Preamble

Hopefully a short blurb on how we got to where we are.

We've been looking into adoption for quite some time. In 2001, we tried a local adoption which did not go through (county/state switching roles, lost paperwork, etc.). When we decided to go international, Ukraine became our first choice. We liked the idea of a blind adoption so we wouldn’t get attached to a file and picture. For us, this makes the most sense. Years went by as we moved into larger quarters to handle children, better jobs to afford the children (and adoption) and awaited the on-off again requirements for Ukraine.

There is a timeline along the right side which will lay out the events since we started this journey. We didn’t rush in the initial stages because we didn’t want to travel before September (due to SDA closures). The wait for our I-171H is what pushed our timeline beyond September.

We decided to go independent but use an agency (About A Child) for the dossier prep and overall help in getting this journey completed. We had some issues with the Home Study and other documents that has made this money well spent. The only agency conducting home studies located near us was Washoe County Child Protection Services (gov’t org). I’ve yet to see any HS cost as much as ours, but we didn’t have much of an option.

I want to thank many individuals who’ve donated their time and energy into helping with our adoption journey. Unfortunately, the open internet is not a good place to put up a lot of names so I’ll find another way to acknowledge them.