Our Russian Adoption

           A Journey of Faith and Love...
 

Our Story...

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At Last

     My husband Doug and I are blessed with two beautiful children - Brittany, age 14 and Matthew, age 8.  We have been married almost 10 years now, and have a very good marriage.  He is a loving father, a good provider, and a faithful husband.  Next to our faith in God - family is most important to us.  Doug has always been a very active participant in the raising of our children.  He has been involved in everything from changing diapers to being a Sunday School teacher in my son’s class at church.   I have not worked since my son Matthew was born, 8 years ago.  My husband and I are committed to me being a stay-at-home-mom so we can raise our children rather than put them in daycare.  In fact, I have homeschooled both my children for the past 7 years. 
     Doug and I have discussed the possibility of adoption on and off for several years now.  At this point we both feel that God has prepared us to take that step…  So after years of contemplating, months of prayer, and weeks of research - Doug and I have decided to expand our family by adopting 2 children from Russia! 
 

Here is "our story" as it happened...
May of 2003 God planted the idea in our hearts...and it began to grow!
July 13, 2003      We began working on our autobiographies for the Home Study.
July 14, 2003            Went to Juvenile Court building to get first set of fingerprints done.
July 18, 2003 Met with a social worker in our home for 3 hours for the first half of our Home Study.
July 23, 2003            We signed the contract with Commonwealth Adoptions International - we're on our way!
July 28, 2003        Made a visit to my physician to get form filled out saying that we am healthy enough to adopt. This form will go with our homestudy.
July 29, 2003 We had our first family meeting about our adoption plans.
July 31, 2003 Went to INS for our second set of fingerprints.
August 1, 2003 Met with social worker in our home for another 3 hours for the second half of our Home Study.
August 12, 2003 Made a visit to my physician to get our vaccinations updated.
August 13, 2003 Met with social worker for adoption training.
August 14, 2003 Met with social worker for adoption training.
August 14, 2003 First shopping trip for babies!
August 15, 2003 Went downtown to the Secretary of State's office  to get various documents notarized and apostilled.    (What is APOSTILLED?)
August 29, 2003 Went to the Health Department for Typhoid vaccinations.
September 8, 2003 Homestudy certified by the Pima county court system.
September 29, 2003 Homestudy, Social worker documents, and Arizona court order certifying us as adoptive parents arrives.
September 30 2003 Another trip to the Secretary of States Office with more documents.
October 1, 2003 Delivered homestudy and social worker documents to adoption agency to complete dossier.
October 2, 2003 More vaccinations.
October 7, 2003 Dossier reviewed by adoption agency and shipped to Russian region of Khabarovsk.
October 16, 2003 Received videos and medical reports of two very adorable boys. One is 10 months and the other 23 months. We are in LOVE with them.
October 17, 2003 Overnighted the videos to two international adoption doctors for evaluation.
October 20, 2003 Received good report on two boys from Dr. Johnson in Minnesota.
October 22, 2003 One hour conference call with Dr. Davies, (Dr. Bledsoe's office) in Seattle. Great report on two boys from him.
October 23, 2003 Informed adoption agency of our intent to want to meet the boys and pursue their adoption. Submitted list of questions about boys.
October 27, 2003 Received additional photos of Rustam (youngest). He is adorable!!!!
October 29, 2003 Received updated medical reports on Rustam and Anton. They both sound very healthy and are developing quite well. More good news!
November 5, 2003 Informed that we can travel very soon and that we can apply for our visas at the Russian Consulate in San Francisco.
November 7, 2003 Visas applied for, tickets purchased and plans made for first trip to see our boys. Looks like Thanksgiving in Russia this year!!!
November 8, 2003 Anton's 2nd birthday!
November 22, 2003 Off to Russia!
November 25, 2003 We meet the boys. One is in the Children's Hospital and the other in Baby Home #2
November 27, 2003 Thanksgiving Day!! We sign official adoption papers in front of Russian notary to begin formal adoption process.
November 29, 2003 Return home to Tucson after spending the 28th in Moscow sightseeing!   Now the wait for a court date begins.
December 4, 2003 Submitted final stack of apostilled paperwork for the adoption.
December 5 -  ? Waiting...
December 24, 2003 Rustam's 1st birthday!  Still waiting...
February 19, 2004 We received THE phone call - our court date is March 5th!!!
February 28, 2004 The Shaw family leaves for Khabarovsk.
March 1, 2004 Arrive in Khabarovsk. Reunion with Anton at the orphanage.
March 2, 2004 Reunion with Rustam and visit Anton again.
March 3-4, 2004 Visits with the boys and preparation for the court hearing.
March 5, 2004 Hearing at 10:00am. Judges verdict in favor of our petition to adopt made final at 11:00am!!!!
The boys are ours!!!!!!
  SEE OUR PHOTOS ON "Together At Last" PAGE!