[Kimp02]

Last posts indicated a 7/7/03 appt with NAC - Just wondering how all went!

[Dean]

Greetings!

We're home, as of about 24 hours ago. We have a new 3-year old daughter, Natasha Grace. She is a lovely, healthy, smart and feisty little girl who will keep us on our toes! Her 8-year old sister
has been in love with her since the moment she met her.

Our experience in Ukraine was exciting and exhausting. Our trip was exactly four weeks, but could have been shorter by about 4-5 days if not for problems with my wife's maiden/married name.
She adopted her maiden name as a middle name when we married and the Ukrainian officials seem to have a hard time understanding this. It required a special letter from our embassy stating that this is a common practice in the US and that the woman whose name appeared on our marriage license was the same woman whose passport now had a different name. I tried to invoke the example of Hilary Rodham Clinton but they didn't seem to understand or appreciate this!

We were very encouraged by the number of healthy, beautiful children that we saw in person, and another family we met told us that they saw many at the orphanage they adopted from as well. This seemed to contradict what we had been reading. It's pretty clear that the system is incredibly archaic and the availability of children at any give time seems to be almost at the whim of the individual agents at the NAC, despite the fact that there are thousands awaiting families.

On our first visit to the NAC, we were given the opportunity to meet an 18-month old healthy girl, or a 5-year old blind girl. These were the only choices, and we elected to reject both. We were looking for a 3-5 year old girl that would be closer in age to our biological daughter. It was scary to make this decision - the other family we met waited 10 DAYS for their next appointment.

But we were able to return in only 2 days. This time we met with a different worker. She said she remembered us, remembered the tears in our daughter's eyes and my eyes. The woman was very kind and said she wanted to find a sister for our daughter. She showed us a picture of a smiling one-year old, who was now 3 years and two months. We accepted the referral and left for Odessa the next night.

The Odessa "baby house" was very nice, again contradicting much of what we had heard, but we also understand that the conditions vary widely from one orphanage to another. While we were there, SEVEN children were in various stages of finding homes. These were all healthy children, ranging in age from about 14 months to our Natasha at 3 years, 2 months. There were 2 Israeli families and 3 Italian families, a French family and us.

All of the other families were childless, and the joy and on their faces was so moving words cannot describe it. We spent 12 days in Odessa, and during this time we saw the children blossom as they bonded with their parents. It was miraculous.

And of course, we had our own miracle going on as well. The first few visits Natasha was distant and almost listless. But she was also sick with what the doctors called bronchitis. After 5 visits over 3 days she warmed up a bit and began to play and smile some, and that's when we were confident that she was our daughter. Her "bronchitis" seemed to improve for a few days and we were really connecting, then she got sicker and the last few days before we took custody of her were difficult - she would have terrible coughing fits, resulting in rivers of phlegm whenever she exerted herself.

When we finally got her to Kiev, she saw a doctor who agreed with the bronchitis diagnosis. He put her on antibiotics and she immediately started to improve. But today she saw our pediatrician at home who believes she had whooping cough, and she is nearly fully recovered now. It really shows in her demeanor - she's smiling, playing and babbling regularly, and seems to be bonding well with all of us. When I think of the little girl we met three weeks ago today, there is no doubt in my mind about the power of love...and antibiotics.

I could write for hours but I'm really exhausted right now and need some sleep. I will try to add any other thoughts later. Anyone looking for more specific info feel free to e-mail me.

Thanks for the prayers and good thoughts.

Dean and family