Today I contacted my last homestudy agency.  The previous two times I used two other agencies.  Each increased dramatically in price, so I searched for others.  In the homestudy international independent business, you the adopter have every right to find the cheapest price.  Trust me, they all do the same homestudy in the end.

 

The prices of my first homestudy were $1200 then $700 (updated since used them before) to our 2006 adoption which cost $500!  Then today same social worker wants $950.  It has been three years since the last homestudy.  I guess it is valid but I still will check other agencies.  They only do the homestudy.   I am not hiring them for the adoption.

 

Then I checked the prices at Immigration.  WOW, they have gone up since the first adoption which was around $400.  The cost eight years later is $670!  Talk about government inflation.  I work for the government.  The only thing that has changed is the cost, same paperwork- LOL!  Crazy!

 

The INS price for fingerprints is $80 per adult.  (which has risen).  So total for fingerprints and one hour drive to INS= 200.00

 

We have to get a passport for Oksana.  I am guessing it is $140.

 

So total costs to begin are about $2000, a bit above our US tax rebate, but not a lot so we are on target so far.  When I pay the first dollar towards the adoption, then you will know we are doing it...

 

We will see...

Last week our search for Nikolai's bio family was successful to some extent.  The Aunt was located in a little town outside of Donetsk.  There is a grandmother but she could not be located on the day of the search.  We also were informed of two brothers who were adopted to a spanish family, about three years ago.  Unfortunately, the bio mom is deceased tragically at a young age.  We had some questions answered and are glad for the closure.  I posted some pictures here http://thecabbagepatchkids.blogspot.com/ under May 15.

 

My big regret is that we did not do the searches for both boys earlier.  Perhaps then we might have learned a little more from both of the bio mom's.   A good friend told me something that I think is very true.  This is an important part of their lives whether they remember or not.  This is their history and important for them to know when they are ready.  I am going to search for the brothers at some point.  I would love to see what they look like and if they are as cute as Nik  

 

If anyone can assist on the Spanish adoption boards I would be grateful!

 

Leanna~

 

 

 

 

We had hired a man named Gene to search for the biological families of Nik and Vitaly.  He drove 1600 miles in four days from Kramatorsk to Ternopil and back this week. 

 

Today, I went to check my email and my heart stopped.  There were seven messages from him.  Unopened in front of me were five emails with attachments and the words:  Pictures.

 

Pictures!

 

My hands began to tremble and tears welled in my eyes, as I opened an email that read “report” and began to devour the information. 

 

It was all about the history of Vitaly’s biological heritage and the people that surrounded it.  I began to cry.  Tears ran down my face as I absorbed more and more information of the family:  A great grandmother, a grandfather, a grandmother, a half sister and a half brother, an Aunt, a mother.

 

There were pictures of a little town outside of Ternopil, where they live with a beautiful church.  Pictures of a little girl with eyes of amber just like Vitaly’s.  Pictures of a great-grandmother and her home, who was very excited to learn of Vitaly and so happy we had contacted them.  There were many more pictures of other family members. 

 

Some of the information is sad.  To protect my son I will not disclose the full story, but I will tell you unfortunately his mother is deceased at a very young age.  I will tell you that the great-grandmother and his sister are filled with joy that we contacted them.  I can’t wait to tell them more about him!  I am so excited we did this search.  I encourage every family to do this for your child.  It is invaluable.  It finally opens a door that hid so many mysteries. 

 

I did download some pictures here  http://thecabbagepatchkids.blogspot.com/

 

If you want more information about the wonderful man that did our search please email me at boomerseyler@yahoo.com

 

Leanna~