I guess in a previous life one would have opened the yellow pages and found adoption under A. In 2005, a few strokes of a key board and the Internet blasts you onto web pages chock full of information about adoption, and much to my surprise also photos of waiting children all ages and ethnic backgrounds staring back.
I spent many hours reading and searching and wondering. I saw their faces, innocent children, and pondered their circumstances. How could so many be born into cement buildings with a probability of remaining there for their entire young lives. Never to experience that bond of unconditional love from a mother or father. A love that makes one feel special and unique. A love that nurtures and provides security. A love that anticipates ones needs both physically and emotionally almost automatically like an involuntary reflex. A whole population of children in waiting.
It was during this search on 5/9/05 I saw for the first time the face of baby 749 on Adopting.com. Her photolisting spoke to my heart. Could she be the daughter we were hoping to adopt? Was the process of International Adoption really just a click away? I studied her, read all her information and began to conceive the idea,the possibility that this child could become my daughter. What would it take? What were the rules? How do we start? Is this the way it is done? Internet adoption! Do we dare!
So I watched her photolisting, guarding it much like a mother guards her newborn. Checking every few hours making sure she was still there. I bookmarked Adopting.com so as to get back to the web sight even quicker. I was pacing, much like I did when I was in labor with my son Christopher only there was no accompanying physical pain. I stood watch over her for almost 4 days and nights logging many hits onto her photo listing. I was convinced each time I went to check on her she would be gone, but each time I booted up she was there. Her big beautiful sad eyes staring back at me as if to say "well what are you looking at, I am here, I am real and if you are really serious about wanting me then put your faith where you mouse is".
So I decided to show my baby 749 to my husband and tell him of my internet pregnancy. It was then he began to understand my frequent trips to the computer room. He asked why I didnt show him baby 749 sooner, as he also was taken with her. I told him because I was feeling a bit foolish. I wanted to see if she would be there online for more than a day or two. I couldnt fathom she would, and with each passing day my hope of adopting her grew.
As parents we knew we had to consult with and include Christopher in this life altering decision. He came in from school on or around 5/13/05 and both Chris and I sat at the computer an pulled up baby 749. Again she was there as she had been for almost a week. Christopher looked at her and then back at us and said "can we really adopt her?". The Young family read her photo listing together and then it was decided I was to place the call. My first conversation with Orson Mozes, the Director of Adoption International Program took place on May 14th 2005 regarding baby 749.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Civil Suit Update
In conjunction with telling our adoption story, I will simultaneously provide contact information and update the progress of the civil and criminal suit as I am made aware of the details.
I also request if any AIP families who are blogging want to put their blog link here, to email me and let me know. Our stories are the truth, factual, real life and necessary to help change the face of International Adoption.
To date 13 families have retained Joni Fixel (517-332-3390) jfixel@fixellawoffices.com to represent us in an impending civil litigation. We, as a group are reliving our adoption stories as we sift through the mounds of documents, saved emails and receipts necessary for submission to our attorney to build this case. For some this is an excruciatingly painful labor, others have been blessed with a miraculous ending to their adoption journey. The ends however does not justify the means, so we stand up in an attempt to protect future parents who are willing to take the leap of faith required for adoption.
lcleave@co.santa-barbara.ca.us
This is the email address of the Senior Investigator who is presently interviewing AIP clients, collecting evidence and heading up the criminal investigation of Orson Mozes, Christen Brown,Kevin Anderson and AIP. If you have any information please email her.
Below is a link to an investigative report Sarah Wallace from Channel 7 News was conducting into the adoption practices of AIP and its owners. Sarah contacted us, and the other AIP family (who adopted our first referral) and requested an interview. After much discussion and sole searching we decided to grant an interview. Although we had been blessed with a miracle (the successful adoption of our beautiful daughter and we couldn't be happier), it was our moral obligation now to tell our story about AIP in order to warn and protect others against painful unnecessary bait and switch adoption tactics we believed AIP employed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8EmDE77xVc
This interview and the fall out from it has served as a catalyst to my truth and consequences blog.
I also request if any AIP families who are blogging want to put their blog link here, to email me and let me know. Our stories are the truth, factual, real life and necessary to help change the face of International Adoption.
To date 13 families have retained Joni Fixel (517-332-3390) jfixel@fixellawoffices.com to represent us in an impending civil litigation. We, as a group are reliving our adoption stories as we sift through the mounds of documents, saved emails and receipts necessary for submission to our attorney to build this case. For some this is an excruciatingly painful labor, others have been blessed with a miraculous ending to their adoption journey. The ends however does not justify the means, so we stand up in an attempt to protect future parents who are willing to take the leap of faith required for adoption.
lcleave@co.santa-barbara.ca.us
This is the email address of the Senior Investigator who is presently interviewing AIP clients, collecting evidence and heading up the criminal investigation of Orson Mozes, Christen Brown,Kevin Anderson and AIP. If you have any information please email her.
Below is a link to an investigative report Sarah Wallace from Channel 7 News was conducting into the adoption practices of AIP and its owners. Sarah contacted us, and the other AIP family (who adopted our first referral) and requested an interview. After much discussion and sole searching we decided to grant an interview. Although we had been blessed with a miracle (the successful adoption of our beautiful daughter and we couldn't be happier), it was our moral obligation now to tell our story about AIP in order to warn and protect others against painful unnecessary bait and switch adoption tactics we believed AIP employed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8EmDE77xVc
This interview and the fall out from it has served as a catalyst to my truth and consequences blog.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
April 2005
Life is good. Chris and I are in successful career's. We have been blessed with financial security, a solid marriage, a love of God and a wonderful son. We are a family that eats dinner together each night, and are trying to live a life our God would be proud of.
One day at work I pick up a phone I usually never answer. One my staff members is on the line and she is frantic to find one of her collegues. When I ask her if there is anything wrong she says well, yes. She wanted to speak to this particular person because she just found out there were 2 brothers from Russia here on a visitation and the family that sponsored them couldnt take them due to a family emergency, so she was trying to find another family interested in adopting them. Without a thought I told her we would. She nearly dropped the phone. She then rattled off the information and told me the name of the church I had to be in that night in order to meet these children. They were 5 and 7 years old.
I immediately went back to my office and called my husband. When I began speaking to him I was so excited he told me I had to slow down. After I conveyed to him what had transpired he said "Ann you have to let me think about this for a few minutes, I will call you back." I hung up and waited. It seemed it took him forever to call back, however 10 minutes is a long time to wait when you want a specific answer now.
When the phone rang the pace of my heart increased as I heard his voice say "what time do we have to be there."
5:45 I said and it 4pm now. He said OK I am on my way. I will pick Christopher up and we will meet you in the parking lot.
I recalled my staff member to verify the information again and tell her we were going.
When Chris and Chistopher arrived I got into the car and it was then we began to talk about adoption to our son. We felt he had to be in total agreement as he had been our only child for 10 years. So we asked him on the way to the church how he felt about having another child in our lives. His answer was a spontaneous yes with a smile that allowed us to look directly into his heart.
We did meet the boys that night and so did other interested families.
It was this night we realize we were being called to adopt. So for the ensuing days we talked together as a family, then privatey as parents to discuss what direction to take. We read up on adoption and the ramifications on biological children.
We also went to visit the boys again prior to them leaving to go back to Russia. They were active, bright and adorable however we decided for our sons's sake at this point in his life adopting a baby girl would give him more of a connection to a sibling. Also as parents we wanted to avoid any feelings our son might have with regards to any competition from the boys.
Together as a family it was decided a baby girl is who we would look for as we began our adoption journey.
One day at work I pick up a phone I usually never answer. One my staff members is on the line and she is frantic to find one of her collegues. When I ask her if there is anything wrong she says well, yes. She wanted to speak to this particular person because she just found out there were 2 brothers from Russia here on a visitation and the family that sponsored them couldnt take them due to a family emergency, so she was trying to find another family interested in adopting them. Without a thought I told her we would. She nearly dropped the phone. She then rattled off the information and told me the name of the church I had to be in that night in order to meet these children. They were 5 and 7 years old.
I immediately went back to my office and called my husband. When I began speaking to him I was so excited he told me I had to slow down. After I conveyed to him what had transpired he said "Ann you have to let me think about this for a few minutes, I will call you back." I hung up and waited. It seemed it took him forever to call back, however 10 minutes is a long time to wait when you want a specific answer now.
When the phone rang the pace of my heart increased as I heard his voice say "what time do we have to be there."
5:45 I said and it 4pm now. He said OK I am on my way. I will pick Christopher up and we will meet you in the parking lot.
I recalled my staff member to verify the information again and tell her we were going.
When Chris and Chistopher arrived I got into the car and it was then we began to talk about adoption to our son. We felt he had to be in total agreement as he had been our only child for 10 years. So we asked him on the way to the church how he felt about having another child in our lives. His answer was a spontaneous yes with a smile that allowed us to look directly into his heart.
We did meet the boys that night and so did other interested families.
It was this night we realize we were being called to adopt. So for the ensuing days we talked together as a family, then privatey as parents to discuss what direction to take. We read up on adoption and the ramifications on biological children.
We also went to visit the boys again prior to them leaving to go back to Russia. They were active, bright and adorable however we decided for our sons's sake at this point in his life adopting a baby girl would give him more of a connection to a sibling. Also as parents we wanted to avoid any feelings our son might have with regards to any competition from the boys.
Together as a family it was decided a baby girl is who we would look for as we began our adoption journey.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Our Decision to Adopt
Our decision to adopt began about 6 years. Our son Christopher was 7 years old and the possibility of another biological child was nil. So we began to talk about adoption. Our thought was, domestic adoption at our ages would be next to impossible, so we turned to International Adoption.
While vacationing in Daytona Beach I came across the following article in the local paper
SUSAN WRIGHT
Staff Writer susan.wright@news-jrnl.com
February 20, 2001; Page 01C
ORMOND BEACH -- Tait Andreyva Newman is one in 650,000, according to her father, Ken Newman.
He beams as he calls her "Little Miss Personality." The elfin 3-year-old with delicate cheek bones and a 100-watt smile lights up as her mother, Denise Newman, brings out a box of toys and mementos.
In seconds, she has pulled out and arranged on the floor a matryoska, the traditional Russian nesting doll hand-painted with purple and blue flowers.
Her older brother, Reid, 9, helps her in the awkwardly gentle way of older brothers.
Like many other adoptive parents, Ken and Denise Newman plan to tell their obviously cherished daughter how special she is because they were able to choose her for their very own -- out of an estimated 650,000 children currently available for adoption in post-Soviet Russia.
They'll also be able to tell her about how they traveled halfway across the world to St. Petersburg, Russia, to pick her out. They have videos of themselves in the waiting room at the orphanage holding a tiny, alert and enchanting 7-month-old Tait on their laps. They'll be able to tell her that she was carefully chosen -- the couple considered three other little Russian girls before deciding on Tait, whom they adopted just over two years ago.
They want everyone to know the blond, blue-eyed gamine has been nothing but a joy since they first saw her in an orphanage they say was one of the best in the former Soviet Union. "The best of the best would bring tears to your eyes," Ken says.
They adopted her through an agency in Arizona, where they lived before moving to Ormond Beach.
The couple is campaigning to make sure more people know that their story of a successful Russian adoption is the norm, not the exception -- and the vast majority of those 650,000 children in need of a family of their own are healthy, mentally and physically.
The Arizona-based agency they used has been in business for 27 years, handled about 3,000 adoptions, and, according to the Newmans, only had 10 cases in which the adoptive parents decided they couldn't keep the adopted child -- a phenomenon known as a disruption.
Tait, who loves her preschool and proudly shows off the latest gymnastics moves she's learned in her twice weekly class, is so clearly healthy and happy she could be a poster child for Russian adoptions.
The Newmans are willing to talk about their experience because they are more than a little tired of hearing the horror stories. They say the media has concentrated on the shock value of a few examples of Americans adopting Russian children with severe emotional and mental problems -- and left a false impression of what happens to most families who turn to the former Soviet Union to adopt.
Television programs and newspapers series have focused public attention on the danger of bring ing home a child who may be permanently unable to relate or bond to others -- children who were so deprived of nurturing and human contact in the orphanage that they are unable to form normal attachments.
Those cases, they contend, are the exception, not the rule.
Only a small percentage of the children from countries formerly part of the Soviet bloc are so severely damaged, they say.
They say they have met many other couples who have adopted children as normal and healthy as Tait, including several in Ormond Beach.
Couples who are thinking about adopting a child have several ways to make sure the child they adopt is a child that will bring them the kind of joy Tait has brought to them, they say.
"This particular orphanage has little, two-minute tapes of the children they'll send you. When you get them, the agency will show them to experts who can tell you if there are any signs the child has any kind of severe problem," Ken says.
They'd already sent experts tapes of other little girls from the orphanage and discovered that one child seemed to have a severe condition that could have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills if they had adopted her.
Denise says, "Since we are both self-employed, we don't have the insurance to cover those kinds of costs."
So, they turned her down and waited. Then, they got the video of little Olga, who they later named Tait. The experts found nothing on the tape to indicate any problems with Olga.
So the couple got into the next stage of the adoption process -- traveling to Russia to meet the child and go through the government red tape.
"Russian bureaucracy is unbelievable," Ken says.
The Newmans say the Russian authorities ask prospective parents questions about how they feel about taking a child with a disability and what level of disability they can handle.
They were also provided some information on Tait's background. "They gave us some very skimpy information," Denise says. "We know that the birth mother was 23, that it was her third pregnancy, and that Tait was a 34-week preemie."
Now, they report, she shows no adverse effects of having been born prematurely -- in fact she's tall for her age.
And Tait isn't the only child who found a home through the Newmans. Ken says they also were told about another child, a 5-year-old blind girl who had been taught how to manage with her disability in the orphanage but who would probably live out her life in an institution if she wasn't adopted by an American family.
He says they agreed to adopt her if no one else could be found -- and when they got back to the United States, he asked the adoption agency to help find parents for the little girl. He says that a Mormon family with five children of their own has adopted the little blind girl, who he says now "bikes, skies, takes dance classes."
For further information, contact Ken Newman at 111-111-1111
I contacted Ken the same day and he agreed to meet with us. He was so passionate about his adoption he gathered his wife Denise and beautiful daughter Tait and arranged to meet us for lunch. It was during this lunch date we learned about adoption from Russia. Ken walked us thru their journey beginning with the paper chase and ending with their precious daughter. No question was off limits and we felt we had a good handle on what to expect.
When we returned home from that vacation I immediately began my internet search for an International Adoption Agency. After many searches and discussions I contacted an agency called ASA and was provided with a loose leaf binder of information and a video tape which to date I still have not looked at. I also was given the business card of the International Adoption Director. For some reason that I cannot explain our adoption was not to be at that point in our lives so the binder, video and business card were placed in a closet where it sat for 3 more years.
While vacationing in Daytona Beach I came across the following article in the local paper
SUSAN WRIGHT
Staff Writer susan.wright@news-jrnl.com
February 20, 2001; Page 01C
ORMOND BEACH -- Tait Andreyva Newman is one in 650,000, according to her father, Ken Newman.
He beams as he calls her "Little Miss Personality." The elfin 3-year-old with delicate cheek bones and a 100-watt smile lights up as her mother, Denise Newman, brings out a box of toys and mementos.
In seconds, she has pulled out and arranged on the floor a matryoska, the traditional Russian nesting doll hand-painted with purple and blue flowers.
Her older brother, Reid, 9, helps her in the awkwardly gentle way of older brothers.
Like many other adoptive parents, Ken and Denise Newman plan to tell their obviously cherished daughter how special she is because they were able to choose her for their very own -- out of an estimated 650,000 children currently available for adoption in post-Soviet Russia.
They'll also be able to tell her about how they traveled halfway across the world to St. Petersburg, Russia, to pick her out. They have videos of themselves in the waiting room at the orphanage holding a tiny, alert and enchanting 7-month-old Tait on their laps. They'll be able to tell her that she was carefully chosen -- the couple considered three other little Russian girls before deciding on Tait, whom they adopted just over two years ago.
They want everyone to know the blond, blue-eyed gamine has been nothing but a joy since they first saw her in an orphanage they say was one of the best in the former Soviet Union. "The best of the best would bring tears to your eyes," Ken says.
They adopted her through an agency in Arizona, where they lived before moving to Ormond Beach.
The couple is campaigning to make sure more people know that their story of a successful Russian adoption is the norm, not the exception -- and the vast majority of those 650,000 children in need of a family of their own are healthy, mentally and physically.
The Arizona-based agency they used has been in business for 27 years, handled about 3,000 adoptions, and, according to the Newmans, only had 10 cases in which the adoptive parents decided they couldn't keep the adopted child -- a phenomenon known as a disruption.
Tait, who loves her preschool and proudly shows off the latest gymnastics moves she's learned in her twice weekly class, is so clearly healthy and happy she could be a poster child for Russian adoptions.
The Newmans are willing to talk about their experience because they are more than a little tired of hearing the horror stories. They say the media has concentrated on the shock value of a few examples of Americans adopting Russian children with severe emotional and mental problems -- and left a false impression of what happens to most families who turn to the former Soviet Union to adopt.
Television programs and newspapers series have focused public attention on the danger of bring ing home a child who may be permanently unable to relate or bond to others -- children who were so deprived of nurturing and human contact in the orphanage that they are unable to form normal attachments.
Those cases, they contend, are the exception, not the rule.
Only a small percentage of the children from countries formerly part of the Soviet bloc are so severely damaged, they say.
They say they have met many other couples who have adopted children as normal and healthy as Tait, including several in Ormond Beach.
Couples who are thinking about adopting a child have several ways to make sure the child they adopt is a child that will bring them the kind of joy Tait has brought to them, they say.
"This particular orphanage has little, two-minute tapes of the children they'll send you. When you get them, the agency will show them to experts who can tell you if there are any signs the child has any kind of severe problem," Ken says.
They'd already sent experts tapes of other little girls from the orphanage and discovered that one child seemed to have a severe condition that could have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills if they had adopted her.
Denise says, "Since we are both self-employed, we don't have the insurance to cover those kinds of costs."
So, they turned her down and waited. Then, they got the video of little Olga, who they later named Tait. The experts found nothing on the tape to indicate any problems with Olga.
So the couple got into the next stage of the adoption process -- traveling to Russia to meet the child and go through the government red tape.
"Russian bureaucracy is unbelievable," Ken says.
The Newmans say the Russian authorities ask prospective parents questions about how they feel about taking a child with a disability and what level of disability they can handle.
They were also provided some information on Tait's background. "They gave us some very skimpy information," Denise says. "We know that the birth mother was 23, that it was her third pregnancy, and that Tait was a 34-week preemie."
Now, they report, she shows no adverse effects of having been born prematurely -- in fact she's tall for her age.
And Tait isn't the only child who found a home through the Newmans. Ken says they also were told about another child, a 5-year-old blind girl who had been taught how to manage with her disability in the orphanage but who would probably live out her life in an institution if she wasn't adopted by an American family.
He says they agreed to adopt her if no one else could be found -- and when they got back to the United States, he asked the adoption agency to help find parents for the little girl. He says that a Mormon family with five children of their own has adopted the little blind girl, who he says now "bikes, skies, takes dance classes."
For further information, contact Ken Newman at 111-111-1111
I contacted Ken the same day and he agreed to meet with us. He was so passionate about his adoption he gathered his wife Denise and beautiful daughter Tait and arranged to meet us for lunch. It was during this lunch date we learned about adoption from Russia. Ken walked us thru their journey beginning with the paper chase and ending with their precious daughter. No question was off limits and we felt we had a good handle on what to expect.
When we returned home from that vacation I immediately began my internet search for an International Adoption Agency. After many searches and discussions I contacted an agency called ASA and was provided with a loose leaf binder of information and a video tape which to date I still have not looked at. I also was given the business card of the International Adoption Director. For some reason that I cannot explain our adoption was not to be at that point in our lives so the binder, video and business card were placed in a closet where it sat for 3 more years.
Rewind to May 2005
We are the Young's from Long Island, New York. My name is Ann, and the reason for this rewind is to replay our adoption journey in its entirety, including this time the unnecessary heartbreak we as a family endured. As many visitors of our original blog have read ( Young Family Adoption Miracle ) we successfully adopted our daughter Leah from the city of Ust Kamenogorsk in Kazakhstan. However at the time of our adoption a private story was also unfolding and it became painfully clear 6 months after signing a contract with AIP that this agency had questionable and unethical practices.
Since the completion of our adoption many other families who signed on with AIP experienced the same type of devastating emotional pain therefore I feel compelled to document my experience in the hopes that our story will warn others about these types of adoption practices. What you will read in the following days are my opinions,observations,experiences and perceptions of the journey our family experienced adopting our beautiful daughter Leah.
For anyone in the adoption community who knows of our story, was a part of our story, or would like to add their opinion about our story to this blog I invite your comments.
As I begin this blog I come to realize this will be a living blog with a story that is continuing to unfold with a criminal investigation on going in California and a group of people coming together in the process of filing a civil suit to stop AIP and its owners from ever hurting innocent people again.
I pray this blog will help effect change and make the International Adoption journey just a bit easier....
Since the completion of our adoption many other families who signed on with AIP experienced the same type of devastating emotional pain therefore I feel compelled to document my experience in the hopes that our story will warn others about these types of adoption practices. What you will read in the following days are my opinions,observations,experiences and perceptions of the journey our family experienced adopting our beautiful daughter Leah.
For anyone in the adoption community who knows of our story, was a part of our story, or would like to add their opinion about our story to this blog I invite your comments.
As I begin this blog I come to realize this will be a living blog with a story that is continuing to unfold with a criminal investigation on going in California and a group of people coming together in the process of filing a civil suit to stop AIP and its owners from ever hurting innocent people again.
I pray this blog will help effect change and make the International Adoption journey just a bit easier....
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