We're going to Perm!

[Mrs. Krispe again] Our home study, while not finalized, is approved by our agency (CHSFS). I guess they want some minor writeup revisions to make sure it's rock solid when it is submitted to USCIS. That's good, actually. I've been reading from others who had to get their social worker to revise & resubmit their home study, and that would be uber-stressful. CHS works with hundreds of families, so I'm confident that they know what they're doing & will make sure it's right. They're definitely earning their fees!

I've also read stories from others having all kinds of miscellaneous issues with paperwork & whatnot. It makes me realize that we chose wisely. So far, there has been so much clarity about what papers we need to provide when, where, to whom, etc. When we have questions, they respond quickly and (so far) accurately. It's still a lot of work, but not as much uncertainty as I've heard from others going through this.

I was a little worried at first. I thought their policy about maintaining birth order was too strict. Cerri spends time (even overnight) with cousins who are older than her all the time. If anything, she's most likely to feel a loss of status as the "baby" of the family. But after thinking it through more fully, we realized that it is not equivalent. After all, Cerri's cousins have always had access to plenty of food, mental & physical stimulation, and just one consistent culture, language, parents, etc. An adopted child, even if they are older than Cerri, is likely to be smaller & in need of some developmental catch-up. If that child is actually older than Cerri, this could cause added stress and generate some resentment between the children. (Obviously, helping our children bond together is one of our highest priorities.) So, after considering all that, we're now in favor of maintaining birth order for our adoption, but I really respect that CHS let us make the final decision on that issue.

Similarly, while they "assigned" us to our region of Russia, I know that we could ask for a different region if we wanted to (within the areas where CHS has a working relationship). But we've been gathering information about Perm since yesterday, and we're actually pretty excited about it. The city looks fairly picturesque, being on the banks of the Kama River & the foothills of the Ural mountains. I'm also impressed by what I've read of the university and the cultural opportunities there.

Should it matter what the region is like where our child(ren) is/are adopted from? Well, it doesn't matter in terms of how much we'll love our child(ren) or what s/he is capable of achieving in life. But I believe it enriches a child's life when their forever family has a genuine interest in their birth culture. And this is much more tangible & specific than a general appreciation of Russia. Heheh, the adoption is not even all that close to complete, and I'm already excited about bringing them back for a birth culture tour! :)