Update

Our dossier was sent to Russia yesterday. We were hoping to have it in Russia and already translated by May 1 - before the two week stretch of holidays - but we feel good about the fact that at least it's on its way. Now that our dossier is submitted we need to do the following:

• look into travel arrangements (flights, visas, etc.)
• contact an IA (international adoption) doctor
• choose a name for our child

There's not too much we can do about the travel arrangements, since we don't know our dates yet. But we've heard that some airlines offer 'adoption fares' which would allow us to change our travel plans with little or no fee, if needed. Of course, these fares would be higher than economy tickets, but would offer savings in the long run if our trips are extended while we're in Russia. Definitely worth looking into. I don't think we can get our visas until we have an invitation to travel. As far as the IA doctor, these doctors specialize in international adoptions and help adoptive parents decipher the medical charts from other countries. Apparently, the Russian medical reports can be pretty scary - if you don't know how to read them. Our agency requires us to consult with an IA when we receive a referral. We need to take his/her opinion into consideration when deciding whether or not to accept the referral. We plan to contact a few IA's next week to inquire about their fees and services. As for choosing a name, well, we're not even close!  

We're leaning more and more towards Kaliningrad. I've joined the Yahoo! Kaliningrad Adoption and the FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption) chat groups in order to learn a bit more about adopting from this region. Again, all I've heard are good things. People keep mentioning how well the kids are cared for, how healthy they are, and how well they've adjusted to their new families. These, of course, are our top concerns and we want to do all we can to ensure that our child has the best possible start in life - all things considered. So, what's an extra flight? We know we shouldn't generalize and assume our experience in Kaliningrad will be as positive as all those we've heard about, but we like the odds. And kids are a gamble no matter how they come to you, right? At least, that's what we hear... Our coordinator in the US has returned from her vacation, and we have a phone call scheduled with her next week to discuss the possibility of Kaliningrad. We were hoping to talk with her yesterday, but she wanted to make sure she had the latest updates before talking with us. So, she's looking into a few more things (we gave her a long list of questions), and we'll touch base next week.

Still waiting for the the I-171H form from Hong Kong.