard going out to eat. There is one restaurant across the street from Hotel Moscow that has an English menu (but no one there speaks english- so you point and they know what you want). There's also a deli/bakery across the street, so you can get breads, and lunch meats.... coke, water, etc. Let me know if you have more questions. Best wishes... have a great trip!!!

[ndkaff]

We adopted our son from Krasnodar April 11, 2005
He was at the baby home in Noverissyk(sp).
We stayed with a host family that was EXCELLANT!!!!!
Our first trip was Nov. 2004. I thought the weather was very mild. We were caught in the release letter problems.,etc. We FINALLY went to court April 11th. The 10 day stay was also waived for us
I think the weather when we were there on trip #2 was in the low 70's.

Once we got rid of the scabies and gariadia he had he is now very healthy and growing like a weed!!!

[lakimnafite]

Our little Olya was in Krasnodar. I enjoyed the region. We also did home stay (I think the same family as ndkaff if I recall...)

I know the region was basically shut down for quite a while due to that abuse case. I was offerred a trip back to Kras when Astrakhan wasn't moving last year, but contacts in the region cautioned me that it wasn't stable yet and not get started there.. So, we stuck it out in Astrakhan.

I'm not sure if you will find any recent families from Krasnodar... I think FRUA's Ernie has a friend that works in the region. You might try him...

Good luck!!

[angelkisses0102]

Thanks for the info...I'll check with Victor's mommy as well.

[amygp]

We adopted from Kras in April 05. The time between trips for us was six months exactly - mostly due to the law changes of 04-05. The ten-day wait was waived and we were in and out of the region within three days on our court trip. However, we did have a chance to spend a week there on trip 1 and found Krasnodar city to be fairly enjoyable. There is a nice downtown area, lots of shops, restaurants, etc. The people there were very nice and helpful. Our son's orphanage was in Armavir, which is about three hours away - though we didn't spend much more than a day in Armavir, the downtown area was picturesque and the orphanage director was fantastic. Our son was born at 3.75 lbs., seven weeks early, and considering his rough start at life, the fact that he was very healthy when we picked him up is a testament to the fact that the orphanage caretakers and director definitely made the most of the resources available to them. If you need more details, email me or send me a PM. Bottom line: We weren't thrilled with our U.S. adoption agency but have no complaints whatsoever regarding their Krasnodar staff, whom we found to be knowledgeable, understanding and accommodating. If we adopt from Russia again, we'll definitely request Krasnodar region, despite the very long wait we had to endure.

[DelMarie]

Hi Karen

We adopted our little Veronika from Krasnodar in May 2005. WE took our first trip IN sept. 2004 and our second trip was delayed for 7 months due to a shutdown of the MOE.

I truly believe it was all the hard work and persistance of our caseworker in Krasnodar and the local judges' intervention on our behalf that finally got our adoption completed. No one could account as to why our request for a release letter was ignored or lost or denied x 3 times. It was so frustrating.

The weather was great the first trip and SO HOT the second trip-near 100 degrees every day! We stayed with a host family both trips and this was an awesome experience. I don't think we would have done so much sightseeing if we had stayed at a hotel because one other poster said not very many people speak english. Although I tried my hardest to learn some small bits of Russian to communicate and everyone seemed pleased that we made the effort to try and learn their language. WE felt confident enough to go out and buy our own local fruits, vegetables, bottled water, etc...and other treats to share with our hostess. All the street vendors were so nice to us and smiled when we spoke what little Russian we could. They would show the numbers to us on a calculator so we would know how much to pay.

WE stayed in a small apartment and the hostess let us use the larger bedroom which had A/C-their bedroom did not! We were given as much privacy as we wanted to bond with our daughter. The hostess 8 year old daughter sophia gave me Russian lessons while I helped her with her english. She was a sweet girl!
We opted to stay in region for about 1 week even though we could have returned to Moscow as early as the 4th day after court and this was the best decision we could have made. It made it easier to travel with our daughter.

Our daughter was 15 months when we picked her up and had not left the baby hospital due to overcrowding in the Krasnodar orphanages. The hospital was near the downtown region of Kras. I think she recieved more care possibly than the orphanage because their were more caregivers. It was clean and they kept a tight schedule but all the kids were very hungry. She only weighed 17lbs when we picked her up and this is 5th percentile for her age. Of course a year later she is much better.

The judge was great and adoption friendly. Court was intimidating but only because of the language barrier. Our ten days was waived. Our only real "glitch" was that the computers in Washington DC crashed and no visas' were issued the day we had our embassy appointment. Not a big deal for us since we had added an extra day or two into our itinerary.

Hope this helps

[mycodybear]

Hey Karen,

Of the people who post on this board, I think I have the most recently completed adoption in Krasnodar (March 2006). We loved the region and if we ever go back to Russia I would definitely request it. From my understanding all of the judges and staff are very open to international adoption. There was a slow down about a year ago due to an abuse case but I think those issues have been resolved. The total wait time between trips for us was 3.5 months. Our judge was great- court lasted only 5 minutes and our 10 days was waived without even requesting it. I don't believe I've ever heard of the 10 days NOT being waived in Krasnodar. Also, as of now they accept one doctor signing off on the required medical forms. They are a very adoption friendly region. We stayed with a host family (the same as many others who posted here) and they were fabulous. Viktor was from the baby home in Armavir. From the children we saw they all seemed very well taken care of and the director and caretakers really seemed to do a great job with the children. I was expecting a very bleak situation but was pleasantly surprised when that wasn't the case. If you have any other questions please ask as I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out.

[lakimnafite]

Hey, I realized this weekend that I have a book from Krasnodar. Probably all of you Kras families purchased it as well while you were in the region.. But in case any of you didn't, and would like a beautiful picture book of the region where your child was born, the book is free to the first person who asks for it. Just pay shipping!