SDA Breeze

The Karen (Bley) Dix and William Dix Adoption in Ukraine got off to a good start with our appointment at the SDA (formerly NAC) on September 18, 2006. Our appointment was at 2:00 PM and we were told that the agency is now seeing about 10 families per day. When they first opened on September 4th they were seeing only about 5 families per day. We spent the morning trying not too be too stressed out as we waited for this monumental appointment. We have waited over two years for this day! After carefully dressing and organizing all of the documents that they suggest you bring (passports, SDA invitation, BCIS approval, past three years W2 forms, etc) our translator picked us up at our flat and we drove to the SDA. The agency has moved to a location that is right next to St. Andrews Incline (a popular outdoor shopping market that sells local crafts, etc). It is named after St. Andrews Cathedral, a stunning church in the midst of this everyday market. Ironically, we had visited this market several times as we waited for our appointment without ever realizing that the SDA was right across the street! When we entered the SDA I was interested to see the "lists" that everyone is talking about. There is one list immediately to the left of the entry that shows the current appointments. There are no names. Appointments at the SDA are listed only by registration number. At the time of our appointment on Sept 18th, they still had not yet listed the October appointments. There is another list that is posted on the wall in the entry to the right, which indicates, by registration number, the documents that have been turned in by prospective families. This was harder for me to decipher but there were check marks and zeros and dashes, I guess indicating which applications were complete and which applications needed additional paperwork. I eagerly found our own registration number on this list and indeed discovered that it showed that we needed to renew our INS form. Fortunately, we had also realized this before we left the USA and had done so! After passing through the entry of the SDA we entered into a small waiting area and sat in chairs. There were a lot of locked doors that were entered only by staff members with special cards. We only waited for about 10-15 minutes for our appointment but it seemed like forever! While we waited there was a lot of activity in this ante-chamber--staff members going to and fro behind the locked doors. Finally, a slim, well-dressed woman approached us and said that her names was Julia. She knew right away that we were Mr. and Mrs. Dix! My oldest sister's name is Julia so I immediately felt relieved that this was one name that I would not forget! Our translator had been waiting with us this whole time but she had not really been that useful since she has not helped with any adoptions since the opening of the new SDA. In fact, when we asked her what we should expect at this appointment she said that she had no idea and she was hoping that we could tell her! At this point we left our translator behind as they are not allowed to accompany prospective parents into the appointment. The SDA now provides translators free of charge. Julia put us at ease right away and ushered us into an office where we were introduced to one of the SDA psychologists. Julia's English was excellent. We sat in a small office and prepared ourselves for a borrage of questions. The psychologist's first question was: "What is the purpose of your visit?" My husband William fielded this question and I was glad because I sort of froze at first. He said, "We are hoping to adopt." So we were off! The psychologist was very warm and straightforward throughout the interview. Julia's translation was excellent and professional. At one point toward the end of the interview the psychologist said that she felt that we would be able to provide a warm and loving home. I actually got teary-eyed! It was quite an emotional event. The whole interview lasted only about 15 minutes and was much less stressful, and much more informal than I had anticipated. In the end, we took shook hands and took pictures and were then told to come back the following day between 5-6:00 Pm for the recommendation letter from the SDA. This is the letter that allows you to visit the orphanages. Above is a picture of my husband William outside the SDA.