[YBK]

hello!
I'm new here.
i really need help with adopting a child with special needs from Russia.
the thing is, he doesn't have much time to waste, his condition is not great and he needs a proper treatment and care.
he is 10 months and truly, he needed to be here 10 months ago.
he has a Epidermolysis Bullosa, it's a genetic skin disorder.for nowadays there is no cure, but with proper treatment they can leave a long life.

question: what are our chances to do it fast without waiting for years?

I'm a citizen of Ukraine and my husband is American. the baby is in Russia.

everyone tells me that we don't have chances to get him here in time, but from other side he doesn't have any time.

may be here is someone who adopted a child from Russia recently with the same condition ? or just a child with special needs?

I don't even know from what to start.
thank you for all your help!

[YBK]

also, can we do by ourselves or agency is a must?
can you recommend any agency, which is honest and wouldn't just take the money for nothing?

[sak9645]

An adoption where you adopt directly from a birthmother, is not generally allowed in Russia, or in many other countries. The child would have to be in an orphanage or foster home.

In general, independent adoption won't be allowed in most Russian regions. Russia generally requires you to work through a licensed agency in your country, which has also been accredited by the Russian government. Working with an agency would be a good idea, in general, because your child's situation is unique, and there may have to be some negotiation with the Russian government and the U.S. government to get this child adopted and immigrated in an expedited manner.

You would have to find an agency working with the particular region where the orphanage is located, and the Russian government would have to determine that the child is eligible for international adoption under its laws.

Since one spouse is American, you can apply for the child to get a visa via the U.S. orphan visa process, after the adopton, assuming that both you and the child qualify under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). In short, you would have a homestudy by a provider in your U.S. state of residence, and apply to the USCIS for a preliminary determination of your fitness to immigrate an orphan. The child would also have to be considered an orphan, as defined by the INA.

You would then prepare a dossier of documents required by the Russian government, under the direction of your agency, and send it to Russia, after all the documents have been notarized and apostilled.

Under Russian law, you would probably be required to make at least two trips to the country to meet and bond with the child under supervision, although how this would be handled if you have already met the child is unknown. You would then go through a court hearing in Russia, and the judge could approve or disapprove the adoption. After the hearing, you would probably have to remain in the child's region for ten days, before you could go to Moscow to the U.S. Embassy, to get the child's adoption visa to enter the U.S. Your qualifications and those of your child would go through a final review at that point.

In general, the adoption process would not be quick. If the child is very ill, or if you and the child do not meet the Russian and American requirements for adoption, you might try seeing whether the Russian government would permit the child to travel to the U.S. for medical treatment, and whether the U.S. government would consider him eligible for a medical visa. A medical visa is NOT an immigrant visa, and the child would be expected to return to Russia after treatment. If the U.S. government felt that you were using the process simply to get the child to the U.S., with no plans to return him to Russia, the visa could be denied. However, medical visas are sometimes granted.

Sharon

[EZ2Luv]

A person posted about this situation a few days back and it had a link for a website. I attempted to PM the the person but they did not have those capabilities. About 10 minutes later, I noticed all the posts were gone as the person posted in several different places. Not sure what is up with this but the baby was so adorable. I have no information that would help you except to say perhaps you could ask the people you are in contact with about this baby.

From what I understand the baby was in an orphanage reieving special medical attention(there were pictures of nurses with the baby on the website and a video) It seemed as though the person making the appeal for this baby to find a US forever family had some information as to how to go about it and seemed to be a social worker.

EZ

[YBK]

Thank you all very much!
Thank you Sharon for a detailed reply.
i'm loosing all my hopes here, because everyone says it will take up to a year to get him here and about 20.000$

yes, may be it was the same baby people posted before
here is the link to his story

Edited to remove link - we cannot post links of "available situations"

I contacted the agency here, the one which represent him. They said 2 more families are interested, but i don't know if anybody filed any documents.

I thought may be someone adopted the kid with special needs recently for Russia and may be they know some way to do it as fast as possible.

[EZ2Luv]

Yes that is the same baby.

[Abdulina]

Originally Posted by YBK

Thank you all very much!
Thank you Sharon for a detailed reply.
i'm loosing all my hopes here, because everyone says it will take up to a year to get him here and about 20.000$

yes, may be it was the same baby people posted before
here is the link to his story

Edited to remove link - we cannot post links of "available situations"

I contacted the agency here, the one which represent him. They said 2 more families are interested, but i don't know if anybody filed any documents.

I thought may be someone adopted the kid with special needs recently for Russia and may be they know some way to do it as fast as possible.

you can write me privately for more info on this child. I do advocacy work w/ the agency representing him. Not allowed to say much on here but obviously if you've been to the website, you have a great deal of info already. Funds have been raised for him, including one grant and then donated money as well. I have personally adopted 6 special needs kids from Russia. There is NO FAST WAY to do it. I have a friend who has a brother with this disorder. He's now 35 or somewhere around that age. I know they are willing to work to get things expedited. When they thought my child was dying over there, we came home after trip one and had a travel date 6 days later. Just 2.5 weeks between trips. Not saying it would happen, just saying they do try in extreme cases to hurry the process along. We didn't have a ten day wait back then. One of the last families not to have a ten day wait. Anyhow, good luck. If you have any questions on the agency itself, write me privately.