[DDolla]

Hey Everyone,
I'm considering adoption down the road and I'm in the "researching stage". I'm a 23 year old, college graduate who is getting married this summer. My future husband (27 years old) and I have been dating for four years. We own our home and both work in law enforcement. We have no children, but plan on having a few of our own but are also very interested in adoption.

We are considering Russia. So my question is where do I start? What books, websites, support groups really helped you out? When should we consider adopting- I know because we are a younger couple it may *look* better to wait. Can you share any tips? Thank you so much :-)

[momraine]

Many agencies and even countries have rules about how long you have to have been married. Also it's pretty expensive so you will want to start saving, plus just raising kids is expensive! So it's also better to be prepared as in having your carreers established so you can take time off to travel for your kids and also to be able to stay home with them for a little while when they are home to help them adjust. Most agencies will send you free information packets. For me they gave me an idea of the requirements and the fees. Then I read books and also lots of boards and support groups on-line.

[Bcelli]

Age wasn't a factor for me - I'm OLD - but I'm reasonably sure you have to be at least 25 for Russia, which would be perfect for you since you are just now starting your research. We took a couple of years to research before we signed with an agency. I would recommend Googling Russian adoption and just start reading and taking notes. When you get to a point where you have a specific question(s), this is the place to come. No matter what the issues, you are probably going to be able to find someone who has been there, done that and everyone is pretty open and willing to share advice and experience. Start saving money now unless you have a nest egg in the bank. It's almost 3 times as expensive now as it was when we adopted our first in 1998. There is an agency feedback list at the top of the forum if you narrow down your agency search and would like feedback from others who have used them. A couple of big agencies went under recently. For us, we preferred a smaller agency with a good track record. It's much harder to get lost in the crowd when there's not much of a crowd. You have much to do and it can be an amazing journey if you have patience and a sense of humor. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, your decision to consider adoption and thanks for the work you and your fiance do to keep us all safe and sound.

[TweetyMom04]

I've sent you 2 PM's.

[kretzklan]

There are a lot of great books in general for adoption and what used to be the "bible" was The Russian Adoption Handbook. However, much of that info is now outdated...
There are marriage requirements and age req as well...getting packets from agencies is a good first step!