For those who adopted a child from Russia?

Question

my sister is in the process of adopting a child from Russia. She will be going there next week for the first time. Any of you who went through this and have some experience to share with us is most welcome.

Answer 1

If you haven't gotten a chance to, please, please, please spend some time researching Attachment Disorder. An incredibly high rate of children adopted from Russia end up being affected by this. My parents adopted a 15 month-old boy from Russia 11 years ago not knowing about this disorder and it has and continues to wreak major havoc in our family. Every other family we know that has adopted from Russia has also had this happen in different degrees. It's a very tough thing to have to deal with and there is really no way to know if the child you are adopting has it or not, as it could take a while to show up.  

Answer 2

Try Informed Adoption Advocates

www.informedadoptions.com

There are many people there who have adopted from Russia and can share their experiences and insight.  

I have seen a few people who post here regularly that have adopted from Russia, too.

Answer 3

My cousin and his wife adopted 2 children from Russia a few years ago.

Overall, the process went well...though there were a few setbacks along the way.  (The first child they flew over to meet and bond with ended up failing his final medical exam...the physician suspected signs of mild autism.  Even though they were still willing to take him, the boy was declared unadoptable.  Its unfortunate, because certainly the boy would have been better off in the US with loving parents and access to all of our medical care.  "Possible mild autism" isn't going to be helped by spending his life in a Russian orphanage.)

One more thing...my cousin is a pilot, so he has higher than average knowledge about airplanes and airplane safety.  He commented that he was horrified about the Russian plane they had to grab for a connecting flight...said he was convinced he'd never survive the flight, because it was so glaringly unsafe.  So, I guess your sister could be forewarned about that, if she's going to have to board a Russian plane.