Anyone from PA adopt from Russia

Hi Vicki, My husband and I are considering adopting from Russia. We live in the Pittsburgh area. I would also want the child we decide to adopt to have playmates that he can relate to. What agency did you use? I have been hearing most agencies say that they hold events so that families who adopted from the same area can spend time together. Maybe you could ask your agency for names of people in your area? I would be interested in hearing your experiences in adopting from Russia. Good luck, Jen

Hi Jen, We used AAI. They are based in California , but they work with families all over the US and they can provide homestudy agencies in your area. We live in the Reading Area near Philadelphia. We adopted our son in November when he was eight months old. We were very pleased with AAI and they expedited everything very quickly we had our referral in six months had our son home ten months from the start of adoption process. If you have any questions please ask. Vicki

Vicki, 10 months from start to finish sounds great to me! I was excited, also to hear that your son was only 8 months when you brought him home. We would like to adopt a little boy around that age because we really don't want to miss his first steps and words! We are concerned about the cost of adoption (who isn't right?) Was AAI affordable? Did you have alot of parties and people over as soon as he came home? I read somewhere that you should hold off on that and give your child time to just bond with you. I think it would be tough to keep everyone away, though! Jen

AAI really doesn't cost anymore than the other agencies, it is expensive any way you look at it, but so worth it. Since you are specifying a boy you should not have any trouble brining him home around 8 months of age. The time frame really depends on how quickly you work on your dossier, we just kept moving right along, we wanted to get this done and have our child home as fast as possible. We did get to see his first steps it was wonderful, he was already crawling when we brought him home. No developmental delays at all. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to PM me since I am on the Russian adoption forum more frequently than I am on this one. Take Care, Vicki

Sorry I think I forgot to mention, we did have people come over right away and he really was fine with that, he still bonded with us but has no fear of being around other people.I would say he actually loves all of the attention. We do have a strong bond, my sister who watches him while we are at work told me when he is tired or just cranky he always asks for Momma. Hope this helps, Vicki

Viki, I am very interested in a support/play group--we are in the process of adopting from Russia and I believe I responded to your post on the Russia forum. We ha dto switch agencies, so I am currently paperchasing again, but almost finished so the new agency said there was no reason why we wouldn't be home with our baby by mid-to late summer!! Finally I feel I am making progress, we requested baby boy under 12months. I am in the Lansdale area about 40 minutes above Philly--how about you? Kasey