Reviews (10)

Interesting but annoying
This book was interesting and sucked me in quickly.It's Ostrea's diary that she kept starting from when she and her husband attempted to get pregnant.They went through fertility drugs, IUI, IVF and still could not get pregnant.They then investigated domestic adoption and ended up eventually adopting a boy from Russia.The story was touching, but I really resented her thoughts on Russia - treating it like a big dangerous, third-world country.She did concede that Moscow has some benefits that the outer regions of the country don't have, but I got tired of her attitude.Plus her insistence that they must have a white baby was pretty annoying as well.Also, the book was really poorly edited (if at all), which got annoying to notice all the errors.I'm guessing it was self-published due to the low quality of the editing.

This book will speak to many couples
This book reminds us of the powerful drive of all living things: To reproduce itself. Carrie Ostrea's experience will speak to many couples who experience infertility. They will find their own feelings and frustrations acknowledged in this poignant portrayal of the emotional, physical and sociological effects infertility has on a couple's relationship. Like Beverly Barna's book says, Infertility Sucks and we can see throughout Ostrea's book what miseries she went through. The grieving over something so fundamental as giving birth is painful to read about. But there is a bright light at the end of this tunnel: Adoption. Ostrea's story has a happy ending with good advice on adoption to boot.

Gisela Gasper Fitzgerald, author of ADOPTION: An Open, Semi-Open or Closed Practice?

Reviews (27)

VALUABLE RESOURCE!
I got this book after I was 3/4 thru the process.Boy do I wish I'd had it sooner. I highly recommend it.Definitely gives very, VERY practical advice about traveling to Russia and going thru the adoption process!

One new dad to another (buy this book, skip the rest)
Honestly you're paying $20-30K+ and you have no idea what you should be getting, doing or how. Buy the book, give it to your wife and make sure you bring it to Russia!

I don't write reviews and I rarely read reviews on amazon. But after buying the 6+ books on adoption, this was the only one we needed (Dad's opinion). Read it and take it with you to Russia, we just got back (7/21/2004) and the book was right on. Everything from the Russian documents, translated to english and certified to the free internet access on the 4th floor of the Marriot Taverskaya in Moscow.

Reviews (10)

Outstanding guide for anyone considering intl. adoption
Ms. Erichsen's updated version of How To Adopt Internationally is even better than her first version.She accurately clarifies the steps in a process that can be challenging and lengthy.She provides necessary and detailed information and answers the questions any adoptive parent needs to know.Ms. Erichsen's expertise in the field is quite apparent.The book is extremely well written, thoughtful and an absolute must read for anyone who is thinking about adopting internationally or who is in the process.

I'm glad I didn't have to go it alone...
Frankly, I didn't know where to start when I decided to try to adopt from Armenia, a country that (at the time) didn't allow agency-directed adoptions. I read this book cover-to-cover, and realized that I would need a LOT of help in order to avoid the pitfalls inherent in independent adoptions. I found a great facilitator to handle the ideosyncratic Armenian requirements, but she didn't know the ins-and-outs of the U.S. side of the equation. This book is exactly as it claims to be: a Guide to International Adoption. It breaks the process down into sequenced steps that make sense of the bureaucratic nightmare inherent in the adoption process.

If every agency was open, honest, and competent, and every country was consistent in its requirements, then books like this one wouldn't be needed. However, I feel that EVERYONE considering international adoption should be armed with the information contained in this book even if it's only used to evaluate agencies before you make your final decision. Furthermore, those choosing to adopt independantly need a guide to sort through the tons of misinformation they will encounter throughout the process.

Keep in mind that ANY info contained in this guide or any other is only the latest info available at the time of printing. Every step along the way, I checked for variations and/or changes with some recent adoptive families from my network of Armenian friends. I also relied on Internet government sites for updates on paperwork requirements.

Reviews (7)

Adopting in Russia: Your rights and the law
This is a must have book for adoption in Russia. It is well supportive of independent adoption. It covers the process of adoption in Russia in detail. The book also has a large section of Russian law, translated and explained, that is very helpful to adoptive parents. An excellent travel tool for Russian adoption.

A must have for parents considering a Russian Adoption
For anyone who is interested in an indepth understanding of Russian Law and how it related to international Russian adoption, this is the book to read!Well written, well thought out, easy to use and very informative! Irina O'Rear has written an outstanding book that explains in detail how the law works in Russia and how it applies to adoption.

Did you know adoption in Russia is free?Did you know that the Russian Law DOES NOT require two trips?Did you know there is an appeals process for adoptions that are turned down by the judge?Do you want to know if you can request a specific child in a specific area, from a specific orpahage?Irina explains the whys and wherefores of the law, and how it applies to various adoption situations.She explains the adoption process, gives a list of documents commonly needed for a Russian dossier, and explains what is involved in the court hearing.

A well written, concise, and thorough book. A must read foranyone interested in adopting from Russia. A great place to get the right answers to some tough adoption questions.

Adopting In Russia, Your Rights & the Law
A must read for anyone adopting from Russia.

From the introduction of the book: "This book has been written in order to provide the reader with basic and helpful information pertaining to Russian adoptions and Russian adoption law." There is no doubt that Irina O'Rear has managed to accomplish this in her recently published book.

Pre adoptive parents have many questions and MS O'Rear has managed to consolidate most of the answers to these questions into one book. A family going through the adoption process would be turning to this book daily to get valuable information. Some of this information can only be found in this book.

The book starts out with a general discussion on making a decision to adopt and specifically why to adopt from Russia. From there the author describes what to expect in Russia. This covers everything from how to dress, what to expect in the court hearing, and generally what to expect while sight seeing. There is a good description of the adoption process form the Russian side, which lets the parents know what is happening while they are anxiously awaiting an invitation to travel.

There is one section of the book, and I feel the most valuable section, where MS O'Rear translates excerpts of the Russian family law that pertains to adoptions. She also provides her expert commentary on each section of the law. In my work with Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption (FURA) I have repeat idly heard parents ask what the Russian laws says on certain issues. Now I have a resource that I can point them to for answers.

Besides the unique section on Russian law the author provides another unique section of useful words and phrases. Nowhere else have I seen a list like this. It is in English word order and the Russian translation is done using the English phonetic alphabet instead of the Russian Cyrillic. This is most helpful to those who don't know the Cyrillic alphabet.