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grerp: the PERSONAL side of AAR Rachel
Another satisfied customer
posted Friday, 10 October 2003
I talked to another woman last night who'd adopted three siblings through Child Link back in 2000. Apparently the agency was very new then. She'd started off with a different agency and found it very hard to work with. They wouldn't return her phone calls, emails, etc. So she switched to Child Link and found it to be much more personal in approach. Jean said Child Link is basically a two-woman operation, Laury Baars and a social worker named Olga in Russia. Laury lived in Russia for five years and did humanitarian work in orphanages there before starting her agency. I've heard only good things about Laury from both of the women I've talked to. Jeannie said she was a "saint." She's now placed about 70 Russian children with American families, and she knows exactly what she wants for them and how to make it happen. Again, I got the sense from talking to Jean that Laury would be upfront with us about what she could or couldn't do - that J. and I wouldn't just be strung along with promises.
Jean said that the orphanages can't offer a ton of personal attention or very good nutrition, but they are a stable environment, so I shouldn't fear abuse or real attachment problems. She said the kids she saw and her own kids seemed to have it better in a Russian orphanage than the American foster care system. At the very least it's stable and the workers care about their kids.
The American foster care system is just such a tragedy. I feel awful for the kids lost in it. I think the central problem of our system is that the American justice system focuses on the rights of the biological parents and what they are entitled to instead of what the children need. The parents are given every opportunity to get their sh*t together while the children are bounced from one foster family to the next. I know a lot more American families would be willing to take foster care kids if they had hope of adopting them and making a permanent difference in their lives. But the system won't let them.
Sigh.
On a more upbeat note, I think I am ovulating - and we didn't miss this time.
Jean said that the orphanages can't offer a ton of personal attention or very good nutrition, but they are a stable environment, so I shouldn't fear abuse or real attachment problems. She said the kids she saw and her own kids seemed to have it better in a Russian orphanage than the American foster care system. At the very least it's stable and the workers care about their kids.
The American foster care system is just such a tragedy. I feel awful for the kids lost in it. I think the central problem of our system is that the American justice system focuses on the rights of the biological parents and what they are entitled to instead of what the children need. The parents are given every opportunity to get their sh*t together while the children are bounced from one foster family to the next. I know a lot more American families would be willing to take foster care kids if they had hope of adopting them and making a permanent difference in their lives. But the system won't let them.
Sigh.
On a more upbeat note, I think I am ovulating - and we didn't miss this time.
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