After
five long years of infertility , we decided it was time to pursue our
dreams of having a family in with some new and different avenues. I
began calling both domestic and foreign adoption agencies realizing
that we were in for another waiting period of at least a year or more
but believed that this was our new journey.
After choosing an agency to pursue a Chinese adoption
and submitting all the necessary paperwork we now had about a nine month
wait. One evening, while searching the web, I found an Internet Newsgroup
and immediately began communicating with others proceeding on the same
path as ourselves.
On February 12th upon checking our e-mail there
was a post in the digest that read: "three Kazak baby girls in need
of families, if you are paper ready and willing to travel in two weeks
please respond". Well, I couldn't call the number fast enough! I was
informed that there were others ahead of us but to wait for a call back.
Now all I needed to do was let Dan know, as he was due to arrive home
from a business trip at any moment.
Knowing that my husband erred on the side of caution,
I was unsure of his level of enthusiasm towards this new venture. Miraculously
at 11:00pm that night we were informed that we would be accepted as
one of the adoptive families. We had had no personal contact with anyone
ever experiencing Kazak adoption so we were SLIGHTLY apprehensive.
Once we were in contact with the Harding family
we truly began to believe that this would happen for us. After a week
of collecting documents and many phone calls to Cindy (our angel) we
were informed that the Akim had been replaced and all adoptions were
on hold until we heard if the new Akim was adoption friendly.
We had already received our Authorization to Travel
and it turned into an extremely long emotional two weeks filled with
many prayers and cautious enthusiasm but we were finally rewarded with
a date of departure, on March 5th. On March 13th we departed Philadelphia
for Almaty with 6 pieces of checked baggage, slightly bulging waistlines
and an enormous amount of anxious anticipation.
We stopped in Detroit and then Amsterdam, where
we met another couple going through the same process. We arrived on
Sunday at 2 am local time, where our Kazak facilitator and her assistant,
met us. They took us to our apartment and made arrangements to pick
us up on Monday morning for some paperwork issues and meeting the rest
of the team.
On Sunday, Dan went in search of an Exchange to
get some Tenge' but for reasons we still don't fully understand, were
all closed within the area of our apartment. We existed for the day
on tea, crackers and M & M's which we found quite enjoyable as we adjusted
to the time change and dreamed of our new daughter.
On Monday we were picked up by the driver and
the other couple and taken to an American style supermarket where we
mistakenly placed an order for 2 kilos of cheese (4.4 pounds), which
drew some very curious looks. It took us the whole trip to make a dent
in our order. On March 17th, we arrived in our adoptive city and went
directly to the hotel.
We were taken to see the Deputy Akim. He told
us that he would sign the paper of adoption if after we saw the babies
we still wanted to continue the process. We then were on our way to
the maternity ward. Once inside we were introduced to the Hospital Administrator
and the pediatric Neonatologist who asked us if we would like to see
"the babies".
We are escorted to another connected building
where the nursery is located. The nursery is warm and bright with many
nurses actively caring for all the new mothers and babies. We proceed
down a hall to a bright sunlit room where we see our Isobelle, who seems
perfect in every way and has just been fed. We spent a tearful half
hour with her and were struck by how much the staff and our translator,
were also emotional.
At the end of the too brief half-hour visit we
went back to Administrators office where a lunch was served. Over much
conversation and questions from both sides we realized that these sweet,
kind people would forever live in our hearts. We proceeded back to the
nursery after lunch and spent another half hour with Isobelle and I
had the opportunity to feed my soon to be daughter with the formula
we brought.
We were taken back to the Administrators office
where we presented her with all the donations of baby formula that we
had brought with us and we invited she and her Neonatologist to a "celebration
dinner" that would take place after the papers were signed and the decision
was rendered. We returned to the hotel to await the Akim's decision.
After about an hour we were told that the adoptions would occur. We
were ushered to the Akim's office where he signed the papers with great
flourish and gifts and photo opportunities were exchanged with him.
Isobelle was finally ours and in the morning she would be in our arms
forever.
At the celebration dinner, toasts and food were
flowing as it was a very emotional and heartwarming affair. Many tears
were shed by everyone we realized that we had friends and family in
Kazakhstan. These beautiful, caring people have given us the most precious
gift any one person can give another, the gift of life. They have touched
our lives so indelibly and will live in our hearts forever! Isobelle
will be taught the pride of her culture and maybe someday will be able
to give to them as they have given to her and us.
After much merriment we return to the hotel where
we put on 3 layers of clothing and try to sleep. It's difficult to fall
into a deep sleep as we find ourselves waking with anticipation and
overwhelming joy, rejoicing in the blessing of having a daughter that
will become ours tomorrow morning. Our dreams of a family were going
to come true. The next day, Isobelle and the other couples baby are
brought into the side office at the hospital where they are dressed
and we say our final good-byes. With emotions running high and the tears
flowing we begin our trip to the airport.
Isobelle has begun her first flight towards her
new home and at 6:30 we are back in our apartment in Almaty and begin
the waiting period. After 10 days of practicing parenthood and waiting
for the Passport and exit Visa, our Kazak attorney informed us that
the paperwork had made it to Almaty but the courier couldn't be located.
We decide to forge ahead with the flight to Moscow in the morning believing
that the paperwork would be located within the next day or two. We arrive
in Moscow and learn the documents have been located in Almaty. One of
our Kazak attorney's assistant, would deliver them to us, in Moscow
the following day.
All goes well and smoothly in Moscow and we depart
for Isobelle's new home on the morning of the 31st of March and arrive
in Philadelphia at around 1 a.m.Upon arrival home, we were greeted by
family and extremely proud to introduce Isobelle to her relatives.
Everyone celebrated with us as we gave thanks
for the extraordinary blessing bestowed upon our family. Isobelle’s
smile and laughter continue to bring tears of joy to our eyes and we
are thankful for all the friends we have made along the way.
