[Ktates]

My original response didn't get posted either!

Anyway as for cost - I agree with Becky - we probably were around the 30-35k range. Agencies don't usually include the following costs: travel (airline, hotel meals etc), document cost - notarizing and apostilling, lab work or dr appts. Apostilling can be as much as $10 per document in some states so that can add up. Also some agencies may not include the cost of homestudy or post placement reports if they aren't licensed in your state to do those.

As far as the timing thing - I don't know about 2 years- you didn't say what age range you are looking for - the younger and healthier the referral you want the longer you will wait. Also right now with the agency and NGO thing is really holding some agencies up but some are processing pretty quickly (I think mine is pretty quick because there are few people on the list and the city/region is moving pretty quickly still).

As was mentioned in another thread - a lot of countries are slowing down in timeline for various reasons. In Russia a lot of things are also dependant on the region and your agencies contacts there. So you have that with the accreditation/NGO issue and it is a bit difficult to figure out! But a good agency is worth it's wait in gold so do your research!
Good luck-

[Waiting2Be]

Welcome and good luck with what ever you decide.

Our adoption of our dd took just over 2 years and was just completed this past June. As our agency puts it, we were the "unluckiest" ones, we got stuck in a shut down, a region that was not adoption friendly, a longer then usual wait for a referral, a region audit, accredidation, 10 wait not waived, so we hopefully are not the norm, but the exception.

As for cost, in total including travel, documents, etc. I would say we spent about $35k.

All in all, well worth the pain and heartache of the wait, it disappears so soon after you are home, you almost forget.

[sarah_h]

We are in the middle of the process, and are likely switching agencies this week because of the accreditation holdup. So we don't have a final timeline yet (we submitted our dossier in April but have not been able to proceed due to our agency's lost accreditation). But I thought I'd mention that our original agency also suggested that Siberian adoptions would go faster - I wonder if it is the same agency we've been using. Feel free to e-mail me for details: shamersm@gmail.com

Also, to take this a slightly different direction -- I would suggest that now might not be the best time to select an agency. There are fewer than 10 that are currently accredited to work in Russia, with the last one set to expire in April. This basically means that if you sign with an agency now, you have to either choose one of those (and hope to be done by April) or you have to take a gamble that the reaccreditations for other agencies will start coming through within some reasonable amount of time. If I were you, I'd think about delaying the agency decision and instead just move forward with getting passports, copies of marriage license, and a homestudy (which does not typically need to be done by your own agency). I'm curious if others would give the same advice. Perhaps in a month or so there will be more news on the accreditation situation so that you can make an informed choice, and you'll already be ahead of the game on your paperwork.

[SingleMama2B]

I agree with you Sarah..... Until the "Accreditations" start happening, it is a BIG UNKNOWN!!! I would start gathering all the original certificates needed, get your passports (if you do not have them already... this way, you won't pay a "RUSH" charge, and they are good for 10 years ) Talk to as many agencies and families that you can about their experiences. I did NOT do this, as my sister and her family and I where approached, and I went on BLIND FAITH. For me and my sister/family, it all went 90% well and consider ourselves very lucky. If I where to persue another adoption, I would go back to my agency, and if they (for whatever reason) where no longer doing this, I would be researching like crazy!!!

Blessings..................

[his,mine&ours]

Personally, I'd do a lot of research and pick your top two or three agencies. I'd get their application packets, work on what you can, and then watch the accreditations. I wouldn't sign with an agency until after reaccreditations happen. Why? Because it will be almost impossible to get an adoption done between now and next April when the last accreditations expire. I don't think Ive seen but one or two adoptions get completed - start to finish - in less than 7 months (recently - I know that was the norm a few years ago). And, that is all the time you have. If it were me, I'd wait and sign with a newly accredited agency once those accreditations start coming in.

Good luck!

[Amysue1112]

Welcome! I don't have time to read all the responses, so you may have heard this before...but....

First of all, all regions are different with their wait times. I don't think the Siberian regions are specifically faster..and even when you go to a region (like we did, our first was in Siberia) things began to slow WAY down and we moved regions after 1yr of waiting...).

I think some agencies don't update their websites as they should...also, that is just the guesstimate wait time between submitting dossier and getting a referral. Once you figure in time it takes to get the dossier together, time it takes to get it registered, time it takes to get a travel date after accepting a referral, and time between trips, yes...you are likey looking at two years. Some have had a shorter process, some have had a much longer process. You just never know..

It used to be quicker for boys than for girls, but that may be changing too...we have been home with our daughter 4 months so I don't have the latest info.

Even though Russia is..well...somewhat unstable, it is still the biggest and most popular place to adopt in EE.

I think the process is getting harder everywhere, and they all have their pros and cons.

Good luck, and welcome!