International Footsteps Newsletter

A Newsletter from Families Thru International Adoption, Inc.

October 2001
Volume 11 - Number 3

What's Inside:

Reunion
Recent Tragedies
Ohio News
Adoption Tax Credit
New Programs

Family Letter
Newest Little Footsteps
Our Little Miracles
Program Updates
Family Home Pages

Reunion 2001

We celebrated our annual Celebration of Children Reunion in Cincinnati, Ohio on the weekend of August 18th and 19th, 2001. Although weather conditions looked as if they may interfere with our reunion, we once again were blessed with a great celebration and wonderful fellowship. Somewhere between 550 and 600 people attended this years reunion at Winton Woods Park on Saturday, the 18th. On Sunday the 19th we went to Parky's Farm where the children had the opportunity to participate in a number of activities including a hayride, pony rides, play barn, milking a goat, and petting zoo. Needless to say, the children who attended Parky's Farm had a great time.

We were honored to have either officials or representatives from China, Russia and Guatemala. It is so important for officials to see our families celebrate their adoptions and know how well the children are doing.

It is also very important for all of us at FTIA to see you and the children. It is a passion and a mission for all of us here at FTIA to serve children. We work day in and day out on behalf of the children and adoptive parents without the joy of getting to see most of you except at the Reunions.

Next years reunion has been scheduled for the weekend of Aug. 17th and 18th in Cincinnati, Ohio. We are looking into the having our main event on Saturday, Aug.17th, at Parky's Farm because of all the incredible opportunities and activities for children with the follow-up activity at Winton Woods on Sunday, Aug. 18th. Please mark your calendars now. We will providing more information in the Spring on our web site and will be sending out registrations in May of next year.

A special thanks to all of the volunteers for this years Reunion. Please note that many, many of you volunteered the day of the Reunion to help for which we are very grateful, but I thought special recognition should go to the Reunion Committee who spent hours and hours over several months before the reunion putting it all together.

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Recent Tragedies

Like all civilized human beings regardless of race or religion, we express our sympathy to everyone personally touched by these unspeakable acts and we share in the grief being felt by all peoples of the world. Our hearts are especially crushed by all the children affected through the loss of a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or other relative in addition to the children who actually lost their lives. Again we see that children who are powerless have become the victims of abuse by adults.

Some of you have called to inquire about the status of international adoptions and we are pleased to report that everything continues as before. We have had families to travel to all of the countries since the tragedy to complete their adoptions and return home. We hope that anyone considering international adoption will not let the tragedies stop them from pursuing their goal of adoption because there will always be children in need of loving and permanent homes.

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Ohio News

Fall Adoptive Parenting class is scheduled for Thursday nights, Oct. 9 through Nov. 13 from 7-9 P.M. at Kettering Medical Center in Dayton. For more information contact Precious Beginnings Department at Kettering Hospital at (937) 296-7200 or call Sally Wold at (937) 299-2110.

RESOLVE of Ohio is hosting their annual Family Building Conference Saturday, October 6, 2001 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Columbus Marriott Northwest in Dublin. This year's theme, "It's A Jungle Out There -- Surviving Infertility" will focus on the emotional aspects of infertility, as well as offering timely updates about medical treatments and adoption information. For more information, call the RESOLVE of Ohio Help line at 1-800-414-6446, Special Event mailbox #6 or go to their web site at: www.resolveofohio.org

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Tax Credit

As many of you know, the Adoption Tax Credit, which was part of PL-107-16, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 will become effective January 1, 2002. The adoption credit of $10,000 can be taken when preparing tax returns for the year in which the adoption was finalized. We often receive questions about expenses incurred in the calendar year prior the adoption is finalized because for international adoptions the adoption often takes place in more than one calendar year. It is our understanding that all qualifying expenses may be taken as a credit even if incurred in the year prior to when the adoption was finalized. For children returning to the United States on an IR-3 visa, the adoption should be considered finalized when you and your child enter the United States. For children returning on an IR-4 visa, there is some disagreement but many would indicate that you must have some state court action recognizing/registering the foreign adoption for under state domestic law for the adoption to be "finalized" under the Adoption Tax Credit. Please note that we are not providing any legal advice and suggest you contact your own legal adviser or financial consultant to ensure your understanding and application of the Adoption Tax Credit.

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New Programs

We have been working the past year on developing new programs in Azerbaijan, India and Brazil. We are now ready to begin accepting a limited number of applications for Azerbaijan and Brazil and expect to be ready to accept India applications within the next sixty days. Although we are working with people experienced in adoption in each country, the programs are still new and we will not accept applications without parents signing an additional statement that acknowledges their understanding that the program is new. There may be unexpected events, unexpected delays or requirements that may be changed during the adoption process. It is always our goal to provide clear guidance and instructions for our adopting parents for each program and we would soon expect to provide the same assistance through Azerbaijan, Brazil and India. But for the first several adoptions, we do expect a few bumps along the way and are looking for type B personalities to begin these programs.

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Family Letter

Dear FTIA,

I have enclosed my 6-month Home Study and photographs of my little angel, Angelica. It's funny to think that we have only been together for such a short time. I can't imagine my life without Angelica as she truly has made my life complete. Angelica is an amazing child. Extremely loving and a true leader! She has taken over the daycare center she attends while Mommy is at work. Every day when I come to pick her up I hear new stories. The other day she told me she read to the other babies! She loves books and looking at the pictures. She also actively participates in play games (if you're happy and you know it clap your hands… stomp your feet… shout hooray!), loves to dance and sings "la, la, la…"

My family and friends all adore her… not to mention her Mom! During our last visit to her pediatrician a few weeks ago, I was told that she is developing quite nicely and has met the "American growth chart" in her progress!

Angelica and I had the opportunity to visit with Megan, Sean and Lilly a few times and also saw Mark and Christine while they were in New York. I am planning a vacation to visit my best friend and travel companion who lives in Indiana this fall. I have already spoken to Catherine and Mark about planning a get-together with all from my travel group that live in the area.

I also want to say I was very glad to have the opportunity to meet you personally when you were in New York. I know I said this when we met but again thank you to your entire staff for bringing Angelica and I together and making my international adoption experience a wonderful one.

Please let me know if there is anything else I need to provide you.

Sincerely,

Judy

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Program Updates

China by Tina Ji

It seems that so much has happened since the last update. Keith and I took a trip to China in July. We got to visit with the officials at the CCAA when we were in Beijing. It was very encouraging to see that the officials at the CCAA were all working so hard on our families' behalf. Due to the significant increase in the number of adopting families, the wait for a referral has been getting longer and longer. We felt that the CCAA did share our concern on the fact that the wait keeps getting longer and they were trying to figure out a good way to deal with it.

Now the wait for a referral is now around 12 months. Travel still takes about 6-8 weeks after the time we submit the acceptances to the CCAA. To find out updates on new referrals, please go to our China Referral Update under "Hot News" on our web site. We post updates every time we receive new referrals, which typically runs about every 4-5 weeks.

On June 28, the CCAA posted on their web site clarifications on some existing policies and some new policies on their web site under "Questions and Answers Concerning Policies and Procedure". For details, you may go to the China Updates under "Hot News" on our web site. Most of the new policies have been in place since August 1, but up to this point, the referrals still come in a chronological order. We haven't seen a difference in time frame between married couples and single parents, or between families either with no children or no more than two children and families with three or four children.

On August 15, 2001, the CCAA posted on their web site that a new director had been appointed and Mr. Guo, the director of the CCAA for the past five years was going to retire. We do not expect this personnel change will lead to any policy change at the CCAA. Mr. Guo has done a wonderful job to standardize the process and make it fair for everybody. It is sad to see him leave, but we hope and expect that things will stay the same with the adoption process.

The Adoption Unit at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou has been making some reforms to make the visa application procedure simpler for the families. Earlier, the Consulate created an Adoption Document Checklist for families to fill out prior to the appointment and request all the paperwork to be submitted in the same order. Effective October 15, only the agency coordinator will go to the Consulate on the appointment date to submit the documents and the families only need to go the following day to take the oath and pick up their children's visas.

It is also worth mentioning that twelve of our families left for China on September 14 and 15. They received their babies, completed all the adoption paperwork and are now on their way home. We were touched by these parents' great courage and love to their children. During their trip in China, the Chinese officials also provided tremendous support and extra assistance to keep the families on schedule.

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Guatemala by Lisa

We have had about 12 families travel to and return from Guatemala in the past couple of weeks so we are thrilled for these families. Those of you who attended the Reunion in August had the opportunity to meet three attorneys we began working with in March of this year. We are grateful to report that the average time for travel after the Mandato is submitted to Guatemala accepting your referral, is 4-5 months. While this news is fantastic for our Guatemala adopting parents whose files are with one of these three attorneys, it is terribly frustrating news for those of you whose cases are with Guillermo and who have met problem after problem. Most of our families with Guillermo are proceeding in the original time estimate of 4 to 7 or 8 months from Mandato to travel. However, there are about a dozen cases, meaning a dozen adopting parents and children who have encountered unbelievable delays and difficulties and who are understandably very, very disappointed and frustrated. Besides sharing the frustration of our adoptive parents who have been delayed, we have always been and remain pro-active for each child and adopting parent to push things along as much as possible. As I write this, Chris is once again in Guatemala working on all adoptions but specifically adoptions that have experienced significant delay. This is Chris' third trip to Guatemala this year, in addition to my trip and the trip of our Executive Director. Our adoption work is very personal to us and it is with excitement that we see most families return within our original time estimates but great empathy for those cases that have taken longer than usual.

The INS representative who has been in charge of adoptions for the past couple of years at the US Embassy has left and the new representative, Arturo Gutierrez has now been appointed. As of the date of this writing, to our knowledge, he has not yet assumed all of his responsibilities. We look forward to a positive working relationship with Mr. Gutierrez.

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Russia by Keith

I am writing the Russia Update because I just recently returned from my first trip to Rostov. Although Moscow is metropolitan and a world class city, it is very apparent that once you leave Moscow that the rest of Russia is broken down as a result of a Communist system. The roads and infrastructure are in miserable conditions as well as many of the buildings. However, the people I met were great and there are signs of economic life with several building projects going on in Rostov.

I had the opportunity to visit two orphanages, one which was very clean and very nice, not only from a facility standpoint but from the management and operations of how they took care of the children. The other orphanage I visited was not in good condition but the good news was that it was under renovation. Most of the children had been moved to another orphanage during the renovation. The orphanage hopefully will be completely renovated within six months.

One of the things that struck me was that each Orphanage Director was the absolute authority at the orphanage. At the first orphanage I saw the Director allow and encourage interaction and touching with the children, the staff was very pleasant with many smiles and many of the cribs had different types of mobiles hanging over them. At this orphanage I was allowed to pick up the children and play with them. At the second orphanage I visited it had a very sterile environment and when I went over and started to pick up a child I was told by the Orphanage Director not to pick him up. In fact, the Orphanage Director had one of her assistants wash the arm of the little boy I had started to pick up. This Orphanage Director is doing what she thinks is the best for the children. She is very concerned for their health and doesn't want to see any of the children get sick from germs brought into the orphanage. While it is wonderful that this Orphanage Director is concerned about the children's physical health, it appears to me that it is at a cost to the children's emotional and physical development. What this means to me is that the children coming from this orphanage will probably have a more pronounced developmental delay and may take longer to develop emotional bonding with the adoptive parents. These kind of differences are the realities of when different Orphanage Directors run their orphanages as they believe best. Please don't be alarmed because we have placed children from both orphanages who are doing very well.

Most of our families have stayed at Serguei's home while in Rostov and have enjoyed the home cooking of Natasha and the camaraderie of other adopting families who are often there at the same time. A few families have questioned about staying in a hotel and about paying $220 per night to stay at Serguei's house, which includes three meals and transportation within the city of Rostov. To compare Serguei's house with a hotel, I stayed at Rostov's finest hotel during my visit. The room was $140 per night plus 25% tax and only included a breakfast. The breakfast was strictly Russian so other than bread there was not much I could eat from this breakfast. The hotel provided no transportation and there are no "licensed" taxi services, everything is negotiated on a per ride basis. I didn't dare try another meal at the hotel because it would have been expensive and in my opinion inedible, plus there would have been a 25% tax. The hotel room was sparse, not very clean and there was no English television. Compare this to Serguei's where there are three great meals a day prepared by Natasha, satellite TV, VCR with American movies, a small library and very clean and comfortable rooms. The rooms at Serguei's are a moderate size and the two rooms upstairs have to be accessed through a combination stairs/ladder which is manageable. However, it is my absolute conclusion that staying at Serguei's is the only way to go for adopting families not only from a cost and convenience perspective but also from a safety perspective. I would not feel comfortable with our families staying in the hotel for 15 or 20 days by themselves.

The hotel our families are currently staying in Moscow, the Mezhdunarodnaya Hotel (unless it is booked and unavailable) is excellent. It has a large atrium and has plenty of room to walk within the facility. In addition, it has several excellent restaurants, a small grocery, a great fitness center and business center. While not inexpensive, nothing in Moscow is cheap. In addition, there is 25% tax on everything. Especially in the long winter of Moscow I think it will be good for our families to be in facility that offers so much without having to wonder outside. While in Moscow, Serguei took me on a long walk and tour of the city and it is beautiful. I will conclude by saying that I am very pleased with our Russian program, our Russian staff and we are working to improve more aspects in the very near future.

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Vietnam by Megan

A substantial change in the Vietnam program has occurred in the last few weeks. As many families are aware, the Vietnamese government is now requiring that all families adopting from Vietnam must travel twice to the province. The purpose of the first trip is for a family to submit the dossier in person to the Department of Justice in the province. This trip will take place approximately 2-4 weeks after the family accepts the referral of a child. The duration of the trip to Vietnam will be about 5 days and families will have the opportunity to visit the child in the orphanage. After returning home, we expect that it will be approximately 2-5 months later that the province will grant permission for the family to travel again. The amount of time between the first and second trip will vary from case to case and from province to province. We will give you the best estimation for the second trip, but families must be flexible! The second trip will be about 2 weeks in duration and the finalization of the adoption, along with the US immigration procedures will be completed. To the best of our knowledge, all provinces in Vietnam are currently requiring that families travel twice. It is possible for married couples that only one parent travel on one or both of the trips. Both parents are certainly welcome and encouraged to go on both of the trips though. This new requirement is understandably more taxing on single parents, as it is necessary for the parent to travel on both trips. The Vietnam cost page on our web site has been updated to reflect the addition of another trip to Vietnam.

Families can expect the wait for a referral to remain the same as it was prior to the two trip requirement. It is 4-8 months after being added to the waiting list. Those requesting a girl can expect to wait approximately 8 months. Those open to either gender or requesting a boy can expect to wait approximately 4 months or sometimes even less time than that.

In the midst of the transition to a two trip program, rumors continue to circulate about Vietnam closing its doors to adoption completely. Through our facilitators, we have found that this is not true at this time. We have had families travel to Vietnam to adopt children and submit dossiers very recently and are fully expecting more families to travel in the immediate future. This is a very persistent rumor and seems to gain momentum periodically. Please know that we are not discounting the possibility that Vietnam certainly has the ability and authority to cease adoptions at anytime. However, at this time, this is not the case. Because we work with two facilitators that are very well established in the realm of Vietnamese adoptions, we feel confident we have the most current and accurate information available. We will continue to monitor the situation and verify or discount any rumors on our web site under "Hot News."

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China
August 2001
Hubei Province

Abas, Andrew & Cynthia
Loveland, OH
Allison

Amrine, Janice
Leipsic, OH
Courtney

Breeze, Jeffrey & Brooke
Union, KY
Juliana

Brodbeck, Matthew & Kimberly
Cincinnati, OH
Abigail & Allison

Conover, Steven & Victoria
Centerville, OH
Grace

Fink, Donald & Kelli
Evansville, IN
Korissa

Grossi, Kevin & Michele
West Pittston, PA
Bayli

Kelley, Melanie
Indianapolis, IN
Stacia

Mlinar, Paul & Claudia
Wadesville, IN
Olivia

Murphy, Douglas & Lucia
Sidney, OH
Alycia

Ulrich, Keith & Kimberly
Newburgh, IN
Kira

Chongqing

Price, Michael & Kirsten
Waynesville, OH
Emily

July 2001

Hunan Province

Fortener, Charles & Anne
Centerville, OH
Lauren

Kauffman, Larry & Chris
Indianapolis, IN
Braden

Ottinger, David & Charlotte
Indianapolis, IN
Sarah

July 2001

Inner Mongolia

Turner, Kevin & Michele
Indianapolis, IN
Julia

July 2001

Shaanxi Province

Barrett, Sean & Patricia
Beavercreek, OH
Bentley

Hoffman, Dennis & Julie
Heller
Mt. Vernon, IL
Ellen

Lau, James & Patricia
Indianapolis, IN
Jamie

Little, John & Julie
Fishers, IN
Jacie

Melliff, David & Mary
Evansville, IN
Lyndsey

Pecan, Jeffrey & Valerie
Massapequa, NY
Lynn

Penman, Steven & Cheryl
Batesville, IN
Francelia

Pratt, Cynthia
Indianapolis, IN
Molly

Sosbe, Kevin & Susan
Lebanon, IN
Megan

Wininger, Randy & Vicki
Shoals, IN
Calli

Wolpert, Rita
Decatur, IN
Lillian

June 2001

Guangdong Province

Barthel, Anthony & Donna
Mt. Vernon, IN
Lily

Fulkerson-Bird, Paul & Loretta
Indianapolis, IN
Samantha

Sourwine, James & Diane
Carmel, IN
Jana

Thompson, Shane & Wilkinson, Kelly
Indianapolis, IN
Lily

Tibbs, Deborah
Greenwood, IN
Abigail

Wilhelm, Beecher & Josena
Terre Haute, IN
Jasmine

Winston, Rudolph & Cynthia
West Hempstead, NY
Ciana

June 2001

Hunan Province

DeSalvo, Scott & Sarah
Indianapoils, IN
Lily

Santucci, Albert & Lewis, Deborah
Indianapolis, IN
Sarah

Wright, Matthew & Nancy
Indianapolis, IN
Mary Grace

June 2001

Zhejiang Province

Amlung, Thomas & Pamela
Cincinnati, OH
Grace

Burk, Rhonda & Steven
Reynoldsburg, OH
Liana

Fogelson, Alex & Kimberly
Leesburg, VA
Allan

Kao, Chia-Cheng & Laura
Bloomington, IN
Adenine

Silver, Mitchell & Sherri
Carmel, IN
Lin

Taub, Steven & Deborah
Lafayette, IN
Abigail

June 2001

Hubei Province

Carter, Cheryl
Columbus, OH
Eleanor

Cetorelli, John & Helaine
Pittsburgh, PA
Jessica

Clemmons, Christopher & Lisa
Cleves, OH
Kaitlyn

Flanagan, Bruce & Jennie
Hermon, NY
Jada

Kuenzli, Stephen & Gwen
Newburgh, IN
Grace

Mogg, Duane & Amanda
Kenmore, WA
Joy

Mulzer, Jeffrey & Jennifer
Newburgh, IN
Hannah

Shemano, David & Wendy
Yellow Springs, OH
Juno

Watkins, Anthony & Jolene
Indianapolis, IN
Helen

Welz, Brent & Debra
Newburgh, IN
Allison

Guatemala

Bauer, Barry & Judy
Sioux Falls, SD
Matthew

Detwiler, Jay & Tula
Marion, OH
James

Doss, Robert & Rebecca
Covington, IN
Alyssa

Fluharty, Jeff & Janette
Avon, IN
Grace

Gabbard, Robin & Andrea
Aurora, IN
Samuel

Grimes, Darin & Rebecca
Jeffersonville, IN
Samuel

Stratton, Karin
Indianapolis, IN
Elisa

Taillon, Phil & Michelle
Hammond, IN
Nathaniel

Teter, Kristin
Martinsville, IN
Joshua

Russia

Rostov

Bardach, Thomas & Kimberly
Indianapolis, IN
Isabellah & Nash

Griffin, Chad & Kathy
Hawesville, KY
Owen & Grant

Hill, Jeffrey Valerie
Mason, OH
Joshua

Kapp, Michael & Susan
McCordsville, IN
Janell & Sophia

Kidd, Tony & Dana
Cincinnati, OH
Benjamin

Wampler, Brian & Jeanna
Indianapolis, IN
Brent

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Scroggins, Scott & Corinna
Greenfield, IN
Emma & Lucas

Vietnam

Da Nang Province

Gosnell, Sandy & Travis
Lancing, TN
Hannah

Dong Nai Province

Miller, Gary & Jean
Indianapolis, IN
Jerry & Benjamin

Soc Trang Province

Cornelius, John & Linda
Fayetteville, NC
Ian

Tay Ninh Province

Rogers, Paul & Rebecca
Bloomington, IN
Benjamin

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Family Home Pages

In the past, we have asked a couple of times to have families provide us the web address of their home pages so that we can create mutual links between FTIA's home page and your individual home pages. We ask this because, although we receive many compliments for our web site, most prospective adoptive parents are touched and motivated by your individual adoption stories. We strive to serve children with excellence by helping every prospective adoptive parent the best we can. Once the decision is made, we hope and believe we do a very good job but it is your stories that make the reality of international adoption real as people consider international adoption. If you have a home page which contains information about your adoption story, would you please email us (adopt@ftia.org) your web site along with a statement giving us permission to create a link. Thank you.

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