Russia News
Our office received news earlier that the Russian Supreme Court has issued a letter addressing the fate of numerous families caught in a nebulous state following the ban on Russian adoptions to the United States.
“On January 22, 2013, The Russian Supreme Court ruled that families who had been issued court approval to adopt before January 1, 2013 would be able to bring their children home to the United States. This includes families who are currently in their 30 day waiting period after court approval. This is helpful news for the approximately 52 families who are past court approval.
The many hundreds more families and children who are at earlier stages in the adoption process are not addressed by this ruling. The United States State Department has stated that they ‘continue[s] to urge the Russian government to allow U.S. families already in the process of adopting a child from Russia to complete their adoptions so that these children may join permanent, loving families.’”
We will be posting more information as it readily becomes available, but you can keep up with updates yourself here at {www.adoptions.state.gov} as well.
Trip Announcement!
We are happy to announce that later this week our President Snow Wu, along with our Development Specialist, April Wareham, will be traveling to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The purpose of this trip will be to continue developing our existing program in Haiti to better serve our families that are with CAN.
Please be checking back here periodically for updates as they will be keeping notes and a photo journal of their trip. Best wishes to them on their travels!
Read MoreMeet Kim Moore!
For the next couple of weeks we are going to be sharing something special with you called “Staff Spotlight,” a blog mini-series every Wednesday! We are excited to give our families a little glimpse of the staff here at GWCA and CAN so that you can see who we are, and why we love doing just what we do. Every day we come to work and love to connect with our families, but now we are going to show you whose faces are behind every phone call, letter and E-mail received!
Our first staff member that we want to introduce you to is Kim Moore, our China Waiting Child Program Manager! Kim is the kind of co-worker that everyone wants to have and we are positive that our families are in the best hands when working with Kim. Her passion, consistency, and warmth are contagious.
So without further ado… Meet Kim!
Kim posing like many of the pictures we receive from the kids in China.
1. What is your job title and description here at GWCA?
I am the Waiting Child Program Manager. Not only do I oversee our GWCA Waiting Child Program, I work very closely with our Waiting Child Team to help match families with our waiting angels. I have the honor to be able to help educate, guide, and assist families with identifying their forever child. I work with many families in all stages of their adoption journey and it is my goal to ensure that they have a positive relationship with our team, our children, and their adoption journey.
- How long have you been working at Great Wall?
I have been working with GWCA for about 1 year.
- What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love helping the families and children. Just helping 1 child come home to a safe, loving, and stable forever family is the most wonderful experience. I thoroughly enjoy getting to know a family and helping them realize their dream of adoption. Uniting families is important and it is a wonderful experience to see these waiting angels come home.
- What is the most difficult aspect of your job?
The most challenging aspect of this position is trying to provide the best advocacy and outreach for all of our waiting children. There are over 2000 waiting children within China and providing individualized and personal advocacy for each of these children is challenging. I want to be able to help each one of these children find their forever family. The more education I can provide families about adoption, special needs, and the beauty of a specific child is highly important to me. I enjoy the challenge of creating new ideas for advocating for our children and love knowing that families are so eager to help too.
- How have you grown personally from working at GWCA, and with their families?
There are so many ways I have personally grown from working with GWCA and with our wonderful families. Adoption holds a very special place in my heart as I myself was adopted internationally. Although at the time, there was no special needs track, I myself would have been considered a waiting child as well. Several of my family members were also internationally adopted; many of whom also have special needs. Knowing how the power of love and family can change the life of a child inspires my passion to help bring home these waiting children and unite them with their forever family.
Working in this position has shown me how wonderful families are in considering this option for their adoption. There are so many families who may have not ever considered these children and I feel that it is important for me personally to help educate and support families who are considering this track. It has also been a challenge as I want to show families that there are many conditions that are very manageable and is an option that should be explored. I have learned so much from adoptive parents and families, and have been able to share my own experiences and advice coming from an adult adoptee perspective.
Working within this field has brought me closer to the adoption community and has helped in my understanding and feelings of my own adoption as well.
- Why do you love adoption?
I love adoption because I think every child deserves to know the love and support of a family. Children were not meant to grow up and be raised in institutions and I want to help as many children as possible realize the beauty of family. Along with my personal experiences (noted above), I have spent over 5 years professionally working with children and families. Adoption is overall a very positive experience for families and I am thrilled to work within such a supportive community. My background includes working with families through child development stages and major life transitions. All of these experiences have helped me better guide families through the journey of adopting a waiting child.
1. I was adopted internationally from South Korea
2. My “special need” that I would have been labeled with if there was a waiting child program would have been multiple hemangiomas.
3. I am learning the Hangul language and plan to travel to S. Korea for the 1st time since my adoption in September.
4. I have no adopted children, but I have adopted a cat (Niko) and a dog (Cherry).
“I am so happy to hear Kim is today’s Staff Spotlight choice. Kim is so passionate and works extremely hard to bring children home to their forever families. I admire Kim for her dedication to China adoption. Each day, I find myself learning from Kim as she counsels and assists families through their adoption journey.” –Kim’s coworker
Don’t forget to check back next Wednesday to see who will be featured on “Staff Spotlight!”
Read MoreChildren of All Nations Adoption Blog: January 16, 2013
Dear CAN Families,
It is getting chilly…winter is definitely here! Have you ever experienced winter in another country? Do you share winter traditions with your adopted child?
Latvia is a wonderful country, full of traditions! There are also many children in need of a forever family from Latvia, and Children of All Nations has built a great adoption program for these kiddos. Children available in Latvia are usually 9-16 years old and healthy, 6 months -16 years old and part of a sibling group, or children under 9 years old with special needs. The current wait time for a referral depends on your adoption desires, but it is estimated around 6 months once you submit your dossier!
Travel requirements are typically 3 trips, ranging from 2-3 weeks in length each. One amazing thing about adopting from Latvia is that they give families the opportunity to take your child home in between trips! This allows for the bonding process to continue with your child!
To learn more about the children in Latvia and even eligibility requirements, contact me today at 512-323-9595 x3091
Sincerely,
Lizzie Kovach
Adoption Consultant/Outreach and Promotions Manager
Read MoreChildren of All Nations Adoption Blog: January 9, 2013
Happy New Year CAN Families,
CAN wishes everyone a happy and healthy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Today, I wanted to share some great adoption news:
**Adoption Tax Credit Update: we are still waiting for final details, but the bill permanently extends the adoption tax credit, set at $10,000. After being scaled for inflation, it may come close to the 2012 amount of $12,650. Families with incomes under $150,000 will get the full credit, and it will slowly phase out for higher incomes. The American Taxpayer Relief Act is available to read here.
Additionally in 2012, GWCA/CAN has matched 228 children from all over the world with their forever families. We have also had 224 orphaned children come home to their forever families!
If you want to find out more about our adoption program, you can do so here. We want to find homes for even more children in 2013!
Sincerely,
Lizzie Kovach
Adoption Consultant/Outreach and Promotions Manager
Read MoreChildren of All Nations Adoption Blog: December 19, 2012
Happy Holidays CAN Families,
I love helping families at the beginning of their adoption journey. There are many prospective adoptive parents who have done extensive research before calling (which is wonderful!), but it is always good to know current information on international adoption. Sometimes, families have found adoption myths in their research, and I’d like to discuss some of those adoption myths for you:
MYTH #1: There are many siblings available.
–Sometimes families think sibling groups are available for adoption, especially young, healthy siblings. This can happen, but it would be an extremely long wait if you were only open to adopting young, healthy siblings. Many times, countries have siblings available that are different ages, older, or with special needs.
MYTH #2: The waiting child timeline is the same as a non-special needs (healthy) child timeline.
–If you are open to waiting children (which can mean healthy older children, siblings, or younger kiddos with special needs), families could have a shorter wait time. For example, the wait time in Bulgaria for a healthy 2 year old is currently estimated at 4-5 years once you submit your dossier. If you are open to a waiting child, depending on your adoption desires, the wait could be between 1 ½-2 years after you submit your dossier.
MYTH #3: All older children will have attachment and bonding issues.
–It is also a myth to say that all older adopted children will have attachment and bonding issues. I always suggest to families to look into different countries and programs to see the reasons why children are orphaned. Each child’s story is different, and some older children could have recently been orphaned. Institutionalization is definitely something to think about when considering an older child for adoption, but not every child will have suffered from this. You will have background information on your child at time of referral, so this may not even be an issue…but preparation for attachment and bonding is also key in your transition.
MYTH #4: All waiting children have severe special needs.
–No! Not all waiting children have severe special needs. Waiting Child programs can mean healthy, older children and sibling groups as well…sometimes even large sibling groups. Waiting child programs can also include very minor or even minor correctable special needs kiddos. I definitely suggest learning more about the waiting child program in the country you are interested in!
MYTH #5: We are too old to adopt.
–So many families think they are not eligible to adopt after the age of 50. This is not true! Some countries do set an age restriction on the age of the child you can adopt and possibly only allow you to adopt through a waiting child program, but prospective adoptive parents do have adoption options after the age of 50!
If you ever have questions about adoption myths you may have heard, feel free to contact me anytime at Elizabeth@childrenofallnations.com or 512-323-9595 x3091
Sincerely,
Lizzie Kovach
Adoption Consultant/Outreach and Promotions Manager
Read MoreChildren of All Nations Adoption Blog: December 12, 2012
Hello CAN Families,
With the holidays (quickly) approaching, I wanted to share a couple of Christmas traditions some of our countries practice!
The Christmas tree has great importance in the celebration of Christmas in Haiti. TheHaitians cut pine branches to serve as Christmas trees, or they go to the market and get freshly cut trees brought from the mountains just a few days before Christmas. The trees are decorated with lights and bright ornaments. At the base of the Christmas tree they add a big nativity scene which occupies a large part of the living room. The nativity scene depicts the birth of baby Jesus in a cave manger, with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the three wise men, and sculptured stable animals. The realistic touch is given by the hay which is strewn around in the stable. An endearing tradition of Christmas in Haiti is that on Christmas Eve, the children place their cleaned up shoes filled with straw, on the porch or under the Christmas tree for Papa Noel (Santa Claus). Santa Claus removes the hay to fill up the shoes with presents. Christmas day is spent feasting, visiting friends and family and for small children playing with the new toys brought by Papa Noel.
Latvia is also closely associated with the Christmas tree, and some legends say it was in Riga that the first Christmas tree was decorated in front of the House of Blackheads on Town Hall Square in the beginning of the 16th century. Whether or not this is true makes no difference, because the tradition of decorating Christmas trees is alive and well in Latvia. One is erected every year in that legendary spot on the medieval square. Christmas trees in Latvia can be decorated in a variety of ways, but hanging Christmas ornaments made of natural materials like straw is one of the most traditional. The 500th anniversary of the Latvian Christmas tree was celebrated in 2010.
Have you thought about incorporating your child’s roots into the holidays? Do you already do this?
Happy Holidays!
Lizzie Kovach
Adoption Consultant/Outreach and Promotions Manager
Read MoreChildren of All Nations Adoption Blog: December 5, 2012
Happy Wednesday Families,
The holidays are just around the corner, and CAN loves hearing about your family’s holiday stories. Do you remember what your first holiday was like with your little one? Are you anxious to learn about the adoption process and have your first holiday as a complete family?!
One of our newer programs is domestic adoption. I think many families are interested in a domestic adoption, but they might be scared of what that could mean. Will the birth mother want an open adoption? What is an open adoption? What will the birth mother be like? Will the birth mother want the baby back? How long is the wait? CAN is wonderful at assessing the birth mother’s needs and commitment to adoption before matching with an adoptive family. CAN also supports and counsels the birth mother and adoptive family through their entire journey.
Recently, I have been watching a series on domestic adoptions, and I think our families could learn from each adoption story they follow. You can watch an episode of “The Baby Wait” here.
You can also learn more about CAN’s Domestic Program, right here.
Sincerely,
Lizzie Kovach
Adoption Consultant/Outreach and Promotions Manager
Read MoreChildren of All Nations Adoption Blog: November 28, 2012
Hello CAN Families,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I ate way too much, but I did enjoy spending time with my family. Did anyone have new additions or traditions this year?
CAN has some new additions that we are truly excited to share. Every month, we have new webinars for families researching adoption and for those families currently in process! Everyone can benefit from attending and learning just a little more about the adoption world. CAN will highlight specific regions in a webinar every other week, and we will also have webinars on topics like: “Adoption Myths and FAQs” or “Financial Assistance for Adoptions.” We hope to inform and educate families as much as possible throughout their adoption journey!
Have you attended a webinar? What are you waiting for? View our webinar schedule here.
Also, learn how to connect with CAN through Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest right now! There are always exciting posts, updates, and families to interact with!
Sincerely,
Lizzie Kovach
Adoption Consultant/Outreach and Promotions Consultant
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About Post Author
Children of All Nations (CAN), operated by Great Wall China Adoption, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Austin, Texas. Since 1996, Children of All Nations has assisted may international countries in placing more than 9,000 children with forever families. Between the headquarters located in Austin, Texas and our sister offices all over the world,
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