Ukraine Adoption

Little fish

Tara took her nap easily Sunday because she knew that when she woke up, she would be going to her first swim class ever.

She looked over her one-piece bathing suits and settled on the pink Winnie the Pooh. You can't go wrong with Winnie the Pooh.

She quickly slipped it on. The last time I saw her in a bathing suit was last summer, and she was wearing one of those puffy swim diapers underneath. But no diapers now. The big girl studied herself in the mirror, looking this way and turning that way like a teenager.

At the indoor pool, some children were clinging to their moms. Tara was brave. She stayed close, but climbed into the water when the teacher called her in. We were a little nervous for her, and watched from chairs on the deck. We could only see the back of her head. The little boy next to her Would Not Stop Crying. Ack. The teacher, a nice young woman, tried to calm the boy down to where he was sort of whimpering. Then the teacher brought out the goggles. Tara held very still as the teacher slipped the pink ones over her head and around her pony tail. Then Tara turned around and gave us a reassuring look and a big smile. We all sat back. (I guess we were on the edge of our seats).

She had never been in an indoor pool. This was all new to her. But she ventured in, kicked, put her face in the water, kicked some more. She followed all of the directions, and looked back to us every once in a while to make sure we were watching. You couldn't have moved us from our chairs.

This brave little girl, learning to swim. We are so proud. And now she is excited to go back next week.

Let me count the ways

Top Ten Reasons We Like Tara So Much:

10. She can count to 10 on her fingers and even her toes. We have discovered that she perfected this feat just yesterday. My favorite number: "Seh - wen." Each number sounds like a song.

9. She lets us sleep til 9 a.m. on the weekends, bless her little heart. She reads books and plays with toys in her room, or wakes up Austin. But she lets us sleep!

8. She happily takes a bath whenever I say it's time, even if it's only 8 p.m.

7. When I wake her up a little after 7 a.m., she stretches like a kitten, this way and that, oh the drama in it. But she slides out of bed and slinks into my arms for a warm morning hug.

6. She met her 6-year-old cousin Marcella for the first time and they played sweetly like they were best friends forever.

5. She grabs her daddy's hand, her 5 fingers so tiny, and brings him to me when I need his help with something.

4. Some of her new friends in pre-school are 4 years old, and she is really trying hard to keep up with them. She is learning songs and shapes, colors, numbers and letters.

3. The sweet way she tells you how old she is, carefully touching her thumb to her pinky finger for the perfect display of three fingers.

2. The way she adores her big brother Austin, proving to us that we're so lucky to have 2 great kids.

1. Have you seen her smile lately?

A trip to the dentist

Tara walked into the dentist office on Thursday morning, confident and brave. I trailed behind, worried about what they may find in a former orphan's teeth. It was her first visit. I had been procrastinating for lots of reasons, but it was finally time to get her teeth cleaned and examined. I had an appointment, too, and told Tara that I would go first. But the hygenist had other plans. The seat was set up for a little one. I sat in the chair nearby, clutching the book she wanted to look at and trying to get a good view of her.

Tara smiled at the hygenist. She carefully and clearly answered all of her questions. How old are you? Three! Do you brush your teeth? Yes. Tara's smile revealed her dimple. The nurses and receptionists who walked by kept stopping to see her and to tell me how cute she is.

I had read some blogs about children from Ukraine orphanages having a lot of issues with their teeth. I prepared myself to hear the worst. Fillings, pullings, realignments, whatever. I smiled at Tara whenever she looked at me from that big chair. I was the picture of calm. On the outside.

The dentist arrived after our cleanings. Tara gave him her pretending -to-be-shy smile that is sort of a like a pucker. He was charmed. He counted her teeth out loud. She thought that was funny. I waited for the news. "All done," he said. I wait. I ask. "How do her teeth look?"

They look good, he says, no cavities. (!) And she has good spacing for her permanent teeth to come in when she's a little older. WHEWWWW, I exhale. But then he tells me that I have a cavity.

Tara's cousin

Tara's cousin Marcella, who is 6, visited us this week. They had fun getting acquainted. Can you tell?

"She is so cheerful"

I'm not sure why I get a little anxious whenever it's time to meet with teachers in the periodic conferences. You think you know your child, and you just hope there are no surprises, at least not any of the bad kind. But it was time to meet with Tara's teachers because she had turned three and is now in the pre-school area for 3-5 year olds. She is the youngest one in the group. Is she keeping up?

Her teachers tell me she is definitely keeping pace with her new environment. She is learning to write her name, and to count, and to sing all kinds of new songs. We believe she is behind a bit on her English, but that's to be expected since her first language was Ukrainian. She says full sentences with complete confidence. Her stories are sometimes hard to follow, and can go on and on, but you don't even care because the expressions on her face are priceless.

She knows lots of colors, can cut well with scissors, and most of all, "she is so cheerful." Little Tara Vika likes new challenges, we already knew that, and she has the courage to take them on. And, she has made lots of new friends, they told me.

Last week when I picked her up from school, two boys darted out of the class and ran by shouting, "C'mon Tara!" And off she ran, down the long hall with her buddies, and they all three slid under a table to hide. I could see their little feet but I pretended not to know where they were. Their giggles gave them away. A sweet way to end a day.

Memory Lane

The day after the Super Bowl in 2005, we bundled up and raced around Kiev to get the proper documents and personal approvals to visit a two-year-old girl that we chose from the hundreds of files. This link will take you back, to remember...

http://www.adoptlove.com/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=233

Adoption process resumes, finally

Ukraine President Yushchenko signed the law yesterday to give the National Adoption Center interim authority over adptions until the new unit is up and running on May 1. This means the adoption process can resume within a matter of days!

Families who were supposed to have appointments in January will be going in February, and all the others who are registered will be given appointments soon.

Those who haven't registered with the NAC already will have to wait, though, until they lift the restrictions when they are satisfied that families who already adopted have filed their periodical progress reports with the Ukraine Embassy.

This new law is welcoming news, to be sure, and it shows that their President may indeed be committed to finding homes for their wonderful, orphaned children with hopeful futures.

See Adoption News to the left for the full letter from the US Embassy.

Moving forward at last

This letter was sent by the US Embassy in Kiev to the US adoption community today, Feb. 1, 2006.

Disclaimer: THIS INFORMATION IS BASED ON THE LATEST GUIDANCE THE EMBASSY HAS RECEIVED FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF UKRAINE. IT IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. QUESTIONS INVOLVING INTERPRETATION OF SPECIFIC UKRAINIAN ADOPTION LAWS OR SPECIFIC CASES SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO FOREIGN LEGAL COUNSEL OR YOUR ADOPTION SERVICE PROVIDER.

Dear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
On January 31, 2006 President Yushchenko signed the law giving interim authority over adoptions to the Ministry of Education's National Adoption Center (NAC) until the new adoption authority is legally established under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports. This law will go into effect upon its publication in Parliament's official newspaper "Holos Ukrainy," which should occur in a matter of days. According to this law, the NAC will have full authority to process adoptions in Ukraine until May 1, 2006 -- the final date by which the new adoption central authority must be established under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports. The NAC has stated that they will now resume normal processing -- not only of the suspended cases, but also of the cases that had been previously scheduled through the end of January.

The NAC has not yet released a notice to the international adoption community explaining details regarding processing of adoptions during the transition period. Absent NAC written guidance, we cannot confirm processing plans or details. The information below, keyed to frequently asked questions on the part of adoptive parents, reflects our understanding of likely procedures, based on preliminary discussions with the NAC administration. For case-specific information or clarification, contact the NAC or your adoption service provider directly.

Q: We are currently in Ukraine, waiting for the NAC to issue the consent letter required by the court (or waiting for the referral letter/second appointment/etc). When can we expect to have our document issued/case processed?
A: The NAC requests that all American adopting families currently in Ukraine contact the Center directly or through their representatives to obtain case-specific information, such as new appointment date or the official consents required by Ukrainian courts. The NAC has stated that the consents for the courts will be issued immediately on the day the law becomes effective.

Q: Due to the suspension, we missed our scheduled appointment with the NAC in January. When can we travel to Ukraine for a new appointment?
A: According to the NAC, adopting families who had been scheduled for appointments in January will now be rescheduled in February on the same (or closest working day) to their original date (for example, January 24 would be shifted to February 24). Contact the NAC directly or through your local representative to confirm your appointment date prior to traveling to Ukraine.

Q: We are registered at the NAC and were supposed to receive an appointment this year. When can we expect our appointment?
A: The NAC has advised that after the center reschedules all January appointments, the NAC will focus on priority cases such as those involving children with severe medical problems, older children and sibling groups. The NAC will contact families directly.

Q: Will the NAC accept all new adoption dossiers after it re-opens?
A: The NAC has advised that previous restrictions on acceptance of new dossiers will remain in effect. (See our earlier notices regarding the Government of Ukraine's concern about the non-compliance rate by American adoptive parents with regard to post-adoption reporting, which is required under Ukrainian law.) The NAC will only accept dossiers filed by U.S. citizens on behalf of certain categories of orphans: siblings of previously adopted children; older children; and children with serious health problems.

Q: We have our adoption dossier ready for submission. Should we send it to the NAC or wait till the new adoption authority is open?
A: If your case falls under one of the special categories listed above, you may submit your dossier to the existing NAC. However, officials of the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports have recommended that prospective adopting parents wait to submit new applications until the new adoption authority is open and operational after May 1, 2006.

Q: How does the new law affect those families whose dossiers were accepted and registered by the NAC months ago, but whose adoptions were neither suspended in mid-December nor already scheduled through the end of January?
A: The NAC advised that there are over 1,000 registered adoption dossiers from foreign citizens, including over 600 from Americans, waiting to be scheduled. According to the NAC, these families will be scheduled for appointments per regular NAC procedures. Any dossier that is not scheduled for an appointment with the existing NAC during the transition period will be transferred to the new adoption authority.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Adoption Unit/Immigrant Visa Section
Consular Section
American Embassy
Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel: 38-044-4904422
Fax: 38-044-490-4570
adoptionskiev@state.gov
http://kiev.usembassy.gov/amcit_adoptions_eng.html

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