Adopt from Ukraine

Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe, Russia being the largest. The country’s largest city is Kiev, which is also the country’s capital and economic, cultural, and educational center. The economic circumstances in Ukraine have led to an ever increasing number of orphans. Many orphanages struggle daily to provide for the basic needs of each child. Thousands of precious children need the security and love of a family.

The adoption process begins with a home study report. This report consists of four interviews with a social worker as well as various accompanying documents that will be gathered during the process. A Helping Hand will complete the home study report for families residing in the state of Kentucky and help families residing outside of Kentucky to be referred to a home study provider in your state of residence. During the home study report process, you will also apply to Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) and begin gathering documents for your Dossier. The documents that make up your Dossier will be verified through a series of stages that will include notarization and certification by the Secretary of State. After A Helping Hand has helped you complete this process, we will check your Dossier for accuracy before it is sent to Ukraine. Your Dossier will then be sent to our facilitator in Ukraine who will make a final check for accuracy before delivering your Dossier to the State Department for Adoptions and the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SDA).

Once your Dossier has been sent to the SDA, we will wait for the SDA to review and approve your Dossier. When this approval process has been completed, we will then await an invitation for your family to travel to Ukraine. This invitation will require you to be in Ukraine on a certain date for an appointment at the SDA. You will not actually be matched with your child before you travel, but will receive a referral for your child at your appointment date at the SDA. After you have been matched with your child at the SDA, you will have the opportunity to travel to see your child at his or her orphanage where you will receive further information about him or her.

Your in-country travel will involve time spent in Kiev, where the SDA is located, as well as time spent in the city where your child’s orphanage is located. Your time spent in country will vary, depending on the region where your child’s orphanage is located. Part of your trip will also involve a court hearing presided over by a judge in your child’s region. Once the court hearing has been completed, you will be able to travel back to Kiev with your child to visit the U.S. Embassy. It will be at the U.S. Embassy that you will receive your child’s visa to be able to come home. When this process has been completed, you will return home with your child! Our facilitation team in Ukraine will be with you throughout your entire stay, helping you through each stage of the in-country adoption process and translating for you. You will be well taken care of by our staff throughout your stay in Ukraine.

What happens after you bring your child home?

Ukraine requires adoptive families to comply with certain post-adoption requirements. These requirements are an essential part of the adoption process, one that will affect the future ability of families to adopt children from Ukraine. Ukraine requires that adoptive families register with the Ukrainian Consulate in Washington D.C. within the first 30 days of a family’s return home with their adopted child. In addition, the Ukraine also requires that adoptive families send annual reports to the Ukrainian Consulates once a year for the first three years after adoption, and then once every three years until the child reaches the age of 18. Each of the forms you will need for registration and sending the annual reports are available below:

• Adoption Registration Form: In order to process your registration form, you should mail to the Consular Office the following documents within 30 days of your return: 1.) Completed registration form 2.) Your child(ren)’s ORIGINAL Passport(s) (Travel Document of a Child) 3.) A copy of the Ukrainian Court’s Decree on adoption (in Ukrainian) 4.) A return self-addressed postage-paid envelope; for FedEx, an account number is required (credit card numbers are not acceptable). In case you change your place of residence, you are also requested to inform the Consular Office of your new address. Please be advised that you should send your application to the Ukrainian Consulate that has jurisdiction over the district of your residence by mail. For most states, this will be the consulate office in Washington D.C. at the following address: Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine, 3350 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C.20007.
• Annual Post-Adoption Report: The Consular Office requests detailed reports about each adopted child's living conditions and development in addition to pictures of your family. Please be advised that you should send your annual report to the Ukrainian Consulate that has jurisdiction over the district of your residence by mail. For most states, this will be the Consulate office in Washington D.C. at the following address: Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine, 3350 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C.20007.

Requirements

Prospective parents must meet the following criteria. These policies are the requirements of the Ukrainian adoption system; they are not requirements imposed solely by AHH. If you have any questions regarding any of these requirements, please contact us.

• Couples must be between the ages of 25 and 55. Neither adoptive parent can be more than 45 years older than the child that they wish to adopt. 
• Couples must be married at least 1 year at the time their dossier is submitted. The marriage relationship should be stable, as determined through the home study investigation. Unfortunately, Ukraine does not process single applicants desiring to adopt.
• At least one person per couple must be a U.S. citizen.
• There can be no substantiated allegations of abuse, or any charge of a violent nature.
• Significant health issues or a past history with significant health issues is considered on a case-by-case basis. Significant health issues include: HIV/AIDS, cancer, disabilities, STD's, mental health disorders, diabetes, among others. Please contact us to inquire about specific situations.
• Family Health insurance and life insurance coverage is required.
• Past histories of alcohol and drug abuse are considered on a case-by-case basis.
• There can be no felony convictions.
• As a part of Ukraine adoption application process we ask prospective adoptive parents to complete a statement of faith. Please, email us or call our office at 859-263-9964 for details.

For fees and estimated costs please download our Ukraine country sheet.

Risks

We will gladly assist you with state, federal and Ukrainian legal and social work associated with applying to the State Department for Adoptions and the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SDA) for a child. Although problems with dossiers are extremely rare, once the dossier is in the possession of the SDA we cannot guarantee a particular result with respect to that application. Any sovereign nation exercises its own discretion with respect to adoption applications, can establish new guidelines as to the type of child which is adoptable or the type of couple that can adopt, can partially close its program, or can even stop international adoptions altogether.
Additionally, medical and/or developmental delays may exist in internationally adopted children, including children adopted from Ukraine. Generally speaking, orphanage medical reports will be brief and less sophisticated than medical reports prepared in the United States. We did not prepare these reports and cannot guarantee their contents.
We suggest that adoptive parents talk to as many other couples who have completed the adoption process as possible.  We predict that you will find very positive responses to health questions, but do initiate these contacts as they will increase your understanding of the process, including its risks and rewards.
Finally, institutionalized children may have experienced some developmental delays that are almost unavoidable. These precious children may not have been nurtured as you will nurture them, given the generally understaffed and under-funded status that most orphanages find themselves in.
Some of the problems that can possibly arise and have arisen in children adopted from Ukraine are

• scars,
• milk intolerance,
• low or high grade heart murmur,
• defective heart valve that requires surgery,
• fetal alcohol syndrome
• rickets,
• scabies,
• crossed eyes,
• cleft lip and/or cleft palette,
• hepatitis A, B or C,
• parasitic infection,
• colds and pneumonia,
• attachment delays or problems,
• under stimulation/delayed development,
• undiagnosed congenital problems,
• effects of institutionalization,
• vision and hearing problems, and
• malnutrition.

By proceeding with A Helping Hand, families certify that they have considered the risks mentioned above and as such assume all health, developmental or governmental risks associated with the adoption.