We started our homestudy while Alyona was here. We were thinking Ukraine at the time and we put boy or girl with a huge age range down. We wanted to make sure we covered her age range just in case she was available at the time in Ukraine. But, as I have talked about before, it didn't work out for our family going out of birth order. So, again, the same question gets asked "What now?" We still pressed forward with our Homestudy.

Which by the way...can I say that we had the BEST Social Worker ever!. She was and is the best that is out there. We used Nathanson Adoption Services

Helene, who is the founder and owner of Nathanson has been a God send to us. Both her and Jennifer. So, if you are looking for a Homestudy Agency to use, you don't need to look any further than them.

Jennifer (our Social Worker) spent a lot of time in our house asking us about our lives, our children, our thoughts on adoption. A Homestudy is not inspecting your home to see if you have dust. But, it is a way for them to gage who you are, where you came from, your values, can you financially support a new child, etc. Of course, it is scary at first. But, having someone like Jennifer puts your mind at ease. She is now considered a friend of ours.

Then, there is this a form called the I-600A that we sent ahead before the Homestudy was done. I considered it as getting in line until the Homestudy was ready. The 600-A is a form from the US. Citizenship and Immigration Services and you complete this before you have identified a child or even if you have identified one. Then, you get an appointment from the Government to get your FBI fingerprints done.

By this point, we have already had our local, state and now coming up on our FBI fingerprints done. :) But, there is something special about having the acceptance letter (called the I-171H) come in. But, that comes a little later.

During all of this...we are now assuming we are going to Ukraine and adopting an unknown child. UNTIL....that fateful day that I joined a Yahoo group.....