The Harlan Family

A Ukraine Adoption Story

Our story begins in 2001 when we began trying to have children. We were unsuccessful trying on our own, so we began seeing a fertility specialist. There were several rounds of pills and shots with no success. EC (my husband) was adopted, and we had always wanted to adopt, but thinking about it and doing it are two different things.

We began researching adoption agencies in the summer of 2007. Christian World Adoption was very impressive, and we submitted our application in September 2007. All the paperwork seemed very daunting, and it did take me several months to complete everything. EC is a farmer in west Texas, and it is very hard for him to be gone during certain times of the year. This means that we were trying to plan our trip around his schedule, which caused us delays.

After what seemed like eternity, we received our appointment and travel date in January 2009. We would be leaving February 20th for Kiev, Ukraine. This was the longest month of waiting and the most stressful. We were unsure of what and how much to pack. It was winter in Ukraine and still winter here, but winters there are much harsher than in West Texas. I was preparing for the worst, but Ludmilla assured us that you could buy whatever you needed there, and she was right. We saw many American brands just with Ukrainian labels.

The flight was long, boring and filled with much anticipation. A representative of CWA met us at the airport, and he took us to meet our facilitator in Kiev. Then we went to the market to exchange money, buy food, and then on to our apartment. It was very nice and very comfortable. All we wanted to do was sleep.

The next day was Sunday, and we took a walking tour of the city. Kiev is beautiful with so much history. We toured the Lavra, a monastery, Independence Square and several other monuments. Monday was our appointment day, so we turned in early but couldn’t sleep for the excitement.

Monday we were off to the SDA. We were very nervous, but we had nothing to fear. Our facilitator was amazing and took care of everything for us. He asked us what we wanted, a boy or girl. EC said boy, and he began looking at the referrals of little boys in our age range: 14 to 30 months. He handed us the paper work and picture of Roman, who is now our son. He was 26 months old and beautiful. We were kind of speechless, we thought that there would be more to it, but he said, “look at the picture, this is your son.” I was hooked; he looked like the baby pictures of my older brother and me only with brown eyes.

After this we went out to eat with our facilitator and another couple that we met who were also working with CWA. EC tried all the different kinds of food that they brought out. I was not so adventuresome. That night we ate at McDonald’s with our new friends. Yes, you heard me right, McDonald’s.
Tuesday was a very long day. At 3 PM we all went back to the SDA to receive our permission to travel to see our children. After that we went our separate ways; we were taking the 11PM overnight train to Dnipropetrovsk to meet with our facilitator in the region. We traveled by car the rest of the trip to Zaporozhye where we would meet our beautiful boy.

Wednesday was another long day. We were tired from the train ride. Neither of us had ever ridden on a train before. It was very nice, and we had our own cabin to sleep in and relax. After the drive to Zaporozhe, we went straight to the orphanage to met Roman and get started on the paperwork if we liked him after meeting him. He was so precious and shy. He rocked back and forth on his feet because he was nervous, but after just one short meeting, he began to respond to us. From the short meeting we went to the notary to start the court documents to ask for permission to adopt Roman. This meant that we had to decide on his new name. We really hadn’t given names much thought, because we had already picked out the middle name, which he would later be called, but we needed a first name. We threw out suggestions at one another and finally settled on keeping his original name, Roman. His new name would become, Roman Tel Harlan. EC and I got to return to the orphanage ourselves that afternoon for our second visit. We played, and he got to know us better.

From this point on we could see Roman Tel every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. He began to really open up and smile when he would see us come in the room to play with him. We brought little snacks from the US for him, and he loved them. Roman began to pick up some English right away; MORE became his favorite new word.

Our court date was set for the following Tuesday. We spent the entire day running around getting things signed, notarized and his birth certificate changed. EC signed that as his first official act as his father, and I signed for the passport as my first act as his mother. It is an amazing feeling when you get to do something official for your child for the first time. Wednesday we picked Roman Tel up from the orphanage. He was a little sad, but he felt comfortable enough with us that he only shed a few tears and was very good for us on the ride back to the hotel where we waited to take the cab to catch the train back to Kiev.

In Kiev Thursday, we were met by another facilitator who took us to the American clinic so that Roman Tel could be checked out. You can’t leave the country with an adopted child that hasn’t been seen and checked out at the American clinic. From there we went to the American Embassy to start the paperwork for Tel’s Visa. We went back the next day to pick it up. They keep very strict hours and appointments; you don’t want to be late. But our driver was wonderful and accounted for all of the Friday afternoon traffic. Saturday we flew home and were so excited to be taking our new son to meet his new relatives. They were all so happy to see him. Customs in NY was smooth, and we weren’t the only families on the plane who had adopted. It was amazing to hear how long they had been in Ukraine. Some for seven weeks, but they adopted more than one child.

EC and I were very blessed, our adoption went faster than normal. We planned for a month or possibly longer, but we only ended up being in country for 15 days. All of our paperwork and court date went very smoothly. Our facilitator in region was absolutely amazing; she was very nice. All we had to do was call her, and she would talk to whomever we needed her to or answer any of our questions. Actually, all of the facilitators and drivers were wonderful. You will not find nicer and more helpful people.

We have been home for several weeks now and things couldn’t be better. We are meshing as a family, and Tel is doing well. He learns so quickly and is adapting well - much better than we are, going from no children to a two year old, but I wouldn’t trade a minute of our time in Ukraine and here for anything. We have fallen head over heels for our little boy, Roman Tel.