The Adoption Process

International Adoption is not for the faint-hearted, but the blessings are enormous. Each agency will have slightly different ways of handling things. This is an outline of our experience with Buckner International Adoption.

August, 2003: We attended a meeting at the Buckner offices to introduce us to international adoption. The staff went through the steps to adoption, the related costs, and a summary of the kinds of experiences and emotions that we could expect along the way. We left the meeting with an adoption application. The application includes a significant amount of personal history, financial information, and employment information. Much of the information requires notarization, plus an apostille must be obtained from the State to authenticate the Notary Public.

Because we had already decided that we wanted to adopt, we immediately began the application process. By September, we had submitted our application and were ready for the Home Study.

September, 2003: We underwent the Home Study conducted by a Social Worker contracted by Buckner. The Home Study consisted of a first interview at the Buckner offices. The second interview was conducted in our home. The Social Worker also interviewed our ten-year old daughter, Kelcie, and inspected our home for safety-related issues. After the Home Study, we received an invitation to attend a two-day adoption seminar at the Buckner offices for prospective families. In the meantime, we began work on our dossier. The dossier includes the application along with fingerprinting for the Federal government, a family book, and more paperwork. Eventually, the dossier would be submitted to officials in a particular region in Russia so that they could match us with a child.

October, 2003: We attended the adoption seminar along with other families planning to adopt. We received a 4-inch thick binder detailing everything we could possibly want to know about adoption. Many of our questions were answered about travel, going to court, and what would happen at the orphanage. We were able to meet a family that had adopted and watch some video of their experience. Shortly after the seminar we received notification that we had been approved for adoption, so we continued to prepare our dossier. At it turns out, our baby boy was born the day after we were notified of approval.

Once we submitted our dossier, Buckner requested that we allow them to send it to the Tambov region. Tambov is south of Moscow, and Buckner had not sponsored an adoption there for several years. We agreed to Tambov, and our dossier was submitted.

November, 2003: Our Buckner caseworker called with our first referral on a 6-month old baby boy. We received medical information and pictures and consulted with our doctor at the Center for Adoption Medicine in Washington. After a couple of rounds of questions between our doctor and Russia, the doctor expressed some medical concerns that he suggested we consider. After much patient consultation with him and prayer, we decided to decline the referral.

We do not wish to go into more details here, except to say that this was an emotionally difficult decision. God has since confirmed that this was the correct decision for our family, but we struggled to come to that point. We share this experience for the sake of anyone else who may be facing the same decision. You can know that others have declined their first referral, experienced God's healing, and ultimately adopted successfully.

March, 2004: We tried to settle back into our routines and wait patiently for the next referral. When you decline a referral, you have the tendency to wonder on occasion if another one will come. We trusted the Lord's timing, and finally received our call in March for another 6-month old baby named Pavel. After consulting with our doctor, we agreed to match with Pavel and began making plans to travel to Russia and meet him.

April, 2004: Our first trip to Russia was scheduled for April 28-May 3. We planned for Kelcie to go with us, but the trip turned out to be during the TAKS test. Since Kelcie was in fourth grade, and Lottie teaches fourth grade, we tried to work around it the best that we could. Eventually, we elected for Kelcie to be absent for the TAKS test in reading, which would not have any effect on her grade.

Kelcie did take the Math TAKS on the morning we left. This was her first international trip, and we had a lot of fun taking her along. We had a smooth trip, and quickly fell in love with Pavel. We could not wait to get home so that we could go back for him.

July, 2004: After a couple of delays, we left on July 2 for the adoption trip. Once again, everything went smoothly and the court approved our adoption on July 6. We did have one unexpected delay in Switzerland on our return, and finally arrived home during the evening of July 10. Sean has brought much joy to our family, and we could not feel more blessed.

October, 2004: We finalized the process by adopting Sean in the State District Court of Texas. This allowed us to obtain a Texas Birth Certificate for him. Sean is now a U.S. Citizen, and an official Texan!

Some reflections: International adoption requires enormous patience. We decided to look at it as though it was a line of dominoes that would have to be knocked down one at a time. By focusing upon the next thing in front of us, we were not overwhelmed by everything that was left.

Ultimately, we found great reward in trusting God's timing. Sean was not even born when we began the process. While we wished at times for the process to go faster, we wound up adopting Sean at the earliest time that he was available. By trusting God's guidance, we discovered His faithfulness and have been blessed with the child that He chose for us.

If you are considering international adoption, or if you are in the midst of the process, we pray that you will discover the same peace that we found from trusting in God's timing and following His will.