Lassiters (L-R): Jax, Ethan, Jill, Katya, and Justin

The Lassiter Family

Ukraine Adoption Story Update...

Upon returning from Ukraine with our oldest son, Jax, in November 2004 we knew that our family was not yet complete. As he continued to grow and learn and develop into the joyful, loving little boy he is today, we felt God calling us back to Ukraine to adopt another child. We quickly initiated the adoption process not knowing that we would wait almost three years before seeing our daughter for the first time. During our first adoption the political strife in Ukraine caused us delays while we there in country, this time the political issues caused delays while we were still waiting at home. Shortly after submitting our dossier we were notified that Ukraine was “closed”. The temptation of completing our adoption more quickly by transferring to another country was not enough to pull us away from the country and children that we had come to love so dearly. While we waited for Ukraine to resume processing adoptions God blessed us with the birth of our youngest son, Ethan, reminding us of the true wisdom in the commonly quoted phrase “God’s perfect timing”. Almost a year later we finally got the notice that we had been approved to travel to Ukraine in September 2008 to meet our daughter, the little girl that we knew had been waiting for us, although we had never even heard her name.

Our second trip to Ukraine was different from our first in virtually every way, except for one thing, the incredible moment that we first met our child. Unlike our sons that we got to see grow from babies into little boys, our daughter was already a beautiful little girl full of personality when we met her. Less than two months before her third birthday Katya walked into the room where we waited. She greeted us with a huge smile that got even bigger the moment she saw the toys we had brought for her. There was no doubt that this was our daughter that we had waited so long to meet. We spent weeks in Ukraine visiting with Katya and learning more about her and the way she lived, as well as experiencing life living like locals and making new friends in the small city she is from.

Hannah Katerina was born on November 18, 2005 and legally became our daughter on September 12, 2008. On October 2 we finally arrived back in New York. It was a joyous moment when our entire family was finally united and Katya met her brothers for the first time. Now as we reflect back it is hard to imagine the time before she and Ethan were laughing and playing together like best friends. Katya has faced many physical and emotional health challenges since coming home but through them all she inspires us with her happy, outgoing personality, and she grows stronger in every way as the days pass by. We praise God for His abundant blessings on our growing family.

Lassiter Family First Story

Our adoption story begins in August, 2003 when our son was born in Kherson, Ukraine. Though we did not know him yet, God knew that he was to be our son and throughout the long adoption process we took comfort in this. In November, 2003 we decided to pursue an adoption that we had been thinking and praying about for years. Though we were just barely old enough to meet the minimum age and marriage requirements we knew that it was God’s will for our family to grow through adoption.

As we moved through the ‘paper pregnancy’ there were many ups and downs and seemingly unending waiting, but nothing to match what we would experience after arriving in Ukraine on November 1, 2004. We embarked on our trip with excited anticipation of experiencing the culture of our sons’ birthplace. We spent our first two days in Kiev taking tons of pictures and soaking in all that we could, never imagining that we would have two more weeks of waiting before we would even hear our son’s name for the first time. During this time of uncertainty we were able to learn so much about Ukraine, the people, the culture, and the revolution!

On November 16 we met our son, Vladimir, for the first time and this is when our new life began. He was so tiny and a little bit sick and scared, but had the biggest most alive brown eyes full of hope. Every day Andre, our attorney, and Leanna, his nurse, took us to the hospital to visit him, and the day that we walked in his room to the reception of a big smile from our son was the most incredible day we will ever remember. Jackson Vladimir was born on August 30, 2003 and legally became our son on November 26, 2004, but we know that God made him for our family and our family for him from the day that he was born. Before we even returned to the United States he was already growing and learning and full of life, and every day he grows more into his own little person, loving his new puppy and new home and parents who have loved him since before we even met.

Justin, Jill & Jackson Lassiter