Our adoption story

goodgollymissmolly wrote: David and I adopted our daughter Molly from St. Petersburg, Russia. Shortly after we got married in 2001 we decided that we wanted to have both biological and adopted children. We had originally assumed the biological children would come first then we would adopt. Well fate had a different plan for us. We tried for over a year to get pregnant naturally, and couldn't. I was only having a couple of menstrual cycles a year. I went to a fertility specialist who diagnosed me with pcos and said that we had a very slim chance of ever conceiving even with fertility treatments and a larger than normal chance of having a miscarriage if I do get pregnant. We decided to try clomid and see what happens. After just the first round of clomid the doctor said that there is no point in continuing with clomid it won't work. It failed to raise the hormone that would let me get pregnant, but raised the hormone that would cause me to have a miscarriage. There were some stronger fertility treatments we could try but we decided against it for now. We decided to rearrange our plans and adopt before having biological children. Little did I know at the time, right about the time I was making my first fertility appointment our daughter was being born half a world away. In January of 2003 we decided to proceed with an adoption. After much research and thought we decided to adopt internationally, from Russia. We began our home study and dossier in March of 2003. A dossier is the large stack of paperwork required for an international adoption. We also began our INS paperwork. In May of 2003 we submitted our dossier to Russia and received approval from INS to bring our child home to the U.S. In August of 2003 we were able to take our first trip to Russia, to meet our daughter in St. Petersburg. This was both mine and David's first time travelling overseas, and my first time on an airplane. We had an incredible trip to Russia. We met our daughter a week before she turned 10 months old. From the moment I first held her in my arms I loved her more than I could have ever imagined. She was our daughter and the light of our lives. We were able to spend about a week in St. Petersburg on our first trip, and we got to visit Molly at the orphange 2 times a day most days for about an hour each visit. Most of the rest of the trip was spent taking care of paperwork for our adoption. Per Russian adoption law we had to take two trips to complete our adoption. The first to meet our child and sign the papers saying we have met our child and yes we want to proceed with the adoption. The second to have a court hearing to complete the adoption. So after the end of the week we had to come home and leave our precious daughter behind. At the time we did not know how long it would be before we would be able to return to Russia and bring her home. Leaving Molly behind is the absolute hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I still get teary every time I think about it. But we did what we had to in order to get her home. It turned out we were able to take our second trip in September. We left the US on September 13, which happened to be my 24th birthday. I can not imagine a better birthday present. We were able to see Molly again on September 15th, one month after we left her at the end of our first trip. On September 17, 2003, in a courtroom in St. Petersburg, Russia Molly officially became our daughter. That was one of the happiest days of my life. We still had to stay in St. Petersburg a few more days to take care of getting Molly's paperwork and passport. On Saturday, September 20th we were able to pick her up from the orphanage and start our journey home. Our trip home took us to Moscow for a few days. We had to go to Moscow to get Molly's immigrant visa from the U.S. Embassy. We enjoyed having a few days of mostly quiet, family time to bond before the long journey home. On Thursday September 25th we came home. The second the wheels of the plane touched the ground Molly was an American citizen. Adoption is an incredible experience and an absolutely amazing way to form a family. Molly has changed our lives so much for the better. We can not imagine our lives without her. I just love watching Molly grow and learn each and every day. When she came home at 11 months of age she weighed around 12 pounds, not even on the growth charts. By her 2 year check up she was in the 75% for height and weight. Whether or not we are ever able to have biological children we do know that we will adopt again one day. It is an incredible experience we can't wait to have again.

Kaitlin'smom replied: that is so sweet. I want to adopt a child someday. Once we move to a bigger home I am going to start looking into.

ammommy replied: What a great story! She sure is thriving with you and your DH.

Boys r us replied: That was a BEAUTIFUL story! thank you for sharing!!!

DansMom replied: Thank you so much for posting this! I loved reading Molly's story. I posted recently that if we have another child, we will likely adopt for a variety of reasons (mostly related to my health and age). You sound so very happy. I'm glad you shared your experience with us.

A&A'smommy replied: What a wonderful story!!! I dream of being able to adopt one day!!

goodgollymissmolly replied: Thank you all. We love Molly so much and thank God every day for choosing her to be our daughter.

My2Beauties replied: That was so sweet, it brought tears to my eyes!

mom89 replied: Aww what a beautiful story. thanks for sharing!

~Roo'sMama~ replied: What a sweet story. Thanks for sharing!

kimberley replied: what a beautiful story! do you have any pics you can share? did you get to name her? do you plan to teach her about her russian roots? sorry if these are too personal. i am just curious.

aspenblue1 replied: Beautiful story! Thanks for sharing!

goodgollymissmolly replied: Thank you all. Kimberley, we did get to name Molly. We chose to keep her Russian name, Tatyana, as her middle name, we didn't have to we just wanted to keep that part of her heritage. Before we were married we decided that we wanted our first daughter to be named Molly. We do plan on sharing Molly's Russian heritage with her. We have a photo album of pictures from our trips to Russia, and we have the pictures of when we first met Molly and pictures of the three of us in Red Square in a collage frame on our wall. We also have several souvenir items we purchased to give Molly when she is old enough to understand and appreciate them.

kimberley replied: thanks for replying. i think it is great that you had such a wonderful experience with the adoption. it is something i may consider one day. i asked about the name because i did notice her russian middle name hope to see pics soon. check your PM