Guess what!!!

Soon there will be some new Serbian princes and princesses finding their way to families here in the U.S. I am just *slightly* excited about this! I'm even more excited that two of the kids will be within an hour drive from me, which means there will be eight Serbian kids here in MN!!!

I'd like to introduce you to the Olson family. They have just started blogging about their journey. Please take a little trip over to their blog and welcome them to adoption and special needs communities!

Abel: 3 Months Home

Three months seems forever ago and like yesterday all at once. Three months ago we brought home a very scared, anxious, feral little boy. Three months ago we were truly worried how he would integrate into our lives.  If only we knew how appropriate Abel's name was for his new life. This little boy who was so wild, so difficult, so scared.(The pictures are blurry because he was in constant motion, which meant we were too.)

Three months ago a lot of things changed.

Me met this little boy who cried all.the.time.

He cried about absolutely everything. He seemed like a truly miserable kid who really didn't know what he wanted much of the time. In reality he was a little boy who had never learned to regulate his emotions, and his emotions were always extreme. In walks these people who don't know how to talk anything but gibberish and making him do things that he doesn't necessarily want to do. Like stand still. Or sit down. Or play with a toy. Or chew his food. We made his life miserable for awhile. Unfortunately there was no avoiding it.

But kids do what works, and crying worked for him in the institution. He got what he wanted much of time with those tears. When he came into our care he quickly learned the tears (or sometimes fake crying) wouldn't work. Now Abel has real communication. He is developing language. He can ask for things using signs, often putting 4 and 5 signs together, which gets him a response. He chuckles every time it works for him. "I want cup please" gets him his favorite past time of spinning this little cup on a chair, which would last for an entire day if we let him. Instead he gets 5-10 minutes and then it's time to be part of the real world again. In the last couple of days he has starting coming to me signing, "Play go please." and pointing down the hall. This is his way of asking permission if he can go play in the bedroom with the other kids. (not something always allowed depending upon his mood!)

Abel can sort colors quite well. If there is a food reward he does so effortlessly. Without the reward, he will intentionally mis-match the colors, shaking his head "no" while he does so. Sometimes even crying and sobbing as he holds one had with the other, trying to get it to put the color in the right place, but it's as if his hand has a mind and will of it's own which cannot be forced to do the correct task. Sometimes he will sign "sit" instead of matching the color, which means he wants to sit on time-out (which for him is about 30 seconds) Sometimes he likes to use time-out for an escape. Then out comes the food and suddenly the colors go exactly where they belong the very first time. Axel used to do the exact same thing. It is probably one of the strangest phenomenon I have seen, and yet I have read other adoptive parents of older kids describe exactly the same thing. It is very frustrating, both for me and for Abel. Fortunately, because of food rewards, we're were able to find out not only can he sort objects by color, but also by shape and size. YAY!

When we first came home back in April and the weather finally turned so we could spend time outside, we showed Abel the swings in the back yard. He was petrified of them. It wasn't the motion, because he loved to hang on the trapeze thing we have back there. I couldn't figure it out. Clearly this was fear...PRIMAL fear....I didn't know  how to get past it. Even food couldn't win him over on this one.

The one afternoon while scrolling through pictures of our time in Serbia for his adoption, I was reminded of an experience we had with Abel out on the playground. We were trying to keep him busy for the two hour visit and walked outside. It was one of the first times he happily walked with me without dangling some type of food in front of him. And then I had to wreck it by bringing him to the swings and indicating I would put him on one. OH.MY.WORD!!! The child absolutely FREAKED OUT! It was then I noticed, for the very first time, the towels that were on the swings. These towels are multi-purpose. They are used for bibs, wash cloths...and for tying kids into chairs or swings. Abel was a really difficult kid go have out on the playground, and I suspect keeping him in the swing was one way to manage him while out there.

It took weeks of food bribes, and making him sit on the swing for three or four seconds at a time before he learned he wouldn't die on that swing.  Then....finally....one day we were all out in the yard, when I turned back to see this. I cried real tears.


It wasn't easy, but the struggle over the swing set the stage for many other situations around here.

Here we are, nearly 3 1/2 months home. Abel is so ABLE to do so many things! Because he conquered the swing, he's now willing to try other things that would have been impossible for him to work through just three months ago.


And the growth!! When we came home Abel was the same height as Asher and four pounds heavier. Now he is 2 inches taller and 15 pounds heavier!

Asher and Abel are now inseparable buddies. They do everything together! We didn't know how much Abel depended upon Asher until I took Asher to Philly with me. That's when we realized that Abel really takes a lot of cues from Asher, waiting to see what he does when we give them directions together, looking to see if Asher seems afraid in certain situations or if it's O.K. to have fun with whatever we're doing. 

We got the last of medical specialists seen several weeks ago. The end of September he will have the first of three surgeries. Usually I try to get all the procedures done at one time but we just couldn't get everyone scheduled unless we waited until December, and that is just too far away. He'll have his dental work done first, then the of October his tonsils and adenoids out and an ABR, and later in December some urological things taken care of. 

It has really been an interesting 3 months as we and Abel learn about one another. He has come so very far! 

From this worried little boy who couldn't sit still for a fraction of a second

To this very confident tween who is READY to head off to school in the fall!

What a Difference!

If you've been following us for awhile, you'll remember that when I was in Serbia to complete Asher's adoption I stayed with the Schlorf family who adopted baby Johnny. Johnny has Apert syndrome. I had met him one year prior and knew it was a race against time to get to him and get him out before he couldn't hold on any longer.

Little Johnny was so dehydrated, and so....just sickly....He was turning 2 years old and weighed only a couple pounds more than he did at birth. Oh how we all worried about him and prayed for him when his Mama and Daddy brought him back to the apartment. I wanted to hold him SO BAD. To love on him, this child I had spent well over a year praying for.

But LOOK! Here is Johnny today! He has had some craniofacial surgeries, along with some work done on his hands, but most of all, look at his body! His ribcage now well hidden under a layer of toddler fat, his cheeks full and round. His skin no longer pale and translucent.

I'm so happy to be able to post about Johnny today. Thank you God for allowing me to witness his transformation. 

Researching Serbian Adoption

If you are researching adopting from Serbia, please be sure to check out my most recent blog post on the Serbian adoption blog. You won't want to miss this information. 

I get excited...

I get so excited when a family is close to traveling to complete their adoption. It is like watching a family member who has been pregnant for many months and is now ready to deliver their baby. It is that exciting.  When it's a family who has taken a leap of faith and decided to proceed with a semi-blind adoption of a child from Serbia, I almost can't contain myself!

The Lakes family are almost there! While the Serbian government was shut down for the summer, the Lakes have moved forward to complete the paper part of the process. Tomorrow their dossier (the paper baby) will begin it's journey across the ocean, which takes about 4 business days. From there it will be translated from English to Serbian - approximately one more week. When the translator has completed the task, he or she will get in the car and hand deliver the now translated baby to the Serbian ministry.

And THAT, my friends, is when the most exciting part will happen! The Lakes will be given information on any children who meet the the criteria they've given the ministry. (I have my secret hopes about who will be on that list, since there was an ADORABLE little boy in Axel's foster home who was registered for adoption right after that.) The Lakes will be able to make their decision based on the information they've been given, and since they're working directly with the Serbian ministry, they will able to ask some additional questions. Once they've made a decision their file will be sent to the child's social worker for final approval. THAT is when they'll be told it's time to travel!!!

So, realistically, they are 3-4 weeks from travel. How will I contain my excitement? I'm sure the Lakes are beyond excited right now. I know the anxiety that happens at this point. The feeling of travel preparation. As a mom, I go into freak out mode the last week, getting all things in place so Dean has as few worries as possible.

Please visit the Lakes' family blog, and give them some bloggy love!

This is why

Mini serbian reunion in D.C.! Axel, Asher and Sofija,
all adopted from Serbia.

I received an email today that took me off guard. "Why did you stop advocating for orphans? You adopted two kids and yet you won't advocate for rest of the kids."

Ummmm hmmmmm

Really?

I advocate for orphans ALL.THE.TIME!!!!! Where have you been? Google "Serbian Adoption" and my blog is the second hit only behind the Department of State's website.

Ukraine orphans have plenty of people advocating for them. Russian orphans have plenty of people advocating for them.

Who is advocating for Serbian orphans on an almost daily basis?????

Who is helping Serbian family fund raise for their travel?

Why did everyone stop advocating for these kids and families just because Reece's Rainbow stopped listing them on their website? You want to know some truly forgotten kids? The orphans of Serbia who nobody speaks for.

Oh I get it. It's because pictures of the Serbian kids can't be put up. What? You can only have a heart for a child who's face you can see in a picture?

I have chosen to advocate for Serbian orphans for a couple reasons:

1) My boys are both from Serbia.

2) The Serbian ministry has worked diligently for nearly two years to make sure theirs is a "clean" system. That there is no corruption. There are no bribes being paid. There are no outlandish prices being charged for expedited passports (I  have heard as much as $1500 USD in Ukraine! Serbia? $30!!!!!)

3) You work directly with the Serbian ministry. This allows you to ask questions not only about the process but about the child you intend to adopt.

4) You KNOW the child you've chosen is legally available for adoption. There are no surprises when you get there, something that seems to happen a lot in Ukraine.

5) You know before you go if the child has siblings.

The list goes on. Serbian orphans need families too. I set up a separate blog to outline the process and profile families who are currently in process. Out of 60-some kids, take a look at just a handful of Serbian kids who have found families in the last couple of years.

If you have a child from Serbia and you'd like to share your story on the Serbian adoption blog, please leave me a comment with a link and I'll post it.

A New Blog!

For those who have come here looking for information about Serbian adoptions and how the process works, I've started a new blog!

Finding Serbia is intended to be an information site, and also a place to feature adoptive families who are currently in process, as well as links to previous adoptive families who have already brought their Serbian kids home. So go have a read (although there is currently only one post up!) and meet some of the families. And if you have completed a Serbian adoption and would like to have your blog linked, please drop me a note.

Project Hopeful

Please vote for

 Project Hopeful! 

While their primary focus is orphan care for those who are HIV+, Project hopeful is now going to help those families who want to adopt from Serbia. There are NO other organizations willing to help Serbian adoptive families fundraise to cover their adoption expenses. 

Serbian Adoptions - Repost

Wow! I am so excited to see how many people are interested in adopting from Serbia! If you're new here and looking for information, I've compiled a post just for you, which I am reposting today.

This is based on CURRENT information about Serbian adoption practices. Please be warned...there is NOT ONE SINGLE U.S. based Adoption Agency that has established a formal working relationship with the Serbian Ministry. (this information is verifiable by contacting the Serbian ministry yourself. Please email me for that contact info and I will give it to you. I was specifically asked not to put the email address in a blog post due to problems with spam) If there is ANY agency making such claims ask to see their documentation of such an agreement. Also, a Serbian adoption should be somewhere around $13,500 or LESS. Any agency making claims of significantly more money (I have seen as much as $45,000!) should cause you to run. RUN and don't look back!

Ok...on to the repost...
.....................................................................

So you're wondering about adopting from Serbia. Is it for you? Will it work for your family? How much does it cost? What types of children are waiting for families? What are the requirements? I hope I can answer some of your questions, or point you in the direction of someone who can.

Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia) is located in the Balkan region region of Europe. It is a small country, covering 34, 116 square miles. You can find out a lot about Serbia's history by reading here.

You can go to the Department of State's website for more details, but here are the basics:

Serbia is not party to the Hague Convention.

Who can adopt? Serbia requires that parents not be more than 45 years older than the child they are adopting. Parents must be married, but a common-law marriages can qualify. Single parents are approved on a case-by-case basis. If you're single be prepared to explain how you will care for a child with special needs.

What children are available?  There are currently more than 500 families in Serbia waiting to adopt healthy infants. While Serbia is slowly making progress in the area of services and acceptance for those with disabilities, they still have a long way to go. Because of this, the only children available for adoption from Serbia are those with physical or mental impairments who's needs can be better met in a country such as the U.S. There are currently approximately 50 children who are registered for international adoption in Serbia. Their needs vary from Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Cleft lip/palate, Autism spectrum disorders or sibling groups. (keep in mind that except in the case of Down syndrome where a chromosome analysis can be done, diagnosis, particularly of Autism Spectrum Disorders, are not always accurate.) It is important to keep in mind that some things seen as "severe" in Serbia are diagnosis that are "no big deal" here in the U.S. This is mostly do to the services, both educational and medical, available in the U.S. Historically, children in Serbia born with obvious differences are usually institutionalized at birth. Although current laws state that children without parental care be placed in foster care at birth and that those currently residing in institutional care also be moved to foster care, the fact is there is a shortage of foster families willing to take the children with special needs. While education and public service announcements are becoming more common (I just saw some AWESOME t.v. commercials including many adults with Down syndrome during my most recently stay!) change takes time. While the children wait for change, they do just that....wait....

With the exception of sibling groups, families are only allowed to adopt one child at a time from Serbia.

Now that you have some background, let me explain the adoption process.

What are the agency requirements? At the moment Serbian adoptions are independent. While you need to work with a licensed homestudy agency to complete the homestudy process, you do not need to work with an adoption agency. You can make all your own arrangements for travel, lodging, translation etc. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, and would like more of a "hand holder", you can contact Cherish Our Children International. They are a US based 501c3 NGO registered with the US Embassy in Belgrade. (I'll cover this more later in the post.)

I want to know more. What is my next step?

1) Contact the Serbian Ministry directly. (email me and I can send you the email address) This should be a formal email in biography format. Include information about your family, your background, your income, etc. If you have a child with a disability already, include that as well as why you feel you can handle another child with special needs. Also include information about your relationships with extended family and what support systems you have in place should you adopt a child with special needs. In other words, what makes YOUR family a good candidate for a child with special needs from Serbia. List the criteria for a child who would fit into your family. For example, we were willing to adopt a child, either boy or girl, between the ages of 6-12 with Down syndrome or any other special needs. If you are specifically requesting a child with Down syndrome, you need to be open to all the medical diagnosis that are possible with Down syndrome because many of the issues are not diagnosed in Serbia. I also included photos of our home, our yard, the bedroom the child would sleep in, as well as some pictures of Angela participating in some of her many activities in the community. I explained how normal life for is for Angela in our community.

2) The Ministry will respond to your inquiry. Please be aware the "adoption unit" is run by a group of people who wear several hats, and adoption is just one of their many responsibilities. There are also only two English speaking contacts in the office. While people often receive a response with a couple of business days, there are odd holidays thrown in there and there, not to mention it's a very busy office. Please be patient. If you don't receive a response within two weeks, contact them again. When they do respond to you, it will be with additional questions, and/or requests for more information. At some point the ministry will request your dossier.

3) Items that must be included in your dossier. All items must be certified, notarized an apostilled:
   1. Homestudy
   2. Birth certificates for all adults in the household
   3. Marriage License (and divorce decrees if applicable)
   4. Federal Criminal Backround check (this is not the same as the Adam Walsh)
   5. State Criminal Background check
   6. Local Criminal Background check
   7. Medical reports for both parents. This is very generic, and only needs to state that the individual is free          of serious or communicable diseases or psychological disorders. Must be on physical letterhead and notarized.
   8. The following financial records:
      a. Bank statement including account balance (checking and savings)
      b. copy of latest income tax return
      c. Letter from current employer which must include annual wages
      d. Mortgage certificate listing you as owner of your home, or a letter from landlord stating rent paid w/copy of your lease.
   9. Proof of US residency (copy of passport)
  10. Photograph

4. Your dossier must be translated into Serbian. You can contact the US Embassy, Belgrade to request a list of translators. Please note the Embassy cannot endorse any translator. They will only provide you a list of translators who are qualified to translate your documents. You can find the list here, or contact the embassy directly.
US Embassy in SerbiaKneza Miloša 50
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
Tel: (+381 11) 306 4655
http://belgrade.usembassy.gov/

Your other option is to contact COCI (Cherish Our Children International) and they will make translation arrangements for you. The going rate for translation is 10 euro per page. There is a 1900 keystroke per page limit, so some documents (such as your homestudy) will translate to several pages more than the original. (for example, my updated homestudy was 8 pages but translated to 14) When counting pages of your originals, be sure to count the appostille pages! (You may also contact COCI for information about walking you through the rest of  your in-country process. I have been involved with COCI for a little over a year  now and their staff is amazing! Please read more details about their work in Serbia by clicking here. COCI is a true example of what it means to work with a society for change!)

5. At some point in the process - it seems to be a little different depending upon the circumstances of certain children/families - the ministry will provide you with a list of children who are registered for international adoption who fit the criteria you have requested. When I adopted Axel, I had met him on a previous visit so I made my request for a child fitting his criteria. My adoption of Asher was the first truly "blind" adoption into the US. Meaning I did not have any information on a child prior to my inquiry. At that time you may ask for further questions to help you make a decision. Please be patient with this process. The ministry (which is like the state) must contact the child's social center (which is like the county) who is responsible for the child. However, the child might actually be housed in a facility at the other end of the country from the social center so it can take a few days to get your questions answered. It is possible you will not receive a picture of the children! Due to the selling of information that happened in previous years, Serbia is extremely protective of the privacy rights of it's children. Please be respectful of this. We did not get a picture of Asher before we traveled. We could have chosen to wait for a picture, however Dean and I decided together that just like a pregnancy when we have no idea what our child will look like, this adoption was no different. We didn't care what he looked like. (and to be honest, Asher took horrible pictures and I think having his picture could have caused us to choose a different child.)

6. Both parents are required to travel. Once you have made your decision on a child, the ministry will give you a travel date. This is a FAST process! We were formally accepted for Asher on November 15th, and my meeting with the ministry in Belgrade was on November 22nd! The ministry will work with you on establishing a travel date that works for your family. We were prepared to travel quickly since we wanted our child home fast. In my opinion, if you're working toward completing an adoption, you know the travel is coming! With a Serbian adoption it's pretty easy to figure out a timeline.

7. Your first task in Serbia is to meet with the ministry. In attendance will be members of the Ministry, the child's legal guardian, social worker, and psychologist. If the child is in institutional care, a representative from the facility will be there was well. During this meeting they will go over the child's entire history with you, including social, medical, etc. You'll learn the circumstances that caused the child to come into state care. ( In both of my adoptions - both Asher and Axel were from the same birth city and represented by the same social center - I learned the names of the boys' birth parents, and that they were interested in contact.)

8. Immediately following the meeting you will go to meet the child. If your child is in Belgrade, it's a drive of just a few minutes. If the child is in another city you'll be driving there. Expect to stay in that city during the process of visitations with the child. For example, Axel was in a foster home in his birth city of Kragujevac. I stayed there for 9 days.

9. At some point in the visiting process two reports must be sent to the Ministry stating the social worker's opinion of how visits are going. If your child is in foster care, you will take the child into your custody much faster than if the child is in a facility. (In Axel's case I was granted custody on day 3, in Asher's case it was day 14. Even though I got custody of Axel sooner, the second report still had to be done, which was on day 6 or so.) The second report must be signed by the head minister of Serbia. Once you have a signature, hold on to your socks because things are going to move fast!

10. Usually the day after the signature, you will have the adoption ceremony in the child's birth city. If your child is over age 7, he or she must go with you because their finger print is needed to issue the passport. If your child is in institutional care and under age 7 he or she will not go to the birth city with you.

11. Once the ceremony is done, it takes 3-4 business days to complete the paperwork allowing the child to leave the country. Please allow yourself some room for error. Every adoption is different, and many cities have never processed an adoption before. This can add additional time. To avoid penalty charges for changing flights, I fly into Serbia on a one-way ticket and book my return flight 2-3 days before flying out.

What's the time frame? I have completed two Serbian adoptions. The timeline for each is included on the left sidebar of my adoption blog. Axel's adoption, from the time we started the homestudy until I traveled was 4 months. Asher's adoption was much shorter! More like 4 WEEKS. The ministry asks you to plan on 16-21 days in country. For Axel's adoption I came home on day 16 (we could have come home on day 15), and Asher's adoption I came home on day 18.

What's the cost? You can go to my adoption blog where you'll find a cost summary on the left sidebar. You'll notice a significant difference in cost between Axel and Asher's adoptions, where you'll find Axel's adoption was significantly more expensive. There was a corrupt facilitator who has since been removed, which reduced the cost by $5,000!!! Asher's adoption was completed after the removal of said facilitator, and before all my documents had expired. I had my original homestudy and Immigration approval written for two children from Serbia so I only needed to update a couple of things. The variables will be the cost of a homestudy in your state, where you stay while in-country, the location of the child's birth city, where the child is housed, etc. If the child is in another city your expenses will be at the higher end. If your child is right in Belgrade your expenses will be at the lower end. You can use my list of expenses as a guideline, then add/subtract what your own expenses would be. Currently, starting from scratch, a Serbian adoption will cost somewhere between $8,000-$13,500 dependent upon the variables I just listed.

I hope you've found this post helpful in understanding the process of adopting from Serbia. Please don't hesitate to contact me for the email address of the Serbian ministry!

Serbian Adoptions: The 411

So you're wondering about adopting from Serbia. Is it for you? Will it work for your family? How much does it cost? What types of children are waiting for families? What are the requirements? I hope I can answer some of your questions, or point you in the direction of someone who can.

Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia) is located in the Balkan region region of Europe. It is a small country, covering 34, 116 square miles. You can find out a lot about Serbia's history by reading here.

You can go to the Department of State's website for more details, but here are the basics:

Serbia is not party to the Hague Convention.

Who can adopt? Serbia requires that parents not be more than 45 years older than the child they are adopting. Parents must be married, but a common-law marriages can qualify. Single parents are approved on a case-by-case basis. If you're single be prepared to explain how you will care for a child with special needs.

What children are available?  There are currently more than 500 families in Serbia waiting to adopt healthy infants. While Serbia is slowly making progress in the area of services and acceptance for those with disabilities, they still have a long way to go. Because of this, the only children available for adoption from Serbia are those with physical or mental impairments who's needs can be better met in a country such as the U.S. There are currently approximately 50 children who are registered for international adoption in Serbia. Their needs vary from Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Cleft lip/palate, Autism spectrum disorders or sibling groups. (keep in mind that except in the case of Down syndrome where a chromosome analysis can be done, diagnosis, particularly of Autism Spectrum Disorders, are not always accurate.) It is important to keep in mind that some things seen as "severe" in Serbia are diagnosis that are "no big deal" here in the U.S. This is mostly do to the services, both educational and medical, available in the U.S. Historically, children in Serbia born with obvious differences are usually institutionalized at birth. Although current laws state that children without parental care be placed in foster care at birth and that those currently residing in institutional care also be moved to foster care, the fact is there is a shortage of foster families willing to take the children with special needs. While education and public service announcements are becoming more common (I just saw some AWESOME t.v. commercials including many adults with Down syndrome during my most recently stay!) change takes time. While the children wait for change, they do just that....wait....

With the exception of sibling groups, families are only allowed to adopt one child at a time from Serbia.

Now that you have some background, let me explain the adoption process.

What are the agency requirements? At the moment Serbian adoptions are independent. While you need to work with a licensed homestudy agency to complete the homestudy process, you do not need to work with an adoption agency. You can make all your own arrangements for travel, lodging, translation etc. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, and would like more of a "hand holder", you can contact Cherish Our Children International. They are a US based 501c3 NGO registered with the US Embassy in Belgrade. (I'll cover this more later in the post.)

I want to know more. What is my next step?

1) Contact the Serbian Ministry directly. (email me and I can send you the email address) This should be a formal email in biography format. Include information about your family, your background, your income, etc. If you have a child with a disability already, include that as well as why you feel you can handle another child with special needs. Also include information about your relationships with extended family and what support systems you have in place should you adopt a child with special needs. In other words, what makes YOUR family a good candidate for a child with special needs from Serbia. List the criteria for a child who would fit into your family. For example, we were willing to adopt a child, either boy or girl, between the ages of 6-12 with Down syndrome or any other special needs. If you are specifically requesting a child with Down syndrome, you need to be open to all the medical diagnosis that are possible with Down syndrome because many of the issues are not diagnosed in Serbia. I also included photos of our home, our yard, the bedroom the child would sleep in, as well as some pictures of Angela participating in some of her many activities in the community. I explained how normal life for is for Angela in our community.

2) The Ministry will respond to your inquiry. Please be aware the "adoption unit" is run by a group of people who wear several hats, and adoption is just one of their many responsibilities. There are also only two English speaking contacts in the office. While people often receive a response with a couple of business days, there are odd holidays thrown in there and there, not to mention it's a very busy office. Please be patient. If you don't receive a response within two weeks, contact them again. When they do respond to you, it will be with additional questions, and/or requests for more information. At some point the ministry will request your dossier.

3) Items that must be included in your dossier. All items must be certified, notarized an apostilled:
   1. Homestudy
   2. Birth certificates for all adults in the household
   3. Marriage License (and divorce decrees if applicable)
   4. Federal Criminal Backround check (this is not the same as the Adam Walsh)
   5. State Criminal Background check
   6. Local Criminal Background check
   7. Medical reports for both parents. This is very generic, and only needs to state that the individual is free          of serious or communicable diseases or psychological disorders. Must be on physical letterhead and notarized.
   8. The following financial records:
      a. Bank statement including account balance (checking and savings)
      b. copy of latest income tax return
      c. Letter from current employer which must include annual wages
      d. Mortgage certificate listing you as owner of your home, or a letter from landlord stating rent paid w/copy of your lease.
   9. Proof of US residency (copy of passport)
  10. Photograph

4. Your dossier must be translated into Serbian. You can contact the US Embassy, Belgrade to request a list of translators. Please note the Embassy cannot endorse any translator. They will only provide you a list of translators who are qualified to translate your documents. You can find the list here or contact the embassy directly.
US Embassy in SerbiaKneza Miloša 50
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
Tel: (+381 11) 306 4655
http://belgrade.usembassy.gov/

Your other option is to contact COCI (Cherish Our Children International) and they will make translation arrangements for you. The going rate for translation is 10 euro per page. There is a 1900 keystroke per page limit, so some documents (such as your homestudy) will translate to several pages more than the original. (for example, my updated homestudy was 8 pages but translated to 14) When counting pages of your originals, be sure to count the appostille pages! (You may also contact COCI for information about walking you through the rest of  your in-country process. I have been involved with COCI for a little over a year  now and their staff is amazing! Please read more details about their work in Serbia by clicking here. COCI is a true example of what it means to work with a society for change!)

5. At some point in the process - it seems to be a little different depending upon the circumstances of certain children/families - the ministry will provide you with a list of children who are registered for international adoption who fit the criteria you have requested. When I adopted Axel, I had met him on a previous visit so I made my My adoption of Asher was the first truly "blind" adoption. Meaning I did not have any information on a child prior to my inquiry. At that time you may ask for further questions to help you make a decision. Please be patient with this process. The ministry (which is like the state) must contact the child's social center (which is like the county) who is responsible for the child. However, the child might actually be housed in a facility at the other end of the country from the social center so it can take a few days to get your questions answered. It is possible you will not receive a picture of the children! Due to the selling of information that happened in previous years, Serbia is extremely protective of the privacy rights of it's children. Please be respectful of us. We did not get a picture of Asher before we traveled. We could have chosen to wait for a picture, however Dean and I decided together that just like a pregnancy when we have no idea what our child will look like, this adoption was no different. We didn't care what he looked like. (and to be honest, Asher took horrible pictures and I think having his picture could have caused us to choose a different child.)

6. Both parents are required to travel. Once you have made your decision on a child, the ministry will give you a travel date. This is a FAST process! We were formally accepted for Asher on November 15th, and my meeting with the ministry in Belgrade was on November 22nd! The ministry will work with you on establishing a travel date that works for your family. We were prepared to travel quickly since we wanted our child home fast. In my opinion, if you're working toward completing an adoption, you know the travel is coming! With a Serbian adoption it's pretty easy to figure out a timeline.

7. Your first task in Serbia is to meet with the ministry. In attendance will be members of the Ministry, the child's legal guardian, social worker, and psychologist. If the child is in institutional care, a representative from the facility will be there was well. During this meeting they will go over the child's entire history with you, including social, medical, etc. You'll learn the circumstances that caused the child to come into state care. ( In both of my adoptions - both Asher and Axel were from the same birth city and represented by the same social center - I learned the names of the boys' birth parents, and that they were interested in contact.)

8. Immediately following the meeting you will go to meet the child. If your child is in Belgrade, it's a drive of just a few minutes. If the child is in another city you'll be driving there. Expect to stay in that city during the process of visitations with the child. For example, Axel was in a foster home in his birth city of Kragujevac. I stayed there for 9 days.

9. At some point in the visiting process two reports must be sent to the Ministry stating the social worker's opinion of how visits are going. If your child is in foster care, you will take the child into your custody much faster than if the child is in a facility. (In Axel's case I was granted custody on day 3, in Asher's case it was day 14. Even though I got custody of Axel sooner, the second report still had to be done, which was on day 6 or so.) The second report must be signed by the head minister of Serbia. Once you have a signature, hold on to your socks because things are going to move fast!

10. Usually the day after the signature, you will have the adoption ceremony in the child's birth city. If your child is over age 7, he or she must go with you because their finger print is needed to issue the passport. If your child is in institutional care and under age 7 he or she will not go to the birth city with you.

11. Once the ceremony is done, it takes 3-4 business days to complete the paperwork allowing the child to leave the country. Please allow yourself some room for error. Every adoption is different, and many cities have never processed an adoption before. I fly into Serbia on a one-way ticket and book my return flight 2-3 days before flying out.

What's the time frame? I have completed two Serbian adoptions. The timeline for each is included on the left sidebar of my adoption blog. Axel's adoption, from the time we started the homestudy until I traveled was 4 months. Asher's adoption was much shorter! More like 4 WEEKS. The ministry asks you to plan on 16-21 days in country. For Axel's adoption I came home on day 16 (we could have come home on day 15), and Asher's adoption I came home on day 18.

What's the cost? You can go to my adoption blog where you'll find a cost summary on the left sidebar. You'll notice a significant difference in cost between Axel and Asher's adoptions, where you'll Axel's adoption was significantly more expensive. There is a corrupt facilitator that has since been removed which reduced the cost by $5,000!!! Asher's adoption was completed after the removal of said facilitator, and before all my documents had expired. I had my original homestudy and Immigration approval written for two children from Serbia so I only needed to update a couple of things. The variable will be the cost of a homestudy in your state, where you stay while in-country, the location of the child's birth city, where the child is housed, etc. If the child is in another city your expenses will be at the higher end. If your child is right in Belgrade your expenses will be at the lower end. You can use my list of expenses as a guideline, then add/subtract what your own expenses would be. Currently, starting from scratch, a Serbian adoption will cost somewhere between $8,000-$13,500 dependent upon the variables I just listed.

I hope you've found this post helpful in understanding the process of adopting from Serbia. Please don't hesitate to contact me for the email address of the Serbian ministry!