My husband and I met in Saudi Arabia in 1994 and were married 2 years later in March of 1996. A beautiful daughter was born in December of 1997 followed by another darling daughter in 2000 and a wonderful son in 2002. We had a lovely little family and that was that, or so we thought.
Then in 2004 I mentioned to my husband the plight of children in Eastern Europe and it just didn’t seem fair that these little children had no family to call their own. My husband was sympathetic to their plight but with 3 small children already occupying our time, little more was said. He did make a comment that if we ever found a little boy around 3 or 4 and a little girl around 5 or 6 he might be interested. Let’s just “fill in the gaps” he joked. He had always said that if we had met when we were younger he would have liked 5 or 6 kids.
Twelve months later I contacted Anjelika from Adoption ARK who was the person listed to find out more about adopting a little boy and a sister.
Anjelika was so helpful, taking the time before we were even officially their clients to explain the whole process and what we could expect. Of course, I still needed to research Adoption ARK and make sure it was a reputable agency. International adoptions stories are everywhere and so are horror stories of disreputable agencies, but Adoption ARK had glowing references so we took the plunge and we thank God that Adoption ARK was there every step of the way.
We initially joked that it seemed Anjelika needed to have the last word in any “conversation” as she was extremely diligent in getting back to us, but it soon become apparent that our case worker Alla was the same. Any query was quickly responded to within a day, no matter how trivial. Even when we were caught in the “new requirements” stage that Kazakhstan went through in October of 2005, Alla was always there reassuring us that it would happen. My once a week “how are we doing” email was always responded to in an upbeat, friendly and professional way.
We traveled to Kazakhstan on May 8th 2006, twelve months after our first contact.
The coordinators/translators/drivers in Kazakhstan were wonderful, and we still keep in contact with them as they are now our friends. Adoption ARK was obviously very well regarded in the country and we had absolutely no issues or unpleasant surprises. The whole experience was so great that we now speak of it as being like being away at an “exclusive” vacation club and the other adoptive families we met there as life-long friends.
The children were very well cared for in the orphanage in Kazakhstan. The staff showed obvious concern and love for their young charges, and we were very impressed with the communication between the staff “State-side” and the staff in Kazakhstan. The whole process went very smoothly.
Our children responded very well during the “bonding period”, which in our opinion is a plus to the program. Fourteen days to get to know them, and for them to get to know you in an environment they are comfortable in is a blessing. We fully believe this has made the transition to the States and into our family so much easier.
By the time we left Kazakhstan, we felt there would always be a part of our hearts that belonged to that beautiful country for the rest of our lives. We know this feeling is a direct result of the wonderful experience we had; which is due ENTIRELY to the staff (both State-side and abroad) of Adoption ARK.
Our children Faith Tatiana and Chance Vasilii have been with us since July 6th. We took advantage of the escort service offered by Adoption ARK which was a wonderful service, and as a bonus allowed us to have the Russian speaking coordinator in our home for a couple of days to help the children settle in. The children are doing great. Faith is in Kindergarten and Chance is in pre-K. They are affectionate, happy children and we feel they were always meant to be a part of our family.
We would have no hesitation in recommending Adoption ARK to anyone thinking of Adoption. A full account of our trip to Kazakhstan and some additional photos can be found at www.and2make5.blogspot.com. You are welcome to visit it.