May 27, 2004

Adoption Adventure Network offers families a chance to host Russian orphans

By Miranda Schultz
Staff Writer

Almaden residents Chuck and Joanne Bedekovich are exploring the possibility of adoption, and they were recently given a unique opportunity to experience a houseful of children for three weeks through the Adoption Adventure Network.

The childless couple hosted three Russian orphans in their home, courtesy of a program that the Adoption Adventure Network puts together twice a year.

The program enables families interested in adoption to experience firsthand what it is like to adopt children. The program works with Russian orphanages and at the end of the three weeks, the host families have the option to adopt the children.

“It was a wonderful experience. The children were absolutely wonderful. So full of life, they were just really good kids. It was so much fun to watch them experience things in America,” says Joanne.

Throughout the three-week “American Culture” vacation, the Adoption Adventure Network supplies a day camp for the children to make it easy on the host families. At the day camp, they learn English skills and create arts and crafts. The Adoption Adventure also provides around-the-clock translation services because the children speak Russian. The funds for this experience are provided through donations and fees collected from families when a child is adopted. Even with the language barrier, Joanne says picture books are provided and many different people are available to call to aid with translation. “It really isn’t difficult at all.”

Russia is second only to China in its number of orphans. The Adoption Adventure Network provides this unique experience, which can count for the first visit out of two if the host family decides to adopt.

David Avilla, the executive director of the Adoption Adventure Network, says that sometimes the concerns of our domestic adoption agencies hinder the adoption process and make it more difficult for families to adopt.

”In Russia, the children have a really grim future,” said Avilla. “I don’t want to minimize American orphans at all. For a family to adopt a child from Russia, they’re really ransoming a child from a hopeless future.”

According to Avilla, half of the orphans in Russia become orphans because both parents are deceased. A quarter of them are from single women and the other quarter is from abuse and neglect. The number of orphans in Russia is approaching two million, and has nearly doubled in the past five years. A third of all of the orphans in the world are in Russia.

Avilla says they focus on Russia because that is the only country that allows children to come to America for extended visits. About 93 percent of the Russian children who participate end up getting adopted by their host families. The children are not told that adoption is an option.

“The children are the weakest in society, when it’s a life or death struggle, they suffer,” says Avilla, who has adopted five Russian children ages 9, 11, 12, 13, and 17.

Chuck and Joanne have lived in Almaden for just a year. The described the visit as “a very warm and loving experience. My husband and I aren’t able to have children, and the uniqueness with this program is that with most adoption agencies, you don’t get the opportunity to see how a child will work for you in your home. We would definitely do it again and would encourage anyone thinking about starting a family or extending their family to think about this option.”

The youthful visitors that blessed Chuck and Joanne with this unique and enlightening experience were Artem, 11; Victoria, 10; and Vladimir, 7. Joanne said she and her husband enjoyed watching the children and learning their personalities, also watching their reaction to American culture.

“Living in the orphanage, they are cared for by many people. They don’t get much one-on-one attention and are very much on a schedule and very regimented,” she says. While visiting the Bedekovich’s, the children were very good at completing their chores, such as making their bed and setting the table.

When and if the families decide to adopt, The Adoption Adventure helps with the mounds of paperwork. The process can be lengthy, as with any adoption, and the average cost of adopting a child from Russia is $28,000. About 60 percent of the amount arises from the necessary filing of paperwork and translation costs.

First, a certified social worker will visit and interview the interested couple to complete a home study process. The social worker determines if the home environment will be adequate for a child.

Since the childrens’ three-week stays count as one visit out of a necessary two, the prospective parents must make a two-week trip to Russia to undergo extensive interviews by a Russian judge.

Hosting children through the Adoption Adventure Network doesn’t cost much money. The funds for the experience are provided through donations and fees collected from families when a child is adopted. According to Joanne, “You’re only responsible for making sure the children are fed and that they get to day camp,” she says. “They don’t eat much really, they’re like little birds!”

Avilla hopes to expand this nonprofit 501 C-3 company in hopes to help more children live happier lives.

“Adopting one or a few of these children offers eternal consequences. They’re having their futures changed from hopelessness to hopefulness,” says Avilla.