The Beginning of the Story....part 2

If you are starting here, it may be helpful to read Part 1 first.

So we sat on the information from Tanya for a while. We eventually told M & N that their brothers had been adopted by an Italian family and that this was all we knew. Those of you that personally know our boys, know that they are never content with half of the story. So they both asked us to find them. Oh, how naive they were that it would be so easy. We explained that we would try, but that we would be dealing with 3 languages, 3 governments, and 3 VERY different cultures. But we agreed to try. So we hired Tanya (our former adoption translator) to go to the orphanage and see what information they would release. We knew it was a long shot but figured that was the first place to start. I also put out postings on all of the Ukrainian adoption boards and groups I could find.


After a few weeks, we received an update from Tanya. The orphanage Assistant Director, whom we had a very positive experience with, agreed to help us. She could not release the Italian family's information to Tanya due to privacy rules. But she would put Tanya in touch with the Italian Family's translator. We were one step closer!

So a few more weeks passed and Tanya updated us that she had been in contact with this translator who was now getting in touch with the Italian Family. We were so hopeful, but Tanya warned us that Italian families are often not open to contact with any biological family. So we waited.


After a week or two, we recieved the wonderful news that the Italian Family indeed wanted contact with us. We received their names and their address! So then we set out to write a letter to them explaining who we were and what we were about. I composed a letter but then needed a translator. I knew that my eye doctor was Italian so I spoke with him and he put me in touch with a friend who was more fluent than he was. So we composed a letter, included photos and updates on our boys. We fed-exed the letter---yes, patience is not a virtue I possess. As I obsessively refreshed the fedex.com page to see that they received the letter, I was so hopeful. The night they received our letter, we received an email from the Italian Mom. They were beyond happy to hear from us. They indeed wanted us to be in contact. In fact, their boys, O and I had been asking them to find M and N. Suddenly the world got MUCH smaller.


So began our contact with the P family. Over the last 3 years, we have corresponded by email, photos, letters, and gifts. They have invited us to Italy and of course we have invited them to the US. This past year, we made a concerted effort to save, save, save for this trip. We also felt that the boys were a good age to make the trip in additon to the convenience of the year-round school schedule, and the fact that we hate hot weather, we decided to go during December.


So that brings you up to date. Although the primary purpose of the trip is to reunite the boys, we are also doing some sightseeing in France prior to meeting up with the P family in Italy. It is sure to be an interesting trip. We hope you'll join us!