About six years ago the United States Congress created the adoption tax credit. It originally was $5,000 but they was raised to $10,000. Many adoptive families (including me) have taken advantage of this credit to help fund their adoption.

The credit is awesome. It isn't a deduction where you reduce your taxable income. If you paid $12,000 in federal taxes, you get $10,000 back after your Kazakhstan adoption is final.

The adoption tax credit will expire in... more

I normally post at Ukraine Adoption Blog and I will continue to do so. I am linked to Ukraine because that is where my first child was born.

But I was given an opportunity to post on my recent research. I have been exploring my adoption options. I have been looking at adoption from the US foster care system,... more

Much debate has occurred on one of my groups about the requirement for annual post placement reports. For Max's adoption (2001) we were not told about the requirement - but for Logan's adoption (2004) we were aware of it. I wrote to the Kazakhstan Consultate, Embassy and the US Embassy in Kazakhstan for clarification. Below is the translated copy of the law and "when" it changed legally (November 12, 2002) - please see #19 on Part Two of this series:

Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan as of November 12, 2002 # 1197 About approval of Regulations for Foreign Parents Seeking to Adopt Kazakhstani Children

In accordance with the... more

Logan and I were at a Valentine’s Day brunch yesterday with families who have adopted from Kazakhstan. We went through various updates and it was funny how far “down” I had suppressed the memories of the wait – until I sat around that table listening to how difficult those times were. I guess life takes over and you forget how much you just wanted to be there and be back to start life as a family.

Lauri wrote about how to survive the wait on the Kazakhstan Adoption Blog in February of last year: http://kazakhstan.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/how-to-survive-the-wait

Fellow blogger Faith Allen... more

I noticed on one of my groups the posting from parents just entering the adoption process and how nervous they were about their first home visit. My heart goes out to them – I remember it all too well. Rebecca’s father and I spent months preparing our home for that visit – we painted, we scrubbed, we shampooed carpets, we overhauled every closet in the house and even scrubbed garbage cans till they sparkled! I vividly remember getting pulled over by a police officer for not stopping completely at a stop sign – I had gone to borrow the edger... more

One of my favorite parts of adoption – is seeing that forever families continue to form through international adoption. Below is a journey of a family who had hoped to adopt two children during their first adoption journey, only to learn that the rules had tighten and were unable to do so. They had their hearts stolen by a little girl while there and returned to Kazakhstan to add her to their family - below is a link to their Faith, Love and Hope blog: http://mcgillsinkazpart2.blogspot.com/

Many... more

For part I of this story - go to: http://kazakhstan.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/adoption-tail-of-cocoa-and-lexi-part-i

Now the part relating to adoption comes in. I guess as adoptive parents, our brain waves will become “wired” a little differently than non-adoptive parents. Part of me loves the boys being boys and embraces the “adoption” of their Webkins. The other part of me cringes at this “process”.... more

Sunday, my boys were “exposed” to the Webkinz “craze” through their cousins. Soon, I was asked daily if they could go and buy a Webkinz of their own. I promised my 7 year old that we would go one day after school. The temperatures dropped bitterly, so it took a few more days of being asked daily before we ventured out. My sister told me of a discount coupon for one of the stores on Webkinz web site – so of course I logged on. Little did I know that I’d be calling 5 local stores to be only told that they were... more

As we all know, international adoption in most countries is forever changing! The biggest changes from when we started to now – the guidelines are becoming stricter – family size, family status (divorce, single) are taken in to consideration, even DUI convictions from college are excluding families from adopting.

I went on the two agency sites and read the following guidelines:

Maximum age for adoptive parents is between 50 and 55 – depending on what agency you are using.

One agency doesn’t state any special requirement for single parent homes, while the other states that they are allowed to adopt one child of either gender.

Both say two trips – while one offers... more

Zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket --- or would they prefer to throw away the key?

Have you ever wondered why posting or emailing about a negative experience in international adoption is so strongly debated by those in the process of adopting? Many prospective adoptive families will post to inquire about an agency – and those with past negative experiences will respond only to be “blasted” or “flamed” by those who had a positive experience or are in the process of adopting and it “scared” them to read this. I feel like many want... more