When we decided to adopt, we checked out several adoption agencies. We decided on Adoption Ark. And we are very glad we did. We had found out about Kaz. program and emailed to Alla if we qualified for this country. Within 24 hrs. we had a response from Alla. She is great; she guided us through all the mounds of paperwork. It was great to be able to do it via the computer and email. She gave us a list of home study agencies, and helped us with everything. She was not only very professional but quickly became a friend. I would email her I think daily. We started in January 2004 and we left for Kazakhstan on September 20, 2004.
I would call just about everyday when it got down to waiting for our invitation letter to go to country, and Alla was always so nice, one day I just started crying because I was so ready to go, and Alla was very comforting, she always was so great to deal with. When she called to tell me she got our letter it was before she even opened, she was as excited as we were. I would recommend her and adoption ark to everyone who is interested in adoption overseas. It was an experience of a life time. Alla went above and beyond the call of duty, she would email us while in country and even called us to check and see how we were doing, and how things were going. Alla warned us about staying for the whole time but we couldn’t face seeing our little girl and then leaving her there for 3 more weeks and go back. So we just stayed. We were in the region and in Almaty and we got to come home with our little girl, and she is very wonderful. We are learning all kinds of knew things.
She was 21months old when we first got to see her, she is now 23 months old and we are celebrating her first Christmas, and her birthday is January 03, can’t wait for that either. Alla had everything set up. The person that picked us up at the airport that night was very nice and took us back the next day to fly out to the region, and she had translators set up there that helped us get around town, and places to eat. They did have some places with American menus. Then when got back to Almaty, the coordinators there helped us get through all the places we had to do there, they were great also. Would recommend that you always use them. Very nice people and very professional. We would be happy to talk to anyone about our experience with Adoption Ark and about our travels. Please feel free to contact us by email or phone. Alla continues to email and check to see how we are doing and if she can do anything to help us with anything. Thanks Alla for everything, you are an angel yourself.