Why Russia?

Upon making the decision to adopt, the first question many people asked was "Why Russia?" There is no real answer to this question. For us, it just "felt" right. We looked into China firm. However, one of China's requirements is that both husband and wife must be 30 years old. That knocked us out; at the time we were both 27 years old. We briefly looked into domestic adoption but knew that it wasn't for us for a variety of reasons. We glanced at other international programs available, but just "knew" that Russia is where we were supposed to go. I had always been fascinated by Russian culture and history. For Stu, Russia offered a stable program with a predictable timeline (as predictable as international adoption can be). With his CPA-mindset he always needs to have a plan and most other programs at the time were inconsistent and volatile from one month to the next.
We've never regretted that decision. With S.'s adoption, the process was close to perfect. With M.'s journey there were several bumps in the road that slowed us down, but in the end we met our son who was absolutely meant to be part of our family. There have been further bumps this time along but we're just enjoying the ride. I'm not a very spiritual or religious person but there is no doubt in my mind that we will end up with the little girl that God has chosen for our family. With both of the boy's adoptions I was so anxious about getting "the call" to come and meet them - it was constantly on my mind. This time around I'm very relaxed about the whole thing (of course, that could be because I don't have much time to think about it with my two boys running around). Of course, I'm excited about meeting her and bringing her home; I just figure that it will happen whenever she is ready for us.