Daryl and Becky Drummond
Eureka, CA
adoption finished in February 2002

   We highly recommend Alaska International Adoption Agency. Our experience with them was better than we imagined. AIA agency will complete your adoption as fast and efficiently as it can be done. Olga, the Russian Director is organized and stays on top of all the changes. The paper work can at first seem stressful and overwhelming. Olga makes it much easier by following up and proofing your paperwork. The chat group she hosts on Thursday nights is a wonderful support group for the families adopting. The agency employees in Russia take their jobs very seriously and were not only gracious and caring but very efficient. Their relationship with the orphanages was obviously very good and they are well respected as an agency. You can trust that there are no hidden costs and they stand behind what they say. Because of her close relationships with the employees in Russia, she is able to give you current information. Olga gave us updated measurements several times without us even asking for them. We used a different agency for our 1st adoption and AIA agency went above and beyond our expectations. While we were in Russia we met other families who were comparing agencies and many of them said they wished they had used Alaska. Their agency constantly had hidden costs and took four days to process paperwork in Moscow. Alaska International only needs one evening and a full day to process paperwork in Moscow. Their employee in Moscow is also terrific and he was able to get paperwork completed for us because of his persistence when other agencies weren't able to get it done. Everything went as scheduled and we had no problems.

   We started our adoption process in August 2001 and received a court date Feb 1, 2002. Our preference was to adopt a 2-4 year old boy. We also have a 6 year old son who was adopted from Russia. Soon after we started the process we received our referral of precious Anton who turned 3 years old on February 23, 2002. Our home study agency took almost 3 months to complete the home study and that is the only reason it took until November for us to make our first trip. Olga wanted us to travel in September but unfortunately it wasn't possible. Anton is such a delightful little boy. Friends and family say they can't believe he hasn't been in America all of his life. He is a happy, healthy, kind, loveable and funny boy who loves to play the piano and sing. Within a week of being home he says I love you, bye-bye, eye, nose, teeth, mouth, ear, yum yum, and doggie. We will be forever grateful to AIA agency for completing our adoption. You will not regret using them. All the best to you while on your adoption journey and always.

Daryl and Becki Drummond,
proud parents of 2 great Russian kids - Aleks and Anton

Mark and Jenny Uhl
Winston - Salem, NC
adoption finished in May 2001

   We began our adoption experience in November of 1999. We first considered domestic adoption. We did our homestudy and found an agency to work with. We took our time putting our "profile" together and getting all the paperwork done. Everything seemed to be going just fine. It seemed to be a little slow, but still we felt good about our decision. However:things took a drastic turn in December of 2000. Some friends of ours came to visit with a new surprise:a little boy they had just adopted from the Ukraine! They had been home only one month. It was amazing! Everyone looked so happy:including the new little one. After our visit we called a friend from our hometown who had also adopted internationally. She very enthusiastically told her "story". We noticed that her story was not only about how excited she was with her daughter but also the experience she had while going through the adoption process. She told us that she would recommend her agency without one ounce of hesitation. She gave us Olga Byrnes name and email address. We emailed Olga with a few inquiry questions and boy did that one email change our life! Within a week, we had a photograph of our daughter. We switched gears, called our domestic agency and went "inactive". We also were able to put an entire dossier together within one month. We traveled to Russia in early May. Neither of us will ever forget the first meeting with our little girl. No one could adequately describe such a meeting.

   We had not one worry while traveling. Olga had told us every single thing that would happen. Natalia, Sergei, Irina, and their families made us feel as though we were their family. They celebrated the beginning of our family as if it was the happiest day of their lives too! We both are truly amazed when we remember everything AIA and Olga did for us. If we emailed Olga she emailed us within one or two hours with a reply. We never once wondered "what was going on". She kept us updated on every little change. We grew impatient at times:but who doesn't. It only took us 5 months to find AIA and bring home our daughter.

   We love to tell the story of how our family began. It is a very special story. Sure:other people who use different agencies have very happy stories too. We are just grateful that we had Olga and the entire AIA team working to make our family possible.

Paul and Marti
Sunland, California
adoption finished in August 5, 2002

    This testimonial is oriented towards those who might consider adopting older children. We're now home with our new children Ylena (12) and Piotr (15). The court in Magadan Russia approved the adoption on Aug. 5th, 2002.

    First, it's important to say that AIA staff are all seasoned veterans of the Russian adoption process. They are organized and incredibly efficient. At home, Magadan and Moscow Natasha, Zoya and Andrei really went the proverbial extra mile, not only to make sure everything went smoothly, but that we enjoyed ourselves as much as we could (and we did). During our time in Russia, I've never received better service anywhere at any time (I consider them my friends now, so treat them well.). Don't forget that when you're going through the process, that it may be all confusion to you, but it's old-hat to them. All of our anxieties turned out to be of no consequence. We were relaxed and had a great time.

    As you might imagine, the chance of older children being adopted from a Russian orphanage is next to none. However for the life of me, I don't understand how anyone passed up adopting Petya and Lena. They're as friendly, alert, intelligent, helpful, good humored and playful as anyone could hope for. You may have read about "Attachment Disorders" and other formidable and discouraging emotional viruses that older orphans supposedly catch. Well, children are not usually 'orderly' anyway. Disorder is part of the package with kids. I can now assure you that when adopting an older child you are not adopting a "Disorder", you're adopting a human being just like you. Who needs love and affection, just like you, but may or may not be accustomed, or know how, or simply be out of practice. Our two weren't accustomed to any sort of parental affection. Although Lena took to hugging her mom right away, she had not had any adult male in her life and it took a while for her to figure out what to do with me. Now she enjoys the same horse-play and hugs that my 'natural' daughter receives. Peter on the other hand, had little need for physical contact, and though he tolerated it, you could tell he didn't like it. He is however at the age where most boys wean off that sort of thing, so it's not unusual. He expresses his affection by being a big brother to his sisters, being helpful to his parents and through dry humored, good natured jokes. He's quick, funny and an absolute delight to have around. Lately, I have noticed that he welcomes a pat on the back and he's initiated physical contact as well.

    My personal experience with Russian kids (I've met quite a few) is that they are livelier and more energetic than their MTV/DVD/Video game counter parts. So don't expect some docile little thing ready to be molded. These guys can be real characters. When I saw my daughter on the video, she was doe-eyed, sweet and hopeful. Underneath all that is a tough little survivor who takes it off no one and fears nothing (including offering her opinion). She responds readily to clear direction, admiration, respect and love. I suspect that many of the upsets expressed by some parents who've adopted are due to the difference in experience between Americans and Russians, and the children simply not knowing what the American parents consider important. For instance, one of my son's jobs is to mow the lawn. He's quite eager to do it, but they just don't have many lawns in the Russian Far East, So, the purpose and method needed to be explained. Another, is that they didn't have toilet seats in the orphanage. It makes for some rather loud comments first thing in the morning. Also, life for children in America is a bit more restrictive, not less. Andrei, who had spent time in America as a boy, was very helpful in getting across to the kids that in America "consequences are inevitable" as he puts it. If you're trying to avoid trouble in your life, I recommend house plants, not kids, adopted or otherwise. However if you've had the guts to hack your way to a stable marriage, a stable livelihood and even a stable family, you probably have the guts to take on and guide an older child. It's been only a month since we sat in the court in Magadan and our adoption was granted. We've been through so much and become such a family, it seems like a year. In fact, I have to remind myself that my kids still don't speak English. We communicate so well I simply don't notice. It's strange but true. I think having my daughter Steffany there to show them the ropes, made a huge difference.

    I can't believe how much better our lives are since we brought these kids home. It's three times the kids and ten times the fun. I dare anyone out there to have one meal with us and walk away not wanting to adopt their own two. If you're considering adopting and older child, don't let a bunch of "experts" scare you. With millions to pick from it's not like there's a shortage.

    If there is anything we can do to help please write us at
clack45@hotmail.com

Maryanne Masterson
Maryanne.Masterson@analog.com
Adoption completed April 21 2002

    My adoption journey began some years ago when I first considered becoming a adoptive parent. I'd always known that I wanted to be a mom, and it seemed like there were kids in the world who needed one - maybe I would do. By early 2001 I'd overcome my native inertia and fears, and attended an informational meeting at an agency local to my Massachusetts home. I signed up that evening.

    What resulted unfortunately were many months of frustration. This agency, well known in the adoption world, likes to control every aspect of the adoption. I was often made to feel like I was doing something wrong by wanting to have some input into the referral. My requests seemed pretty reasonable for such an important decision as adoption: two kids, reasonably healthy, no major development delays, under age 4. The agency discouraged me from adopting two, and when I insisted, said that they would place only biological siblings. They would not consider placing two unrelated children who knew each other from the orphanage, but would place bio sibs even if those kids had never met! This makes sense?

    Another frustrating aspect was the lack of communication with the agency. It would usually be days or weeks before calls were returned. Often the answers were very vague "Well, your paperwork is with our Russian staff. We have no way of knowing how soon you might receive a referral." Or "Siblings are difficult to find, why don't you consider this special needs child we're trying to place?"

    I finally reached a breaking point by the end of September when I still did not have a referral. I researched other agencies through the websites for Russian adoption, eeadopt.org and frua.org. Every agency seemed to have at least some negative comments - except for AIA. Again and again I read of people pleased with their children and pleased with the service they received from AIA. So despite the fact that I would be starting over, and probably need to re-do much of the giant stack of paperwork, and lose the money invested with the other agency (which of course they asked for right upfront!) I sent the online application to AIA.

    How different things were to be was proved just 20 minutes later when Olga phoned! We spoke for about an hour. She reassured me that of course she could place two healthy kids under age 4 - there were plenty of children, siblings and unrelated, who needed a home. She asked me to send her the dossier I had prepared for the first agency and she'd get started right away. Well just a couple of weeks later, I received some information from Olga about two little ones who met all my wishes. Throughout the entire process I never waited more than one day to receive a reply from Olga to my calls or emails.

    My first trip was delayed when the original agency would not release the home study it had prepared, but Olga got me through this crisis. I found myself most of the way around the world in Khabarovsk and Komsomlsk in January 2002 to meet and fall in love with two obviously happy, active, intelligent, healthy toddlers, Victor age 2.5 and Alena almost 2. I then returned home to sweat out the assignment of a court date through the agency re-accreditation process. The court date was finally assigned in April and we came home after the waiting period on May 9. AIA even got us home in time for Mother's Day! A couple of weeks after we returned, the kids had an appointment at the International Adoption Clinic at the New England Medical Center. The clinic director, Dr. Laurie Miller, remarked that despite all the scary diagnoses on their medical records, Victor and Alena were amongst the healthiest, developmentally normal kids she's seen in her 14 years of running the clinic.

    The other testimonials have mentioned how wonderful the AIA staff in Russia is. I heartily second every word. Natalia, Irina, Julia and Andrei all went above and beyond to make what appeared to be a very scary trip really surprisingly easy. They handled every detail, so I could concentrate on Victor and Alena. Also appreciated were the support and camaraderie from the other AIA families with whom I traveled on each trip.

    As for the two munchkins, they are doing well, speaking English, enjoying preschool and all their new buddies. They've gained weight and height and I can't believe how much they've changed in just six months! They can be quite a challenge at times (as is the case with all 3 year olds!) but I can't imagine life without them.