Our Kazakhstan Adoption Story
For me, completing an international adoption was like riding an emotional rollercoaster. At times, I was up. These were the moments I was certain the perfect addition to our family was just waiting for us to find him or her. At other times, I was down. I feared we would spend a small fortune, travel half-way around the world and never find a match. Now that our journey has come to an end, I wish I would have spent less time worrying. Alla was right; we found the baby we were meant to have.
In the summer of 2005, my husband and I signed a contract with Adoption Ark for the Kazakhstan program. The Adoption Ark team was wonderful about guiding us through the tremendous amount of paperwork we needed to complete. The “dreaded” home study wasn’t so bad, either. In no time, I realized our social worker was not out to find our every fault. She simply wanted to confirm that we were a family ready and willing to care for an adopted child.
Within six months, we had submitted the necessary documents and were waiting for our letter of invitation. The caseworkers at Adoption Ark kept us informed every step of the way. They made contact with us every week, providing updates when available. Alla did all she could to put our minds at ease. She was always available to provide answers and reassurance.
Finally, in June of 2006, our long awaited letter of invitation arrived. We were to be in the region of Kazakhstan by June 14th . Here we would the local coordinator who would take us to the baby house. Our trip was a disaster. Our very first flight was cancelled due to electrical storms along the east coast. We rebooked a flight for the next day, but had to rent a car and drive 5 hours to NYC to make it. Our international flight from JFK airport was delayed, so we missed our connection in Frankfurt. There are few flights from Frankfurt to Almaty, so we were sent to Amsterdam to make a connection. In Amsterdam, we had a seven hour delay while our plane was repaired! I thought we would never get to the region. Alla and Elena continuously updated the team in Kazakhstan so someone would know when to meet us at the airport. Finally, after three days of living in various airports and different time zones, we were finally in Kazakhstan!
When we met the coordiantor, she took us immediately to the baby house. She asked us if we were interested in meeting a baby girl who was available for adoption. We exclaimed, “yes”. In a few minutes, the baby house doctor brought Marissa into the room. One look at the big, brown eyes peeking out from under her pink hat, and we were in love. She was absolutely precious. We accepted her instantly!
We have had Marissa for almost five months, and can’t imagine life without her. She is an amazing baby! She is beautiful, healthy, and intelligent . Even her pediatricians marvel at how well she is doing. Though her weight is low, she is actually ahead of her peers in many areas of development. She had no trouble bonding with us, and is a very cuddly baby. She loves to be held.
Marissa has brought so much joy to our family that we would absolutely encourage anyone interested in international adoption to pursue it. We also highly recommend working with Adoption Ark . We could not have had a better outcome with any other agency.
Thank you so much for all you do, Alla.
Take Care,
Linda (and Micah)
Pennsylvania