New City, New Plans

It has been some time since I last wrote, and since then my file has been moving around Kazakhstan. From Almaty it went to Uralsk. Then, before I could receive a letter of invitation to go, Uralsk began a six month periodic review of its adoption process – something that each city is put through periodically in sequence, which halts adoptions temporarily. Thus, in an attempt to expedite my file, which had been in Kazakhstan for a year by this point, it was forwarded instead to Taraz. Taraz adoptions were then impeded by two problems: Firstly, a wealthy American heiress--who had adopted from Taraz years earlier—died, re-orphaning her child, and her lifestyle came under scrutiny, leading to some negative press and caution on the part of Taraz authorities. Secondly, a Taraz judge started denying transnational adoptions. It is unclear exactly why – explanations have ranged from a general dislike on his part for children being adopted outside of the country, to concerns that there weren’t enough documented visits to those children from domestic families hoping to adopt, in order for them to comfortably be released internationally. (Kazakhstan’s law requires that children be made available domestically for adoption for six months before they are allowed to be adopted internationally, in order to promote domestic adoption. There is no law requiring a certain number of local families to have visited them first, but there may be a sentiment that this is expected). Given the difficulties in Taraz, and the fact that my file had been a long time waiting, they decided to forward it to Karaganda. Karaganda has a well established adoption program that has some distinct advantages. One advantage is that usually, it is possible to stay in the country for eight weeks or so and complete the adoption in a single trip, rather than two trips spaced a month apart. (This is because it is possible to expedite the court date; waiting for a court date is what extends the waiting period in other cities).

As chaotic as it may sound, such delays are not at all unusual in transnational adoption. The current prediction is that I will travel to Karaganda in November. Nothing is certain, but this is encouraging news.