The Smith Family

My husband and I had discussed adoption for years and I had always had a very strong desire to adopt even if I had biological children or not. This desire had been in my heart since I was a child.

Early in our marriage we decided that we wanted to start a family and after 4 long years of infertility treatments and repeated surgeries for Endometriosis, we did finally conceive our son Caleb. Not long after Caleb was born, we started trying once again for child number two. We tried for about a year and I even had another surgery for my Endometriosis. Neither of us wanted to go through the heartache of four more years of doctors appointments, medicines, surgeries, etc. It became very obvious that this was the time to consider adoption.

Over the 4th of July holiday in 2005; we decided this was what we wanted to do. That following work day, I called Burlington United Methodist Family Services in Charleston, West Virginia to assist me with the home study process and to guide us through the adoption process. Upon our first meeting Jennifer Brown asked if I had chosen an adoption agency for the Russia part of the adoption. Well, at this time I had done some research but was really looking for local guidance. Our social worker strongly suggested Happy Families International Center, Inc. in New York but also gave us a list of others to look at. She gave us a list of families that had worked with her on the home study side but that had also recently finalized their adoption with Happy Families. I did call several of them in the Huntington, WV area and they spoke so highly of Happy Families and their stories were so “real” and good that my mind was made up.

We found out in October that we were registered in Chelyabinsk, Russia and then found out in November (the week of Thanksgiving) that we would be meeting our beautiful angel on December 16th, just four days after her first birthday. We were so excited but fearful at the same time since our referral was “blind”. All we knew was the approximate age and female and that this precious little angel was without a family or home.

Once we arrived in Moscow, we meet some other American couples in the Moscow Airport going to Chelyabinsk to meet their future children. In all, there were about 8 of us (two couples and 1 single woman with HFIC). Our flight out of Moscow was cancelled on Sunday due to weather in Chelyabinsk so we did not arrive in our region until late Monday. As soon as we landed, Elena, our coordinator/translator got us and another couple from New York in the car and took us straight to the Ministry Of Education to receive our referrals. All we found out then was that Katya (Katerina) was living in the Troitsk orphanage and her English name was “Catherine”.

The next morning my husband and I and the other couple from New York, also with Happy Families, traveled to Troitsk to see our beautiful children. Once there, we got to meet Ekaterina (now Katerina). We spent the first hour or two playing and just spending time with her then we were able to hear her background information. When we first met her, we were so excited and fell in love instantly. She was very small and was delayed due to orphanage life. It was very apparent that what she truly needed was love, attention, vitamins, and a family.

She did have some health concerns. The first one that we noticed was that she had rickets, her brain was still growing but the body was not due to lack of nutrition. The medical reports showed that she also had a deformed gallbladder and that she was listed as a 4 in overall health with one being the healthiest and five being the worst.
On March 15th, 2006 we were blessed enough to get to return to Chelyabinsk, Russia to attend court. Court was wonderful! The Judge liked our family very much. I had made a scrap book of our family life at home and pictures I had taken in December with Katya to show that we would be forming one family but her background would remain an important part of our life. The judge loved the scrap book and everyone in the court room remarked on how much Katya looks like my husband Shannon.

Katya (Katerina) is now about to turn 4 years old on December 12, 2008. When we first returned, she was prescribed vitamins by the Pediatrician, her gallbladder was found to be perfect, and she was put on a diet of whole milk. Her status then on the American growth chart was in the 5th percentile. She is now in the 75th percentile. The week we got home, she met with an organization called “West Virginia Birth to 3”, they met with her two to three times a week until she was speaking at the level that was appropriate for a one to two year old. Right before her second birthday they decided that her sessions needed to be discontinued due to her progression and at that time she was a head of her age level in terms of speech. She is a head of her class in preschool and socially, mentally, and physically perfect.

She is now trying to write her name, she knows her alphabet; she can count to 20 and loves to ride her bike, swim underwater, and ballet dance. She loves to hear about Russia and says she wants to go there someday. Her favorite picture is one of her on her second birthday with her Russian traditional outfit on. It is the most beautiful picture you will ever see. She has told her friends at school that she was born Russia and that God sent her father and I there to find her. She also knows that a woman named Olga had her in her tummy and that she is a very special woman. One day we hope to return to Russia, along with another family that we are very close to who’s daughter is also from Chelyabinsk, to show her where she began her life and just how lucky and precious of a little girl she is.

None of this would have been possible without Happy Families International Center, Inc. and Helen, our coordinator. They were truly the most professional and prepared agency. We hope that children in the orphanages of Russia continue to find loving homes abroad and in the United States of America.

Jaime Smith
The Smith Family
Lesage, WV