Doug & Amy Adoption Update

July 17th & 18th
We left Salt Lake City on United Airlines on Friday July 17th. After circling the runway and taxing around O'Hare Airport we finally arrived at our gate. We hurried to our connecting gate and on the way to the gate a man tripped over the handle of one of our carry ons and broke the handle off, luckily that piece converts to a backpack. We got to the gate in pleanty of time and we waited to board the "Airbus" run by Lufthansa Air. It was the most gianormous airplane Amy and I had ever seen. We were seated near the back of the plan and it literally took us three minutes to walk to our seats. The plane even had a lower level. Our flight arrived in Munich a little ahead of schedule and we were able to make it to the gate with pleanty of time to spare. Our flight time from Munich to Kiev was about a 2 hour and 15 minute flight. We got off the plane and waited in a very long passport line and once through we are happy to report all of our luggage made it. We walked through customs and out to find Natasha and Vladamier holding an "Arnold" name sign for us. We left the airport and stopped by a grocery store to exchange some money and buy a few groceries. We ate dinner at a small cafe Borsch and Cheese Sandwiches. (see photo). Vladamier dropped us off at our flat where we retired for the evening.

July 19th.
Natasha came by the flat late afternoon on Sunday. We could not access the internet from our apartment and so we decided to walk up the street to an Internet Cafe. We all ordered dinner and some of the most delicious mushroom soup ever! While at dinner Natasha received some bad news about Irena's oldest son, he had been killed in a car accident. Irena was one of the translator/chaperons that was with some of the families during the last hosting program. Her son had been making arrangements for his father's funeral (Irena's ex) when the accident occurred. This left Irena's youngest son to finish making the arrangements for the father's and now his brother's funerals. I finished checking my emails and we left to the cafe to rest for the evening before our SDA appointment.

July 20th SDA Appointment
We woke up early to begin getting ready for our SDA appointment at 9 am. We were accompanied to the SDA by our translator and facilitator, Natasha. There we all met with a psychologist, Maria, who shows adopting families the profiles of available children. Because she already knew which kids we wanted she opened the book to their profiles. This is where the trouble first began. The psychologist, Maria, was only able to find a profile on the boy Toli and not on Luda or Katia. For some reason their profiles were pulled and we were told that we could not adopt only one because the siblings could not be separated. Amy and I of course fell apart but I tried to comfort Amy and told her we had alot of good people behind us and that things would work out. Maria got a hold of the Director of the kids orphanage on the phone to see if he had any insight into why the profiles had gotten pulled. The Director informed her that he wasn't in the office but he recalled that there was another party that had petitioned for guardianship of the girls. We were told to return to the SDA that same day after 2pm to see if any information was available about the missing profiles. We left the SDA appointment feeling very unhappy. To get our minds off our disappointment, our facilitators took us on a sightseeing tour of some churches nearby built around the 15th Century. We also saw the "museum of tiny things" also known has the miniature museum where we met and spoke with the Artist who created them. You could only see the art work though a microscope and it was amazing.

We returned to our flat and waited for news about our next meeting. When we spoke with Natasha to see if she had any more information about the children's profile and she told us that the SDA woman called her a few minutes before to tell her the children's profiles had turned up and we were to come by the SDA the next day at 5 pm. We left the apartment to go have dinner at a TGI Fridays.

July 21.
On Tuesday we got an early start to see the children at their Grandmother's house, about a 4 hour drive from Kiev. When we arrived at Grandmas Luda immediately went inside to get the oldest boy Toli and they both greeted us with hugs and invited us inside. We were told the youngest girl was at a summer camp. As we were heading toward the house their Grandmother rode up on her bicycle. Amy and the Grandmother embraced. This is a picture of the outside of Grandmother's home. There seems to be no running water and there is a well outside the front door. The home is maybe 300 square feet and very fly infested. We sat and spoke with everyone through our translator Jordan. We didn't ask the kids anything about the adoption but did ask them if they would like to go with us in a day or two to do some fun activities, like a paddle boat ride, swimming, circus etc. and they both agreed. The children had two framed pictures of Amy and I up on the wall of the grandmother's house, we gave them during their hosting visit. While we sat inside people started showing up. We met an aunt, the children's mother's sister, and their cousins a boy and a girl, an uncle and then one of the children mentioned the father was outside but Luda told us he lived far away. We came to find out he only lived about 7 miles from them and he looked to be older than the Grandmother. We had been told in prior letters that the kids only had their Grandmother who had visited with them two times in the six years they were in the orphanage. We of course could not believe that no one had told us anything about the true nature of their extended family. We left about an hour later to make our SDA appointment at 5 pm.

On the ride back to Kiev we were asked to come to the appointment earlier than scheduled so we could obtain our referral letter on Tuesday rather than waiting until the next day. We arrived at the SDA around 4:30 pm where "magically" the other two children's profiles had now been restored and the Psychologist explained it away by saying when another party had applied for guardianship of the two girls they marked the papers and when the guardianship was denied they forgot to erase the mark so the profiles were pulled. Amy and I knew it was all BS. With our document finally in hand we left the SDA office and went out to eat. Our facilitators, Natasha and Vladamier made arrangements for us to go to Kremenchuk the next day to begin the next step in the process a hearing before the City Council and the Orphanage Inspector.

July 22
We arrived in Kremenchuk a little after 9 am and the inspector woman attempted to contact the orphanage director, he could not be reached in his office or on his cell phone. We waited inside the office for almost an hour and a half and the Inspector suggested we go have lunch somewhere and come back. We left and had lunch. When we arrived back the Inspector still had not gotten a hold of the director and so arrangement were made to try and track him down at the orphanage which was just around the corner. We left for the orphanage and when we got there the director was not in his office so we walked outside and ran into the director on the stairs. He invited us into his office where we showed him the SDA letter of referral and he pretended to leaf through our dossier and told us we broke some kind of protocol by spending time with the children the day before. Apparently we needed to contact a City Council woman to accompany us to the Grandmother's home. We left his office feeling everything had been smoothed over and went to see the children at the Town Council building.

When we arrived at the Town Council building Amy and I needed to use the restroom, which was an outhouse with a hole in the ground where you had to squat to use it. When we walked away from the "bathroom" we were met by our driver Vladamier and the translator/facilitator Natasha they informed us that the children were undecided on whether or not they wanted to be adopted. He told us that because of the way they felt now it was likely they would not want to be adopted. Vladamier also told us the Director of the orphanage had told him it may be better to wait until the fall when opinions might change about international adoption. We asked if during the proceedings if we could let the children know there were free to return to their family if they came to America and did not like being there. We were told it would be alright to say that to the children. Amy and I knew we could not afford to turn back now and return in the fall. When we walked to the front of the town council building we saw all the family members from the day before were gathered there. We were told they had tried to come inside the building where the proceedings were being held but had been denied access. Toli and Luda were already inside and sitting in one of the front rows. We sat in the row behind them where the seats were so close together our knees were in our chest. We then moved to the front row to sit next to the kids. The purpose of all of this was to see how the children and us interacted with each other. We reminisced about their visit with us and Luda smiled and giggled at many of the stories we were recalling. After a few minutes the Inspector woman told us that they had seen all that they needed. Amy then told the children they would be able to return to their family if they did not like being with us in America. The Inspector told them they did not have to come to a decision right away that they could take a day or two to think it over. Luda immediately stood up and informed everyone she did not need time to think it over she had made her decision already and that she did not want to be adopted. She then walked over to a table and without needing instructions sat down to write out her decision. Amy and I were of course crying and comforting each other and saw that Toli looked to be torn and struggling with his decision also got up and went over to the table. Amy told the kids that if they had changed their mind that should have contacted us to let us know before we came all this way to get them. The translator said she would asked them but she knew they weren’t' listening. After they signed the decree the Inspector encouraged the kids to address us. They told us that they liked us very much but that they already had a family there. The two children walked outside to sit by their relatives and we waited inside for them to leave. They sat talking and would not get up and move on so we all had to walk pass them to the car. We drove to a beautiful village called Poltava and visited a park near some very old churches where we strolled the grounds. We were put up at a flat for the night before our drive back to Kiev.

It was crystal clear to us that although the children had an extended family there family could ill afford to care for them outside of the orphanage. Even though the children were visiting the Grandmother she would not be able to care for them permanently and so she puts them in the orphanage to have the State take care of them. We are now in the process of looking at other orphans profiles and are interested in another boy with two sisters. We will let you know how that turns out. In the end the children we hosted and wanted to adopt made their decision, we believe with more than a little pressure from their family and orphanage director, to stay with their immediate family.

After our very disappointing day Natasha suggested we drive to Poltava to spend the night. We strolled the grounds near a very beautiful church, the Holy Cross Exaltation Monastery, and the Rotunda of Peoples Friendship overlooking the suburbs of Poltava and the Vorskla River. It was here that we ran into Irena, the woman who had just lost her oldest son, we embraced her and gave he our heart felt condolences. Amy and I posed for pictures inside the White Rotunda and the Giant Spoon celebrating Poltava's Dumpling Festival. Natasha and Vladamier drove us to a very nice flat to rest up for our trip back to Kiev. That evening Amy and I talked in our room about packing up and heading back to Utah. After talking with our friends in Utah they encouraged us to take a day or two before deciding what to do. After what so many familes experienced in Kremenchuk, Amy and I always had a Plan B in mind. Before leaving for Ukraine we had looked at profiles of other available children and now we are waiting to find out more information on them.

July 23rd
In the morning we rode back to Kiev with Jordan. We found a small cafe in Poltava where we ate crepes for breakfast and afterwards we headed back. We met up with Natasha and Vladamier at our flat where we were introduced to a new Natasha (Smith) a member of the LDS church attending the University in Kiev to obtain her Masters Degree in English. That evening Amy, I, Jordan and Natasha Smith drove downtown and parked on the sidewalk. We all walked down to the underground mall, the one under the main square, and had dinner in the food court. I ordered the Ukraine version of a Gyro, minced chicken wrapped in a tortilla instead of a pita. Surprisingly enough it was pretty good. After dinner we treated ourselves to some Italian Gelato that was excellent. After we emerged from our underground trek we walked over to the main square in Kiev and saw the monument to Kiev and his two brothers and sister, the swan. We walked above the fountain to a point overlooking the entire square and the monument to the arc angle Michael. After our tour we took Natasha Smith home and Jordan drove us to our flat where we retired for the evening for some much needed rest.
















July 24th.
Pioneer Day! We thought we'd spend Pioneer Day shopping so off we went to the open air market to haggle with the locals. Jordan was focused on buying a "Grandma bag" a rather oversize heavy duty plastic zipper bag that a body could fit in. Amy and I were looking for another duffle bag to put stuff in and I needed an Ethernet Cable for my computer. We were told by one of the vendors to check for luggage at a store called Awah (pronounced A-shawn) which was a cross between Home Depot, Ikea, Walmart and Reams. We met up with Natasha Smith at Awah. Amy and I found our luggage and a few other things. Jordan purchased his "Grandma Bag" from an underground vendor and we left for a bite to eat at one of the many Ukranian cafeterias. Natasha left for her translator job and we made a telephone call to check in with David Howick and Nanette. Jordan took us to Marina's Palace which looked to be a beautiful building it "its day" but was now badly in need of repair. Jordan conversed with a Security Guard on the grounds who told him that it was a gigantic almost impossible task to remodel the palace. We rejoined Natasha "Smith" and did a little more site seeing. Jordan drove Natasha to her flat while Amy and I fell asleep in Jordan's car. Jordan brought us back to the flat where we all crashed for the evening.

July 25th
Today we headed out for to Souvenir Street but we made a stop at a very nice leather shop where Jordan purchased a nice briefcase for his father's birthday and Amy found a good deal on a leather purse. We arrived at Souvenir Street and Amy bought a nice table runner for her mother and a small souvenir plate of St. Michaels Church. Jordan bought some winter scarves to give to his brothers. We headed out to buy a few items at a grocery store and back to our flat. Afterwards Jordan drove to Gryvna to meet up with some friends and attend Sunday Services. We decided to make dumplings with garlic flavored catsup and fresh cucumbers with salt and pepper, Yummy!


UPDATE: The latest news is. From encouragement from our friends back home Amy and I decided to schedule a second SDA appointment and to find some children that were in need of a loving home with a Mother and a Father. We have found two wonderful children in a town (two towns actually) that we are in the process of adopting. There is a 17 year old boy, Sasha, and his 12 year old sister, Kristina. When we first met the children we were told the father was not living and the mother had abused alcohol and lost her parental rights. We have since come to find out that the mother recently died and now the children truly are orphans. Now that we have some perspective and realizing that Toli, Luda and Katia had an extended family and Sasha and Kristina only have each other, we are sure that God has delivered these children into our hands to raise as our own. We will be updating more during our ten day waiting period. Thank you to all of our friends and family back home we are looking forward to being with all of you again.