
Adopting From Russia
We adopted two children from Yaroslavl and felt so much more knowledgeable
on our second adoption based on the experiences of our first. The motivation
for this website is to give others some of that 'second time around' experience
even though it is only their first time.
This website provides practical and up-to-date information you need to know
to adopt a child from Russia. Everything you read here is based on the actual
experiences of people who have recently adopted from Russia through a variety
of adoption agencies. The site is continually updated to provide accurate and
current information.
If you haven't adopted yet, we encourage you to use the website
as a resource.
If you know you will be adopting from Russia and would like an email reminder
to revisit this website after you return, what is your
If you have adopted, please share your own experiences via
the Trip Report form so that we can continue to
add to the richness of the site and its usefulness to others interested in the
adoption process.
Documentation requirements described here are for citizens of the United States.
The rest of the information is not specific to the adoptive parent's country.
Please note that there is no guarantee that any information
on this website is accurate or that your adoption experience will match any
experience described here.
The organization of the site roughly tracks the chronological order of the
process, like this:
- General Information - about the website and
about adopting in Russia
- Your dossier
- Travel Arrangements
- Evaluating a referral
- What to pack - general including what to
wear
- What to pack for infants and toddlers including
clothing
- Packing, preparing and resources for older children
- Arriving in Moscow
- In the city your child is from What you will be
doing there plus hotels and what to see and do
- Moscow - after you have adopted in Russia and
are waiting to come home. Hotels, what to see and do, general info
- Leaving Russia, airlines, connections and flying
home
- Back Home - Entry, Post-Adoptive Evaluation,
Re-adoption, Naturalization
- Book store - books, Russian language tapes, travel
guides, other resources
- Essential Russian - one word and one phrase!
And more ...
- Agency Information - Consumer reports style
feedback about agency, facilitators, cost, time to adopt.
- People you can talk to who have been through it already
- A few useful links
- Maps - Moscow and the cities in Russia adopting
families have reported on.
- Add your comments, suggestions or adoption trip
report to the website.
Apr 2007 Update
You may have heard that 'Russia has stopped international adoptions.' That is simply not true. What happened is that all agencies' accreditations have expired. That means that new, agency-facilitated adoptions cannot start. All adoptions that had already started can proceed. 'Independent' adoptions can be started.
Reaccreditation of agencies has begun. The best guess of those 'in the know' is that the first agencies will be reaccreditted in June. It has also been reported that the new accreditations will not expire. If true, it means an end to expired accreditations.
This site is the idea of and is maintained by Kevin Koch, a member of
Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoptions (FRUA) and ODS Adoption Community of New England (ODSACONE).
AdoptingFromRussia.com was started April 14, 1999 and is updated as people
return from Russia and provide new information.
Do you appreciate AdoptingFromRussia.com? Do you shop online? You can help cover the
expense of running the website at no cost to you. Click this
link on this website to Amazon.com
and then order from any of Amazon's ever-expanding kinds of stores. A small commission
on your purchases will be contributed to the website. Amazon is much more than books.
It is also clothing, toys, music, electronics, home & garden and more. Thanks for
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Adopting from Russia's bookstore is provided in
association with Amazon.com.
When you click an Amazon link on this website and then buy something from Amazon, a small
commission on your purchase will help defray the costs of running the website. Thank
you.
The most popular items in the bookstore:
The best single, concise source of Russian adoption information is John Maclean's
Russian
Adoption Handbook for $23.06.
Pimsleur Russian tapes -- 8 or 16 half hour lessons for $21 or $42.
Teresa Kelleher's 'Adopting from Russia' booklet and language CD for $45.
This item is not from Amazon and has a shipping cost.
Amazon suggests related books, such as
Don't leave home without a digital camera!
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