Recently, I've had several people ask me how the process in Kaz is going to work. Since it has been a while since I reviewed that, I figure I should go over it one more time.
I will fly to Almaty Kazakhstan where I will be met at the airport by one of the coordinators. She will help me get a flight to Shymkent later that morning. I will most likely get off that flight,meet the coordinator for the region, drop my luggage off in an apartment and head off to meet someone at the Ministry of Education. Once there, I will have to ask for permission to go to the Baby House. They will most likely ask me a few questions and then give me permission to go to the baby house. Then we will head to the baby house where I will meet the Baby house director and the baby house doctor. I will have my coordinator and translator with me since the baby house people will speak in Kazah and it will be translated to me. They will interview me again and then if all goes well, give me a brief history of a child available and if I am interested bring that child into the room for a brief visit. The visit most likely last about 10 minutes while they are giving me more detailed information on the child presented. I will then have the option of saying that this is the child I wish to have bonding time with or I can ask to see other children. If I am interested in the child, I will then have to sign a paper saying that I wish to have bonding time with this child.
Once I have officially started the bonding period(which is not necessarily when I sign the bonding paperwork, but normally is) I need to bond for a period of 15 days. In Shymkent, families do not get to visit on the weekends, but those days do count in the bonding time. The bonding time consists of a once per day visit for 1 to 2 hours. They have a room where I will be brought to each day and the child will be brought to me. The most common room they use in Shymkent is called the music room- I think they bring the kids in there to sing and have music class. I will have my own toys that I will bring each day although there are some in the room already. Most likely I will not see anything of the rest of the baby house or the other children. I may see some of them outside, but they are very protective of the children's privacy since they know many families have blogs and post pictures on the internet. For most of these visits, I will be alone, but the baby house doctor and ministry official will visit several days since they will have to testify in court eventually about if they feel I will be a good parent.
After 15 days, I can then apply to court for a court date. It typically takes 1 to 2 weeks to get a date. This can change if a judge is on vacation or any of the other officials that need to be part of the court proceedings are out of town. You never know what court will be like, but other families in Shymkent have found it to be very orderly. I will probably be asked questions about why I want to adopt, why Kaz, how will I raise and educate the child, how will I treat the child, how will I deal with any medical issues, etc. They basically want to assure themselves that I will be a good parent to the child. The baby house doctor and ministry official may testify. There will be a judge and a prosecutor who will ask me questions. The judge will then hopefully go back into chambers and come back out later that same day and say my adoption has been approved.
If I get approved by the court, then the adoption is NOT final yet. There is a 15 day appeal period that any relative of the child can protest and the adoption is canceled. this does happen, but very rarely. All children have had to be on a registry and not have any relative visit for a minimum of 6 months before they are available for international adoption. During this 6 months, if any relative visits or inquires about them, then they are no longer eligible for adoption so the chance of a relative showing up at this point is very small. After the 15 day appeal period, then the adoption is FINAL! For myself, the day after court is completed, I will fly back to Almaty. I will have to visit the US embassy there and have a short interview. The following day(if seats on flights are available), I will fly home. I will gain 12 hours on the way home so even though it takes 30 hours, I will arrive back in the US on the same day.
The 15 day appeal period will be happening while I am at the embassy interview and flying home. Once the appeal period is over, then the coordinators in Kaz will begin the next phase of paperwork. They will have to get a new birth certificate, then a new passport, and then a visa. If I decide to have someone escort the child home, they will then pick the child up at the orphanage and fly with them to Almaty. Once there they will have a brief medical exam with an American doctor(required by US immigration law), have a brief embassy visit and then fly the child to the US where I will meet them at the airport. The child will become a citizen the moment they touch the ground in the US, but will retain dual citizenship with Kaz until they are 18. Of course, at this point, we go home and live happily ever after.
I left work early to have time to finish up last minute things. The hardest one was taking my fur baby, Frosty, to the kennel. As I left her there feeling guilty, I looked back in the window and saw her tail held high and wagging. She was having a great time without her mom. She does stay at a really good kennel, but I miss her already.
