We adopted our boys M (who is 11 now) and N (who is 12) in March 2003 from a tiny town in Eastern Ukraine. They were 5 and 7 at the time. At the time we adopted the boys, we knew they had 3 older brothers. Because of their ages, the Ukrainian Government has seperated the files of the boys to make them more "eligible" for adoption. So M & N were placed together and the next 2 older O and I were placed together. During our adoption in 2003, we were able to meet O and I but knew that we could not adopt them at the time because 1)We were not approved to adopt 4 children and 2)We did not have the money to adopt 4 children at one time.
So we returned home in April 2003 with the plan to check to ensure that they were indeed available for adoption and to figure out how we could afford to complete another adoption. In the mean time, we sent O and I photos, letters, clothes, food, and other item to the orphanage (internat---orphanage for older children) in Ukraine. We worked with our translator, Tanya, to stay in communication with the orphanage so that we stayed up to date on their status. That following late summer, we sent winter coats to Ukraine to the boys. We then received an email from Tanya that she had "wonderful news". O and I had been adopted by an Italian family.
While we were thrilled that they were no longer sitting in an orphanage and had a family to love and provide for them, we were filled with mixed emotions. We were concerned that we would not be able to have contact with them. We were upset because we had hoped to be able to return to Ukraine for them. But ultimately we trusted that God knew what was best and would figure it all out. Go here for Part 2 of how we found and established a relationship with the family.
N (far left) and his brothers the last time they saw each other in 2003.
M and N the week after we arrived home
No comments:
Post a Comment