Answers to Your Questions

Why are you adopting? Can't you have more kids?
As far as we know, we can. But we have always felt one of the best things you can do in life is to provide a home to a child in need. After lots of research & discussion, we decided this is the right path for us.

Why Kazakhstan?

Only a limited number of countries allow international adoptions. Among those, Kazakhstan has a reputation for healthy children and a relatively stable adoption program. The children are cared for in orphanages known as baby houses, where they get physical therapy and other special care.

Kazakhstan Links:

The Baby Houses of Kazakhstan

About Kazakhstan (World Partners Adoption)

How long will this take?
Adoption from Kazakhstan typically takes a year to 18 months. We started the process in May 2007, so we hope to bring our daughter home by the end of summer 2008.

What do you know about your child?
We have not been matched with a specific child yet, but have requested a girl. Most children are at least 10-12 months old by the time you bring them home. Also, most Kazakh children are of Asian or Eurasian heritage.

What are the next steps?

By late spring, we hope to receive our "referral." This will include photos and medical information about a specific child. After consulting with a doctor who specializes in international adoptions, we'll decide whether to accept the referral. Once we accept, we'll travel to Kazakhstan 4-6 weeks later. We'll spend at least one month in Kazakhstan. The first two weeks, we'll meet with our daughter at the baby house every day. During the third week, a judge will hopefully approve the adoption and grant us custody. After some more paperwork, we can bring our daughter home.

Adoption Timeline

April 2008 - Travel to Kazakhstan and meet our daughter!
March 2008 - Accepted referral of a 22-month-old girl
November 2007 - Dossier sent to the Ministry of Family Affairs in Kazakhstan (after being translated into Russian)
October 2007 - Dossier submitted to World Partners Adoption
September 2007 - Finished collecting documents for our dossier
August 2007 - CIS clearance granted
July 2007 - Home study completed
May 2007 - Began collecting documents for our home study
April 2007 - Made the decision to adopt

Adoption Glossary

CIS - Formerly known as INS, this is the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service. The CIS must grant pre-approval before the adoption can go forward. We received our approval in August of 2007.

Dossier - A mountain of paperwork required for internation adoptions. The specific documents vary by country, but typically include birth certificates, marriage certificate, FBI clearances, employment verifications, etc. Our dossier included appx. two dozen documents from three states plus Switzerland. It took us three months to complete.

Home Study - A report prepared by a social worker after visting the home and interviewing both parents. The purpose of the home study is to determine whether the family is well suited to adoption. We completed our home study in July of 2007.

Referral - An invitation to adopt a specific child. The referral usually includes photos and a medical report (sometimes a video as well.) After reviewing these materials, the family can accept or decline. We received our referral in March of 2008.