Wow, what a whirlwind our lives have been since last week. There is so much to update everyone on, but we have had to be tight lipped about it all till it was final. We are in the process of adopting two little girls that are sisters and will be taking custody of them tomorrow.
Last Monday the 7th, started out as every other day. I logged onto the computer first thing that morning and checked my email. I had received an email from an adoption attorney in Florida who sends out adoption situations on occasion. I have been on his mailing list since before we brought Bryson home. Most times I just delete the emails from him without reading them, but for some reason this day, I decided to read it. This attorney was actually sending it on behalf of another attorney. This situation was for two girls who were sisters. The youngest will be two next month and the oldest just turned four last month. We have always said we didn't want anymore than two children, but I forwarded it to Shane and asked if he was interested in two. I really expected him to call me and ask if I were crazy, but instead he called me that afternoon and said why not, let's try. We emailed the attorney before the 5p deadline and said we were interested so she forwarded us the application to fill out. We filled it out and sent back via Fed Ex the next morning. On Friday afternoon, we got a call from the attorney telling us that the birth mother choose us. Since court was set for Tuesday, so we spent all weekend preparing the guest room into a girls room. It all happened so fast that we had such a hard time wrapping our heads around the fact that we were (hopefully) going to be parents of three. We don't plan to share with everyone, the details about the girls' adoption and why they were available. Court for Tuesday got postponed for today and we are happy to announce that we are now a family of five. Will post pictures and more details later.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
How this works
I have been getting a lot of questions lately about the process and how it works. For those that have adopted from Russia or know how are Russian adoption worked, for Ukraine it's much different. You first send your apostilled home study (and a couple other papers) to the SDA in Ukraine. They then give you a dossier submission date of when your dossier should be received by them. Our date is in July, so we will start working on our dossier next month. We should then receive our invitation to travel 2-3 months after submitting our dossier, so they anticipate we should travel around September or October.
We are requesting a child age 2-3. For Ukraine, that is a very young child as most are not under the age of 4. We have also requested either sex, but let them know that we prefer a girl. Since age is most important to us, we were willing to compromise on the sex. I am a slight control freak and like to plan every detail, so this part is hard for me. I can't start preparing a room or start shopping for clothes.
As far as the referral of a child prior to travel, Ukraine works different in this department as well. With Russia, we received the referral of Bryson prior to travel. In Ukraine, once you arrive you will go to the SDA office. There they will show you the profiles of a couple different children. You will then decide on which child you would like to meet.
We are requesting a child age 2-3. For Ukraine, that is a very young child as most are not under the age of 4. We have also requested either sex, but let them know that we prefer a girl. Since age is most important to us, we were willing to compromise on the sex. I am a slight control freak and like to plan every detail, so this part is hard for me. I can't start preparing a room or start shopping for clothes.
As far as the referral of a child prior to travel, Ukraine works different in this department as well. With Russia, we received the referral of Bryson prior to travel. In Ukraine, once you arrive you will go to the SDA office. There they will show you the profiles of a couple different children. You will then decide on which child you would like to meet.
Special thanks
I want to give a special thanks to my friend Becky for generously offering to host and donate her commission for Thirty-One gifts. They sell amazing cute things so please check out her site. Also, if you live in the area and our interested in hosting a party, please contact her.
Thank you to those you bought items from Thirty-One gifts as well as those you have sent us donations in the last couple of months. We are incredibly grateful!
Thank you to those you bought items from Thirty-One gifts as well as those you have sent us donations in the last couple of months. We are incredibly grateful!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Where we are at
Our home study is finished and on it's way to get apostilled. Then from there, it will be sent to our adoption agency and they will send it (along with a few other papers) to Ukraine. I will also be mailing out the I600-A this week.
A lot of people have asked how long this adoption should take. We have been told it should take a year, but anyone that knows anything about adoption, knows that can always change. We will just keep our fingers crossed that it won't be any longer than that.
We have also been asked whether we will be getting a girl or a boy. We (Bryson and I) really want a girl, but since age is most important to us, we want the youngest possible, we are willing to be flexible with the sex. To me, it's more important for Bryson to have a sibling, then for me to have a girl.
A lot of people have asked how long this adoption should take. We have been told it should take a year, but anyone that knows anything about adoption, knows that can always change. We will just keep our fingers crossed that it won't be any longer than that.
We have also been asked whether we will be getting a girl or a boy. We (Bryson and I) really want a girl, but since age is most important to us, we want the youngest possible, we are willing to be flexible with the sex. To me, it's more important for Bryson to have a sibling, then for me to have a girl.
Last week
There is only 1 week left to help through our Thirty One Gifts adoption fundraiser. Please follow these directions:
-Go to www.mythirtyone.com/bmiller31
-Click on 'Place an Order'
-Click on 'Marie Rushlo'
-Start shopping
Monday, November 8, 2010
Fundraising attempt #1
As most know, the cost of adoption is expensive. With Bryson's adoption we didn't want to ask others for help, but after losing thousands on everything we have been through this year, we decided we needed to do some serious fundraising this time around.
A friend of mine is a consultant for Thirty-One gifts and has been so generous to donate all her commission on anything we sell towards our "adoption fund." Please take the time to browse the site using the directions below. Everything purchased will be credited to our fundraiser.
A friend of mine is a consultant for Thirty-One gifts and has been so generous to donate all her commission on anything we sell towards our "adoption fund." Please take the time to browse the site using the directions below. Everything purchased will be credited to our fundraiser.
- Go to www.mythirtyone.com/bmiller31
- Click on 'Place an Order'
- Click on 'Marie Rushlo'
- Start shopping
We have also added a 'Donate' tab on the side for anyone that would like to donate towards our adoption.
Monday, October 25, 2010
The first post
Well folks, here we go again. Are we crazy? Are we doing the right thing? Those are the thoughts going through my mind as we start this new journey to give Bryson a sibling...from Ukraine. You are probably wondering how we got here. Well, it most definitely has not been an easy one.
Earlier this year we had started wondering how we were going to give Bryson a sibling. We had always dreamed of going back to Russia, but just knew we could never afford it again. After much consideration, we decided to try IVF since we had some insurance coverage for it. We then began all the testing and started the IVF cycle at the end of June which carried on to August. Very few even knew we were even doing the IVF because we did a good job of hiding it. We figured less people we told in the beginning, means less people to tell if it didn't work. On Friday August 13, we found out the news that our cycle didn't work. A little over a week later we got a phone call from the daughter of a friend. The daughter's best friend was 5 months pregnant and wanted to give her baby up for adoption. She asked if we were interested. Umm...yes!!! We met her a few hours later and the next morning I called the adoption agency she was already working with. Things progressed over the next month and a 1/2. We slowly started getting excited and had started buying things for our soon to be baby girl due in December. Without going into detail, around the beginning of October, our domestic adoption fell through. We were pretty devastated and had no idea where to go from there. After talking with a friend who mentioned the Ukraine program, we called and talked with an agency regarding it. Then after a few weeks of deciding if this was right for us, we decided to go with it and signed with the agency.
Earlier this year we had started wondering how we were going to give Bryson a sibling. We had always dreamed of going back to Russia, but just knew we could never afford it again. After much consideration, we decided to try IVF since we had some insurance coverage for it. We then began all the testing and started the IVF cycle at the end of June which carried on to August. Very few even knew we were even doing the IVF because we did a good job of hiding it. We figured less people we told in the beginning, means less people to tell if it didn't work. On Friday August 13, we found out the news that our cycle didn't work. A little over a week later we got a phone call from the daughter of a friend. The daughter's best friend was 5 months pregnant and wanted to give her baby up for adoption. She asked if we were interested. Umm...yes!!! We met her a few hours later and the next morning I called the adoption agency she was already working with. Things progressed over the next month and a 1/2. We slowly started getting excited and had started buying things for our soon to be baby girl due in December. Without going into detail, around the beginning of October, our domestic adoption fell through. We were pretty devastated and had no idea where to go from there. After talking with a friend who mentioned the Ukraine program, we called and talked with an agency regarding it. Then after a few weeks of deciding if this was right for us, we decided to go with it and signed with the agency.
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