Russian Adoption

Today we finished the last document for a family adopting a three year old Russian girl. Needless to say, an international adoption dossier is quite an endeavor for a family to go through. This has been going on for many months and today the last document was completed. I feel like part of the family and the long focused process of bringing this child home to her new family. What a joy this has been, it is probably my favorite notary activity. This particular family has been my favorite.

The new parents have already visited Russia once to meet with the child. They expect to have a Russian court hearing within the next few weeks to make the adoption final and take their new family member home with them. The picture that was displayed to me showed a very cute blonde-headed darling.

To travel back and forth, the family has had to purchase open ended plane tickets that would allow them to change dates at the last minute depending on any circumstances with the court. At any time in this process, anything can go wrong. The amount of money and the uncertainty that a family must go through with an international adoption is quite staggering. Seeing this come to a successful close has been quite a joy.

We have performed notarizations for many adoptions, but it is really a special treat to do the entire dossier with the family. Today I'm feeling like I want to be waiting at LAX when she arrives just to take a peek and smile. I wish them the best.