We have been thinking about how to make this process easier as we re-do several things. The list of documents can be broken into roughly two pieces: those provided or filled out by us (passport copies, Russian adoption registration forms, etc.) and those provided by our home study agency (the home study itself - which is a 7 page document all about us - as well as copies of their licenses and some other forms they need to sign and notarize). There are only a couple other miscellaneous forms that don't fit into these categories - so this about covers it.
Upon reflection, we've realized that the difficult and stressful part of this has consistently been with our home study agency. Though certainly no one is intending to be malicious, we just haven't had a smooth experience with them. I think the distance (they are not within an easy drive) has made the process of sending things back and forth too cumbersome. One possibility this time around is to have our updated homestudy done by a local agency (meaning a local social worker with a non-profit organization) rather than continuing to work with the agency that we have been using. This would mean we could physically bring over forms, stop by to pick them up, and be able to get things quickly fixed if there are any quirks. Rob has talked with one organization already and they have indicated their willingness to do this. We also have another one referred by some good friends who did a Russia adoption in 2006 and lived in FL at the time. Though we need to finalize it, we think this will be a really good move for us to ease the stress of the paper chase.
Meanwhile, we are also re-examining our options as far as adoption agencies go. Each time we've done this before, there has been a hopeful development with our current one. It's hard to imagine what that would be this time, though. We have a few leads, so we'll be checking into them in the next couple of weeks.
That's all from the adoption front for now - we'll let you know if there are any new adventures :)
1 comment:
Sarah, I certainly don't presume to know it all on this adoption stuff, but it does certainly seem like some agencies (and their Russian counterpart staff) are much more well-connected, have a better understanding of the whole process, and treat this as a business. Now sure, to us PAPs, this is a life-altering thing and you want to work with an agency and people who'll treat you like a person, but I've come to really value how our new agency treats us as customers. They're professional, aggressive, and extremely competent. They still treat us in a compassionate and personal manner, but at the same time, this is a business.
Anyway, at the risk of overstepping my bounds, if you're about to have to redo all of your paperwork anyway, I'd respectfully suggest that you really consider how you feel about your agency. Do you still have faith not just in their good intents, but in their ability to make good on those intentions? You might be amazed at the difference in the way a different agency will work with you. I'm biased - and I'm certain that there are other quality agencies who're active in Russia - but I think CSS is well worth considering.
Again, please don't think I'm trying to tell you what to do. My only motive in this is knowing how it feels to be treated poorly by an adoption agency and I have the utmost empathy for your situation.
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