Those who have gone through the adoption process will tell you that it can sometimes get complicated, even with domestic adoptions. But this process can get even more complicated when different nations get involved and also when adopting four children at the same time as well.
But as our Texas readers will see, this was the challenge one Alabama couple was willing to take on when they first made the decision to start their family. Unable to have children of their own, the couple realized that adoption may be their only remaining option. And after meeting a 16-year-old from the Ukraine in the summer of 2013, then later three more Ukrainian children who were all siblings, the couple knew they were ready for a family.
“Something felt very right about them being with us,” explained the 47-year-old adoptive father.
The couple started the adoption process in November by renting an apartment near Independence Square in Kiev. Protests at that time were peaceful and the couple didn’t think much of it. But when those peaceful protests gave way to violent clashes with the police, the couple began to worry about whether the adoptions would go through. Thankfully, government agencies have remained open during these clashes, allowing the couple to take home three of the four children. The couple says the fourth adoption should be completed around March 3.
Although international adoptions from the Ukraine cost roughly the same as a domestic adoption, it’s worth noting that international adoptions are generally more labor intensive because couples must work with lawyers and courts both here in the United States as well as in the Ukraine. But for some couples this is just a small price to pay for completing their family.
Source: Fox News, “Alabama family completes adoption of 4 kids amid Ukraine violence,” The Associated Press, Feb. 25, 2014
