Oliver and Irene
Anna home from Russia 9/04
Every adoption is different, and this path to having a family is rarely straightforward, so having an experienced guide like Adoption Associates at your side is invaluable. The one thing that we wanted most, at every stage, was the best information and advice, and the group at AAI always gave us straight answers to difficult questions. We adopted both our son Owen from Michigan and our daughter Anna from Russia with AAI.
We were linked with our son’s birth mom when she was in her seventh month. All of our meetings with her went well, but she changed her mind shortly before the birth. Several weeks later she called AAI to say she had made a mistake and was hoping we were still a waiting family. The agency acted quickly to support her, and with counseling helped her become confident in the decision to go through with an adoption.
Then, when the birth father withheld his agreement, AAI guided us through the court process that was required. These were difficult days for both the birth mom and us. It is hard to understate the role of AAI in the positive outcome. They arranged for legal counsel, helped build the best case for the adoption and provided the emotional support we and the birth mom needed. Most importantly, they kept us grounded with realistic assessments of the likely outcome. When it was over, they joined us in celebrating the adoption of our son.
When it came time to complete our family we chose to work with AAI again, this time opting for the Russian program, because this option gave us a little more input on the age difference between our children. Here too, we had some bumps in the road, as we did not accept the first referral. However, when we met our daughter Anna we knew that it was meant to be her, and now that she has been home over a year we feel like the family we wanted to be. AAI did a great job of accompanying and supporting us in Russia, and helping us negotiate the process successfully.
Whether your adoption experience includes such twists and turns or goes without a hitch, you can have confidence that Adoption Associates will guide you through it. The best recommendation we can give is that AAI was our choice for our second adoption.
