[QTandRob]

My wife Emily and I have just begun researching international adoption. We are very excited about the concept and are willing to go through the entire process even though it does sound a bit grueling. That said, in reading this forum, it seems clear that we should anticipate wait times on the order of around 2 years. Perhaps longer. Why are so many agencies still listing wait times in the 9-12 month range? Should any agency listing such times be dismissed out of hand based upon the misperception their websites create? Finally, is Russia's wait time out of line with what might be anticipated in other Eastern European countries? Oh, one more question. Emily talked to someone who was saying they did adoptions in the Siberian region and it was faster. Does anyone know if that agency is that agency being straight with her?

Thanks in advance for any help,
Rob

[kretzklan]

Hello Rob -
Welcome to the wild ride! International adoption from any county is an ever changing entity. There are so many changes happening even now - I think it is impossible to put a time frame on the whole process. There are people here (me being one) who have completed the process in the last year in under 9 months (our process was 7). But, there are a million factors that can change that. Age of child, gender, paperwork issues...etc!
I think I would see what the 9-12 months is for - time to get a referal? Time until first trip? Or total completion time? I would ask for the agency to give you names of families that have completed adoptions with them in the past year - call those people, get a better idea of the real life time frame. Agencies now should probably be saying "timeframe is unknown" - but that isn't very good advertising. I'm sure they got the figures somewhere - a average, but from when?
There are currently some "easier" regions in Russia than others. Some of those being in Siberia, BUT with the changes that are recent or still coming...well, I personally think that will all even out.
Good luck with your decisions!!!

[SingleMama2B]

Hi and Welcome Rob..... "Kretzklan" gave a very good summary of the current climet in Russia. I truly beleive that the younger the child the longer in the wait, and if a girl, even longer then a boy. There is always exceptions, but you need to take into consideration possible 'special needs'. I choose to adopt an 'older child', and started by hosting her for 2 weeks in the summer time in my home! It was the most wonderful and exhausting experience (until she came home FOREVER ). My process was from July 23rd, 2004 til January 25th, 2005 when DD stepped off the plane at JFK as an American Citizen!!! So, my process was fast in comparison to others, BUT NOT without a huge Emotional RollarCoaster ride.... i.e. paperwork, lost documents, an "Aunt" popping out of the woodwork trying to stop the adoption, and many more hills and drops! I will, and 99% of the members/posters here will tell you..... EVERYTHING WAS SOOOOOO WORTH that RIDE!!!

Definately, get references from any/all agencies that you are interested in. When asked by people about my Agency, I tell them EVERYTHING in my experience, which is 98% good, and 2% I certainly think they could improve on.

Also, I tell them this MAIN POINT: You must be or become a VERY PATIENT PERSON when going through this journey. Everything happens on THEIR TIME (Russia's), N O T OUR TIME!!!! We don't understand their methods of work, but eventually, everything does get down. And.... there is ALOT going on behind the scenes by the Agency/Facilitator in Russia. I sometimes wanted or wished for an 'update' from them, and basically would NOT hear anything UNTIL there was something to Tell! They are NOT big on small talk or holding our hands!!!

Welcome again.....

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

[QTandRob]

I guess I should've included the other obvious question. It seems that the agencies are all a little vague about what one can anticipate in the way of costs. Judging by what I'm seeing, I guessing that total out of pocket(other than travel) appears to be around 25K before any tax credits/employer help you may get. However, there do appear to be some wide disparities between agencies. What have people in here come to think of as the "reasonable" target number for total cost? We are considering paying for it in part with savings and in part with our Home Equity.

[Kasey]

I think the other ladies explained differing waits, so much depends on agency, region, and the current climate and/or issues with russia. That is why things seem so vague.
Our first adoption in 2004 went slow until we switched agencies and then we were home with our child in 4 months. The total costs for that one including travel and all fees and souveniors was 31k
This time around we started off requesting a girl under 18 months (in March)so we were told we were info for a 6-9 month wait for referral, in May we changed our request to either gender and got our referral in August, we make our first trip in a week.
This time we anticipate total costs to be around 35k, maybe a little less since we are traveling in off peak season.
We like you paid for all the beginning costs (HS, documents, appostille, etc..) with savings and we took from our home equity line of credit for the rest. We have 0% interest credit cards for airlines and hotel costs.

Hope that helps!!! Best wishes to you on your journey!

[beckyww]

Our adoption of Julia, age 6, took 18 months after our dossier was submitted to our agency. I think $25K is low. I think you're looking at $30K - $45K, with $35 being about right.

Becky
The Woodworth Family in Beautiful San Antonio TX

[Drazil]

Hi and welcome. First thought, you might want to up your expense range to more like $30,000 to $40,000 when all is said and done (including travel etc.). Second thought, like it or not IA (International Adoption) is a business, big business. Any agency is going to advertise just like any other business and tell the public what they want to hear, period. How else will they get people to commit when there are so many of them and many, many people do not do their research so they will get peoples attention with shorter wait times and completion dates. Research, research, research and then do it some more!!! Read the stories on this forum and anywhere else you can find as well as talk to people that have been there done that for more info. Always remember that you are dealing with 2 governments with IA and that should tell you alot (like, agencies really cannot predict too much of any timeframe)!!!!!! The best of luck!!!

[KimOH]

Our 2001 adoption was completed in 6 months from application to homecoming. Our 2005 adoption took 14 months.

As others have mentioned, there are a lot of factors that can affect your timeframe (we likely would have been home a lot sooner except for the reaccreditation delays of 2004/2005. Something that is currently affecting families again.)

There are still people who are completing their adoptions in 9-12 months, and some who take much longer. Just from anecdotal evidence that I've seen, I think 12-18 months is probably average now.

As for the costs, it's hard to give a good estimate because so many things were are variable. There are a couple of things that can make your estimate change pretty wildly.
-- Authentication costs. Each document in your dossier has to be notarized and appostilled by your state. (Some states require certification on a county-level, too.) The cost of this can vary widely from state to state (anywhere from $5-$20 per doc, I think.) When you consider you'll likely have 60+ docs to authenticate, that difference can make for a wide range of costs: 60 docs @ $5/ea is $300, but 60 docs @ $20/ea is $1200,
-- Travel costs. Travel costs are (for the most part) outside the control of your agency and they can fluctuate wildly depending on the time of year you travel, how long the region requires you to stay, and what region you're going to. For instance, our hotel in our region in 2001 cost $42/night including breakfast. In Moscow in 2005 we paid $270/night, without breakfast.

As you're comparing agencies, look carefully (or ask questions) about whats included in your fees and what's extra. It's very difficult to compare apples-to-apples because different agencies include different things. (For instance, some agencies supply drivers/translators as part of the agency fee. Others ask you to pay them separately per day while in country.)

Oh -- about Siberia -- Russia is a country that spans two continents (Europe and Asia). Siberia is the general term used to describe the portion of Russia that is on the Asian continent which, according to land mass, is more than half the country. (For lack of a better analogy, it would be like saying "New England" or "the South" to describe parts of the US.) There are many different regions in Siberia and each of them run a little differently. Region-specific backlogs do happen, but I don't think it would be accurate to say "Siberian regions are faster." It all depends.

[cindyc]

For what it's worth, our adoption of a just-shy-of-one-year old boy took ten months from the time we submitted our first "we're interested" application until the time we came home with our son. That included the big slow-up of late 2004/05.

Some agencies have better connections; some work in regions that are much more adoption friendly than others. Adoption can be a political hot potato in Russia, so a lot depends on the political climate of the moment. Now, it also depends on whether your agency is currently accredited AND NGO registered. So...currently, 9-12 months does seem feasible with certain agencies.

I agree with the previous posters on the total costs. With two trips (and staying in nice hotels), it cost us well in excess of the recommended budgeted amount. But it was also the adventure of a lifetime and priceless in terms of bringing home our marvelous son.

Best wishes on your journey,
CindyC

[boatsun]

We know exactly how long our adoption process took because of an amazing coincidence. The day we turned in the application fee to our agency was the day our son was born. He was a little over ten months old when we brought him home. This was 2004-05 right during some of the changes and through the US and Russian Holidays. The fact that we accepted a boy when we were on the wait list for a girl shortened our wait period considerably. If we hadn't adopted him it would have been a longer wait.

Our cost was about 40k total, but there is the 10k tax credit and my wife received a 5k benefit from her employer so the cost came to be about 25k. There are other expenses that are more difficult to calculate however. My wife took several weeks off from work and she is mainly paid on commission. We have no idea how much it cost us in lost pay.

[SingleMama2B]

My DD was an "older Child" adoption. I hosted her July/August 2004 for 2 weeks in the summer.... I paid for her airline tix, visa/passport ($950), and then did all of the paperwork, etc. My final cost(s) totaled $31,000. I did have to make 2 trip, but only 5 days notice - on the plane in 4 days, which was during the Christmas Holiday.... my round trip tix cost $2,200!!!! I traveled alone (single mama here), and my second round trip tix with 14 days ahead of travel was $648!!! Big difference in costs. I stayed at the Marriott Rennancinace (sp???) and it was expensive (but good for me traveling by myself to be in a "western hotel"), whereas you could save $$$ by staing at a nice hotel that is les expensive, or even a "Home stay". I paid by the hour for the driver and translator, took most of the "gifts" except the "MAIN" orphanage gift. It was suggested that I wait til I was there and to ask what THEY needed. My DD's orphanage was extremely POOR, and they had 1 (mercury) thermometer for 100 kids!! The nurse on site requested medicines, theremomenters, a Blood Pressure machine, bandages, etc. I went shopping, and came back to the orphanage with 14 theremometers, 1 blood pressure machine, 2 HUGE Shopping bags (these bags where the BIGGEST handle shopping bags i have ever seen), full of medicines, bandages, etc. The medicines ranged from cough syrup, to aspirin, to diahrehia meds, you NAME IT. Also purchased 36 rolls of toilet paper!!! This is a Huge accodomy there!!! I had to use the bathroom while at the orphanage, and they where pleased to show me to the "GUEST bathroom". It was a poceline HOLE (no seat), concrete floor which was soaking wet, SHREADED NEWS PAPER for toilet paper, no hot water, no soap, nothing to dry your hands.... It was GOD AWFUL!!!! I couldn't go!!! Later, I did see where there children went, and it was WORSE if you could imagine!!! Anyway, the cost for everything that I mentioned above was $150.00!!! That's it, and it was what THEY needed!! I of course took all of the other "Gifts" for the director, officials, etc., and tons of hats, scarves, gloves/mittens, tooth brushes, tooth paste tubes, school supplies, craft supplies, candy, etc., but to wait until you are there, is the best (and saves on packing )

You will have ALOT of costs here for our Gov't paperwork too!!! INS, finger printing (at least twice), police reports, homestudy, notarizing, $$ to acquire Birth Certificates, Marriage/Divorce papers, passport, Visa's (double entry or more), plus the Apostilling by your state. It does add up. The Agency(s) can ONLY give you an ESTIMATE, and it will differ.... I did a home equity loan, and it worked out great.

Make sure you LOOK into each Agency good, and make sure, MOST OF ALL.... They are NGO (Non-Government Organization) registered!!! Also they have to be REACCREDITED!!! This is the BIG ONE. If they 9the Agency says... "oh, we expect to have it real soon!" you may want them to notify you WHEN they have it "IN-HAND"!!! I also would NOT sign on the dotted line until they have it in-hand, or if their past "Accrediation" is spotless, and you have talked to many past families that where successful with their process!!! This is the BIGGEST of all.... From what I have heard.... they plan to START Reaccrediting Agency(s) in about 4 to 8 weeks..... This is a BIG FLOATING date of course.

I wish you luck and best wishes for your New Journey!!! It will be difficult at times, but in the end..... ALL IS SOOOO WORTH IT!!!!

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

[crispex]

Not sure what happened to my response to this, so I'll repost. Our total adoption time was just over 2 years. This was mainly due to the 8 months between referral and trip one (our adoption agency couldn't figure out how to work letterhead that was the same as their license).

Our costs for the adoption were around $22K plus about $8k in travel costs. This was a bit higher than what we were originally quoted, but we got some bad prices on our first trip plane tickets.

[kizibits]

I just completed the adoption of my daughter Alivia less than 3 months ago. The time from dossier to referral was 7 months and the time from dossier to completion was 9 months. Alivia was 12 months old at the time of adoption.

It is possible to do it under a year, but as already mentioned, it depends heavily on the agency you choose, their status in Russia, the region you are assigned to and the gender/age you are requesting.

You also asked about costs. My total costs, including travel, came to about $33K.

[kretzklan]

My DH and I have found that if you take the agency estimation of costs and add another 50%, you'll be close to right on. Luck of timing can play a big part - an airline ticket in July =$2100, in November =$850...

[kretzklan]

My DH and I have found that if you take the agency estimation of costs and add another 50%, you'll be close to right on. Luck of timing can play a big part - an airline ticket in July =$2100, in November =$850...