Proof that television can be good for you.

Steven and I had never really given much consideration to international adoption. We had heard the horror stories about the poor children in the Eastern European orphanages, and both agreed that wasn’t what we were looking for. What little research we had done on international adoption was centered around South America, particularly Guatemala and most recently Panama, due to the fact that children adopted from those countries were very young at the time of referral and often home by the age of three or four months. Still, having been blessed with the opportunity to bring our daughter home as a newborn, we couldn't help but want to have that experience again. So we sought another domestic adoption.

We actually began the process of our second adoption in February 2007 when we purchased our new home. The number of bedrooms and the curb appeal of your house can seem a little too important when you are preparing to convince a stranger to help you become a parent. The actual building process was a nightmare. We were originally supposed to move in by April, then May, then June. We moved in August. I made the call to our agency immediately.

Things started off slow this time. During our first adoption, I had made the initial phone call to our agency and brought my daughter home in the same amount of time it took to complete our homestudy update. I couldn't help but feel like we weren't doing something right. It was frustrating at times, but I knew that our child would come to us when the time was right, and I knew that decision wasn't mine to be made.

Our homestudy was finally finished in March.
We were officially waiting to be chosen by a birthmother.

On Mother's day I was watching a television progam about a family who had adopted from Russia. Steven walked into the room having overheard the program and said, “We really oughta think about that sometime, adopting from Russia”.

We thought about it.
It was easy to think about.
It felt right.

Suddenly we knew, without question, that our son was in Russia. Worries and concerns about horror stories and age took a back seat to the overwhelming feeling that this is what were we were supposed to do.
I contacted our agency to begin the new process and informed our social worker that we would be needing another homestudy update for an international adoption.
Our paperwork arrived the next day, our homestudy was updated within a couple of weeks, and our dossier (which we were told could take up to six months to complete) was completed and in Russia before I could even blink.

We’ve named him Max.


Above: The photo we sent to Russia