Adopting more than just a traveling attitude

Susan Janechek

When you think of exotic travels to faraway places, you tend to think

of sunny beaches, cocktails with tiny umbrellas and room service.

Somehow, the old Silk Road in Central Asia suggests thoughts of

exchanging goods or trading silk products, not adopting babies.

Well, that’s where we traveled -- to Kazakhstan, a former Soviet

country -- to build our family, twice!

It all started nearly six years ago, while trying to start a

family naturally. Two surgeries, three failed inseminations and five

failed in-vitro fertilizations later, the option of adoption was

obvious. Why Kazakhstan, everyone asks? Why not is our response. All

children should have a loving family regardless of where they are

from.

There are many waiting, healthy babies as young as 6 months.

The paperwork process for each adoption became like a second job,

taking practically nine months each time.

Another feature about Kazakhstan that appealed to us was that the

program required only one trip and a 14-day orphanage visit, ideal

for gradual bonding and attachment.

Our first trip was in November 2002 for our son, now 3. He was 10

months old, from the Yessik City orphanage where 40 to 50 children

are housed, ages newborn to 4. Yessik City is a small, rural town

located roughly 200 miles from China.

After our 14-day orphanage visit, we went to court, while at the

same time our son was ready to come home with us. He knew where he

would get undivided attention, hugs and kisses, nonstop playtime and

food on demand. More than anything, we wanted to be home, but we had

to make one more stop in Moscow for our son’s visa in order to bring

him into the United States and then an overnight layover in

Amsterdam. This added one more week to our trip and the added stress

of being new parents in foreign countries, hotels and airports, and

the long flight home.

Nineteen hours later, with connections and layovers, and being out

of the country for 24 days, we were finally home. It changed our

lives forever! What a delightful blessing to have a new baby in our

home, so much that we wanted to do it again.

Exactly two years later, in November 2004, we went to Kazakhstan

again. This time, it’s a girl -- 6 1/2 months. She is from an even

smaller, rural village called Karakastek. The orphanage is even

larger and resembles a hospital, clean, yet crowded with about 100

children. They are called “baby houses,” accommodating newborns to

4-year-old children, and all infants are on the third floor.

Our daughter shared a room with 10 other babies, but each has a

crib. When we visited her, we went to a large playroom with toys and

cribs, also known as the parents’ visiting room. While visiting, we

were with two or three other couples at a given time, who were also

visiting their children. We made friends easily halfway around the

world. They were from Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Barcelona, Spain. We

all had one thing in common: our children. We also met a group of

folks from humanitarian aid delivering supplies to the orphanage.

We decided to use the same adoption agency the second time around

because they treated us so well, and we had such an incredible

experience adopting our son. While in Kazakhstan, we stayed in a

fully furnished apartment in a big city, Almaty, which is located

right along the old Silk Road, no less. They supplied us with a cook,

a driver, a translator, a baby sitter, a kitchen full of groceries, a

washing machine, cable television with English channels and a number

of touring activities such as museums, parks, a concert and shopping.

They tried to make us as comfortable as possible, which they did, but

nothing can take the place of being home with two small children.

Fortunately, we did not need to go to Moscow for our daughter’s

visa. The rule changed from two years ago, and we were able to get

her visa at the U.S. Embassy in Almaty. Thirty-two long days later,

we were all finally home.

It was a Merry Christmas indeed in 2004. We are now a complete

family of four and rang in the new year with plenty of good cheer.

* SUSAN JANECHEK is a Costa Mesa resident.