What Is Adopt Ukraine (adoptukrainesite.wordpress.com)?

Updated

Adopt Ukraine is a personal website run by an American family who adopted a son from Ukraine in the summer of 2000. It shares their independent adoption experience and offers free information for families considering adopting from Ukraine. The site is not an agency, facilitator, or lawyer, and it states it is not affiliated with any of these. It also states it does not take money for any services or information provided. If you are looking for a licensed professional to manage an adoption, this site is not that. If you want to read one family's account and general orientation material before deciding whether to pursue an independent adoption from Ukraine, it is relevant.

What the site offers

The site describes itself as a way to help families who cannot have children biologically find their "forever children" without spending beyond their financial means. Based on the page content, its material includes:

  • Our Adoption Timeline – a chronological account of the family's adoption process
  • Our Costs – what the family spent
  • Fundraisers – fundraising information
  • Photos – adoption, orphanage, and sightseeing photos
  • People and Culture – background on Ukraine
  • Adoption Info – general adoption information
  • About Ukraine, Language Tips, Markets, Metric Helpful Links – practical orientation material for traveling and living in Ukraine
  • Ukrainian Angels – a linked resource

The family explains they were connected with other families who had adopted or were in the process of adopting from Ukraine through Cathy Harris, who had gone through a difficult adoption herself and dedicated herself to advising and connecting families.

Important limitations to keep in mind

The site is explicit about its own limits, and you should take those statements at face value:

  • Not a professional service. The operators state they are not an agency, facilitator, or lawyer, and are not affiliated with any of these.
  • No fees. They state they do not take money for any services or information provided.
  • Information may be outdated. The site says the information is public knowledge and may be outdated, that some things have changed and others have not, and that readers should speak with people who have more recent knowledge.
  • Dated content. The visible archive is from October 2011, and the adoption experience described is from 2000. Adoption rules, costs, and procedures in any country change over time, so treat the specifics as historical rather than current.

How to use it

  1. Read the "Our Adoption" account and the timeline to understand what an independent adoption from Ukraine looked like for one family.
  2. Review the costs page as a historical reference point, not a current quote.
  3. Use the Ukraine orientation pages (language tips, markets, metric conversions) as general travel background.
  4. Before acting on anything, verify current requirements with sources that have more recent knowledge, as the site itself advises.

Who it is for

This site is most useful if you are in the early, exploratory stage of considering an adoption from Ukraine and want a first-hand narrative plus free orientation material. It is not a substitute for current legal or agency guidance, and it should not be treated as a current, authoritative source on Ukrainian adoption rules or costs.