Stahlke Adoption

Mikola's Adoption

Several people have asked me about the status of Mikola's adoption. Here's an update on the current situation.

Mikola entered the baby orphanage in Kilovohrad in the spring of 2004 at the approximate age of 1 year. His orphanage is located about three blocks away from the orphanage for older children where our five kids lived. Jonathan and I visited the front offices of Kola's orphanage to meet the director and tell her of our keen interest in adopting Mikola. We left a letter for his file stating our desire and mentioning that we are the parents of his older siblings. The baby orphanage was immaculate and brightly painted, and the orphanage director was very kind. We didn't see any children that day--they must have been away on a field trip. It was impossible to meet Mikola or see a photo of him because his privacy is protected by Ukrainian law, and we do not yet have any rights to visit him or receive information about him. We do know his birthday, however, and he is now 4-1/2 years old.

Last September we sent another letter to Ukraine reiterating our desire to adopt Mikola. Masha translated our letter and sent it to the orphanage and to the SDAPRC (State Department for Adoptions and Protection of the Rights of the Child), which is the Ukrainian government's national office for adoption. Mikola's paperwork had reached them in Kyiv last August, which marked the beginning of the year-long period when he is available for Ukrainian citizens to adopt. So the earliest we could travel to adopt him is August 2008.

The adoption dossier that we assembled for Mikola in Fall 2007 contains documents that mostly expire after one year and therefore must be redone before we travel next summer. Luckily, the most expensive one (U.S. State Department clearance, costing about $800) is valid for eighteen months instead of one year. Also, our case worker in Chicago can update the home study without starting over from scratch.

The funds for Kola's adoption are waiting in an account managed by our church, Trinity Lutheran. The generosity of many, many people has meant that the fund now contains almost 90% of the money needed for his adoption. We are very grateful for this assistance, as well as by the many in-kind gifts that people have sent or given us. We are truly blessed by the vast "village" that is helping us raise our children and reunite them with their little brother.

posted by Stahlkes @ 11:32 AM