Step 1

Monday morning, and we’re down to the business of the process. The first step we had to accomplish was registering our dossier and intention with the Ministry of Social Protection of the Population of Sverdlovsk Region.

At the appointed time we (plus our facilitator) arrived at the Ministry and were invited into a room where we joined two employees of the Ministry. The interview was not long, but there were a lot of questions.

I handed over a copy of our dossier and as one of the people looked through the paperwork we were asked to tell a bit about ourselves, our reasons for adopting, for adopting from Russia, and from the Sverdlovsk region. We were asked if we had any communication with other families who adopted from the region, what we understood of their experience and satisfaction. What are the parameters of a child we would hope to adopt? Have we had experience with children of that age? Understand that healthy children are not available, so the wait will be substantial; all the children who are available have special needs to a varying degree. You have the right to an independent medical evaluation of a child, should your dossier be accepted and a child identified for you. No, you don’t have to decide that right now, you may speak with the doctor at the orphanage first.

At the end, we were thanked and told that our dossier was accepted and that our contact in the city could call starting tonight to see if a child has been identified. We signed two pieces of paper and that was it.

Step 1, completed.