2/24/12

Our Adoption Story ~ in the Beginning

It was the fall of 2005 when my husband Chris and I received our long awaited invitation from the country of Kazakhstan to adopt 2 children from the region known as Semey. You see we had originally begun this process in the fall of 2003 with the attempt of adopting from Lithuania. But a year later after nothing happening with our dossier, our adoption agency suggested that we switch to plan B. So in April of 2005 we resubmitted our dossier to Kazakhstan and thus our second wait for adoption began.

On the day of my 44th birthday we received the call from our agency to say that we were clear to travel at our earliest convenience. So of course we were anxious to get our new family started and 4 days later on the afternoon of November 11, 2005 we flew out of JFK to begin our journey.
We spent 4 weeks living in Kazakhstan to go through the adoption process. First we met Michael and Grace who at that time were known as Mikael, or Mishka as he was called, and Tanya. This process was a bit different from that of Russia in 2005, where a referral system was used. In Russia a couple would request a child by gender, age, and acceptable disabilities and then the governing body in the region would select a child that fit the perspective adoptive parents request.

In Semey it was a little bit different. We did give the orphanage the information on what we were looking for as far as age and gender, but...BUT...no child or children were preselected for us. Instead 4 possibilities were presented to us the very first day we went to the orphanage, 2 boys and 2 girls. Then we had to make our decision on who if any we wanted to adopt. God was good to us that day because out of the 4 children shown to us the 2 we actually had contact with were the two we decided to adopt.

 2005 in the orphanage, Semey














We spent 2 weeks bonding with Grace and Michael for a period of about 2 hours each day, and at the end of the two weeks our court date was set. It all went very smoothly and we spent one more week in Semey to finish all the legalities of the adoption from Kazakhstan's end. Then we flew to Almaty to begin the process of bringing Michael and Grace home. They both needed to have physicals before traveling and our final paperwork had to be submitted to the American Embassy. This took about 5 days and in the early morning hours of December 9th 2005 Kazak time, we departed on the first of two flights equalling at total of 19 exhausting hours of travel, including a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany, on our journey home. It was 12:45 pm EST when we landed at JFK International Airport in New York, and it was at that precise moment Michael and Grace became citizens of the United States of America.





Our two little lambs were finally home.

To read more about our adoption adventures in Kazakhstan just click below on the word adoption.




Sharing this story at the following parties...



Ivy and Elephants

It's Overflowing



The ArtsyGirl Connection



 
 
 




 
 

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19 comments:

  1. Oh Barbara,
    Wow God is so good! My sister adopted a son from Korea. Many of our friends have adopted and have been richly blessed. I used to clean for a family who runs a special needs adoption non profit. the couple is currently in process of adopting their 15th adopted child (most of them with special needs... my nephew was matched through this non profit too... he has a terminal heart condition). Your children are beautiful!
    I have never heard of you choosing a child at the location... God was good, I think if it had been me and have met all 4 I would have come home with 4!
    Thank you for sharing your wonderful story!
    dee dee

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  2. Barbara,
    What a beautiful story!
    How lucky you are to have two wonderful children like Grace and Michael!

    Hugs,
    Debbie

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  3. I am teary, happy tears though! What a beautiful heartfelt story. Thank you ever so much for sharing and the lovely pics too. Take Care. Cheers SpecialK XoXo

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  4. I just love hearing stories like yours! Your children are so precious. Adoption is truly a blessing. We adopted a little girl from China in '07.
    Blessings,
    Janet

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  5. Oh how sweet to share this story with us! It has touched my heart! I can see the love in your precious babies' faces!
    Blessings!

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  6. Such a beautiful story! These children are adorable. I look at the pictures and keep thinking how incredibly lucky they are to be with you and your husband. God is so good!

    Pat

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  7. They're such cuties. You're a blessing to each other.

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  8. What a blessing for the children and for you and your husband. May God continue to bless your family.

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  9. Oh Barbara how blessed you all are to have each other. I just absolutely love your story of hopes and dreams coming true. Your children are so adorable. Oh kiss them and hug them for me. We also adopted and everyday I thank God for my son. I have to say you really have a heart of gold and steal because adopting abroad is time consuming. We adopted locally through the Children's Home Society and the short time it took (in comparison to yours) aged me. lol. My friend said that the final days were my labor pains and you know what...she was right because minus the physical pain, I sick to my stomach and couldn't think straight from the excitement. We had a two week separation from the time we met and when Sebastian moved into our home and I was dying girl. I am so glad you posted your story because really and truly this is a ministry. Stay blessed my friend.

    xoxoxoxo
    Paula

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  10. Thanks for posting about your adoption story! I am in the process of adopting a sibling group of 4 children. If you get a chance check out my blog.
    www.newlifeovernight.blogspot.com

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  11. Thanks for posting about your adoption story! I am in the process of adopting a sibling group of 4 children. If you get a chance check out my blog.
    www.newlifeovernight.blogspot.com

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  12. What a wonderful story, Barbara! You are so fortunate to have been able to adopt these two beautiful children, and they are so lucky to have you and your husband as their parents. May God continue to bless you all.

    Thank you for sharing this lovely story at Potpourri Friday!

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  13. A very special story of these two adorable and precious children! Blessings to all of you :)

    Kindly, Lorraine

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  14. Thank you for sharing your adoption story of hope! My husband and I are very anxious to start the adoption process as soon as we get our funds stabilized. I cannot wait to have a sweet little face in our home! I think these stories really give hope to people like me. God is faithful!
    Blessings,
    Leslie

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  15. I just found your Blog and I love it. I read your adoption story. Your children are beautiful. My husband and I have 3 sons 38 - 35 and 30 and are just waiting for grandchildren (although only one is married). I signed up for your newsletter and will look forward to learning from it. Thank you.

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  16. Hi Barbara, I just read your adoption story. Beautiful and brings me back to our. We adopted a boy from Moscow in 2003. He was 1. He is now 11 and a half. There is nothing like adoption! It's hard to describe to someone all of the emotions, ups and downs during the year long process, etc. You have a beautiful family! Beth

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  17. Precious sweet blessings from God.. So cute.


    Erika

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  18. Adopting a child is really a great thing as it helps the child to receive nourishment and love from both the parents.
    Domestic Adoption Services At Adoption By Shepherd Care Florida

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  19. I just found your adoption story. how lovely. We adopted our 2 girls from Russia in 1996. They were 5 and 7 and now are 26 and 23 and our youngest is now engaged. It's been wonderful being a family, though not without it's ups and downs as our eldest has special needs.

    Best wishes for your family's future
    Jane Beckenham - neiljane@ihug.co.nz - in new Zealand.

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Thank you so much for leaving a comment. They truly do brighten my day.

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