This is a picture of Tennyson this past November.  Don't you like the potty in the background?

I found some drafts that I had written during the adoption process that never were posted so I just posted them.

Home Study Almost Done

So today I received an email from the social worker who is conducting my home study. She said she is almost done with her report and then it goes to the INS for review. Once they figure out that I am not a serial killer or even a one time killer then they will send me to get finger printed.

Back Home

We are back home after a loooooooooooonnnnnngggggg day and a half of flying.  Yep we had an early flight out of St. Pete and a long layover in Frankfurt.  The fact that we were able to hang out in the Lufthansa lounge made the layover much better than it would have been.

Today is catch up day.  Thank you all for the sweet words of congratulations.  I have never been so excited about anything in my life.  Just one week from tomorrow I will be flying back to Russia to get Tennyson.

I haven't blogged in well over a year, but the Russian banning of adoptions to American parents has me hopping mad.  I was so fortunate to adopt my beautiful son Tennyson last year.  I feel so sad for the parents who are now in limbo because they have chosen a child who they now can't bring home.  As my blog states I looked for a Park in Kazakhstan, Nepal and then Russia.  I know the disappointment the adoption process can bring, but there are no words for those families who have already met their child and cannot bring them home.  There is also a huge financial commitment by these families.  I had to travel to Russia 3 times and each time I had to take huge amounts of cash to pay for various fees.  I think much of what is paid is just payoff to government officials.

I remember back on the day when I went to the family court and the judge approved my adoption of Tennyson.  The judge had a huge smile on her face and seemed very happy that this orphan was going to have a home.  I suppose the government officials who passed the ban and possibly Putin himself have never visited an orphanage.

Putin and their government now say they will find Russian families for the orphans. What a joke!  In Russia adoption is very taboo.  This was told to me by the Russian translators helping me with the adoption.  Apparently, when Russians adopt they try to find a child who looks just like them and then often never conceal to anyone that the child was adopted.  My Tennyson does not look like the typical Russian and had been offered to many Russian families.  If I hadn't found him he would still be in the orphanage and probably wouldn't have left until he turned 18.

If you care about this issue at all, please call and write your government representatives and ask them to put pressure on the Russian government to undo this ban.

Thanks for reading!