April 23, 2008
Children's Orphanage
Meeting Alyona, Vitya and Kristina
Today we traveled (1hr) to the orphanage for children 3-7 years old and got a chance to play with several children. It was confirmed that we are allowed to adopt more than one child and we were looking for 2 sisters. Svetlana and Mariya presented us with some other options if we were open to older children and not just girls. At the orphanage there is Kristina (4 yrs girl) with her brother Vitya(Victor) 7 yr old boy. They have a 16 yr old sister named Alyona at the boarding school. We played with 5 children today. They are all so beautiful but we became attached to Vitya and Kristina.
Meeting Vitya and Kristina
Vitya (Victor 7 yrs old) - He is a beautiful, high energy, smart and strong little boy that is very protective of his little sister. He has a big friendly smile, very polite, loves playing sports. Typical little boy that we see fitting in very well with Alex and Ben.
Kristina (4yrs old ) - She is a beautiful little princess that has a smile that lights up a room and she knows it. She was shy at first but quickly opened up. She told Mariya that “ I am beautiful”. She is and she knows it. She brought some toys over by me to play with. When she was done playing she neatly put them away. They were heavy and she told me I could help her. As you can tell she quickly had me wrapped around her little fingers.
We ask what the next step would be with Vitya, Kristina and Alyona. Svetlana called the boarding school and talked with Alyona’s social worker. We heard that Alyona is very protective of her brother and sister. We said we would not split them up and we wanted to adopt all 3. The social worker at the orphanage had to talk to Alyona to see if she was OK with this possibility. She said yes and we traveled back to Petropavlovsk for our 3PM meeting with Alyona.
Meeting Alyona
We do not fully understand the circumstances that led to the “Parental rigts being terminated” but apparently their mother left (no father) with no word and Alyona had to take care of the younger children. Alyona was not going to school since she had to take care of Vitya and Kristina. The state came and saw they had no food in the house and put them in the orphanage and boarding school. This was a little over a year ago. Before today she did not believe that she or Kristina and Vitya would ever be adopted, especially her. She could allow Kristina and Vitya to be adopted if she wanted. She was open to meeting us and surprised someone wanted her and her brother and sister. We went to the boarding school with Mariya, Svetlana and met the Minister of Guardians, and the social worker. After they checked all the paperwork they brought in Alyona. She looked us over from top to bottom and then those big eyes looked right through us. It was the most important interview I have ever had and was not able to talk. Thankfully Julie was more composed and told everyone in the room about us, where we live, our family, our jobs, and showed pictures of Alex and Ben, the house and all of our extended family. We think Alyona likes us and wants to proceed with the bonding period. This is comprised of daily visits for 2 weeks with her and Kristina and Vitya.
We can only imagine what must being going on in her mind. On Monday she thought she was not adoptable and would be out on her own in a couple of years and how was she going to support herself and Kristina and Vitya. It must be very frightening to think of moving to a new country, with a new family, new language and leaving everything she knows 9,000 miles behind. She has had a very challenging 24 hours (life) and had to make some big decisions for not only herself and her future but also for her brother and sister. She is an amazing young lady.
We believe we are now moving forward with the process but not without some paper work knots to untie here and in the US. Three children were not in the original paperwork and Julie is trying to get this amended ASAP. Svetlana and Mariya are working on the Kaz paperwork. Nothing will be certain and final until we get these kids in Orlando. This has been an emotional roller coaster that we are only in the early stages with many ups and downs ahead.