The Jasinski Family

There are many steps and hurdles in the process of adoption. However, in our case, the hurdles began before we ever met. In July of 1995, I became acutely ill with kidney failure. After my doctor carefully explained the process of dialysis and eventual transplantation, she asked if I had any questions. My one question was “can I still have children?” A concrete answer would come years later from a far away place.

In November of 1995, I met my husband Brian on a blind date. In December of the same year, my sister Heather selflessly donated a kidney to me. Brian and I married in October of 1997 and had high hopes for a family. However, after 5 years of marriage and a miscarriage, it became clear that it was a mistake for me to risk everything to bear a child.

On May 19, 2003, it hit me that not only should we adopt but we should adopt from Russia. When Brian got home that evening, I approached him with the idea of Russian adoption. Within 24 hours, we were registered with CWA and the process began.

In December of 2003, we met Whit and Anna in Tyumen, Russia. The moment we saw them, we knew nothing could keep us from bringing them home. We had a database problem with Anna and were told we could not bring her home until April, 2004. We were given the option of waiting to adopt Whit but quickly decided to make an extra trip and get him sooner. Paul Whitaker Jasinski (then 18 months old) became our son on January 29, 2004 and Anastasia Marie Jasinski (then 22 months old) became our daughter on April 8, 2004.

Our children are now 2 years old and are absolute blessings. People often ask how they are adjusting and I tell them, “they are adjusted.” It seems as if they have always been with us and, in my heart, they have.

We thank Heather for the gift of life that allowed us to dream, our family for the gift of love that allowed us to act on our dreams, Tracy and CWA for the gift of support to realize our dreams, our children for the gift of happiness and fulfillment, and God for answering the question posed long age with the resounding answer, “Yes you can have children!”

Brian & Allison Jasinski