Steve and Laurie
As our two biological sons became teenagers, we found we had an empty place in our home and our hearts for a daughter. To learn about the adoption process, we did a lot of research on the internet, read several books, and attended some adoption seminars. While attending one on international adoption at the Lansing AAI office in January of 2003, we picked up a brochure of “waiting children” in Russia. We were both immediately drawn to a picture of a little girl. It’s hard to explain, but from that one little picture you could tell she had the attitude and spunk to overcome any obstacle.
Because Nadya was a “waiting child,” AAI had a lot more information about her than is usually available, and everything we learned confirmed our belief that she was the perfect match for our family. In June of 2003, the four of us traveled to Russia. It only took a couple hours with Nadya for all of us to decide that she would make our family complete. We endured the agonizing wait to bring her home by decorating a girl’s bedroom, and buying girl’s clothes and toys, something we thought we would never be able to do.
We truly enjoyed our time in Russia and did our best to soak in the culture so we can pass it on to Nadya. She has now been home for ten months and it’s impossible to imagine life without her. People often remark about what a difference we’ve made in her life, but truly, we believe that she has made a bigger difference in ours.
We will forever be in debt to the wonderful AAI staff, especially in the Lansing and Russia offices. They make miracles like ours happen every day.
For More Information
To learn more about our Russia adoption program, please visit our Russia adoption page, call 616.667.0921, or request a free adoption information packet.
