August 18, 2005
Don't give up
There are some American families in Ukraine right now who are on their third appointments at the National Adoption Center, in hopes of finding their children.
There are thousands of mostly healthy children in the orphanages, but the families haven't been shown any (yet) that don't require a lot of extra physical care that they are not able to provide. We know there will be some health and social issues with orphans. We are realistic. These families, caught in the old system, remain optimistic, and so do we. We have seen many wonderful, adoptable children. They wait, every day. And no one is coming to get them.
Let's hope that when the government shuts down the NAC for a few months this fall to restructure the adoption process that they are able to set up a much better system, one that is swift and fair. One that places the orphans who are truly available into the database so that families from around the world can give them better lives, a home, parents.
See for yourselves what a difference a family makes. Our daughter Tara Vika in the orphanage (left) and now, just four months later.
Posted by Laura at August 18, 2005 04:53 PM
Posted to Tara's Story
Wow, what a change! Thanks for sharing your story! We hope to travel to Ukraine soon for our adoption.
Posted by: Laurel at August 18, 2005 08:33 PMi found your blog via type pad and totally enjoyed reading your chronicle of the early days! we adopted 'the romaniac' when he was six-he'll turn 13 next week! he came home to 4 older siblings and many of his firsts were the same as tara vika's. enjoy the ride! (i can tell that you understand how worth it it all is!) blessings
Posted by: chris at August 19, 2005 03:36 AMYour story has inspired me. Thank you for sharing your experiences with little Tara Vika. I'll continue to be a dedicated reader.
Posted by: Melissa at August 19, 2005 03:26 PMI found you through typepad and I love your story. The last week of June/first week of July, I went to Ukraine with a family friend as she was adopting a child. She came home after about 24 days with a perfectly healthy beautiful 20 month old girl. It was a wonderful experience, and I so wanted to bring one of the kids home with me. Hopefully the process will be improved with the changes (we heard a lot about them as they were announced the day before I left!). Keep us posted!
Posted by: Jamie Barba at August 20, 2005 01:13 AMI am so HAPPY to hear that the NAC is (hopefully)
going to improve their adoption process. We need to get in and out of the country pretty fast because of jobs.
I enjoyed reading your story. Your daughter is
adorable.