By Tom Mitchell
LEADER TIMES
Saturday, May 3, 2008

WORTHINGTON -- Dalton and Melanie Good returned from Russia with love -- love in the form of a 15 1/2-month-old girl named Adin.

The Goods discovered that adopting a Russian child is no simple task. The process required three trips to Moscow and cost nearly $50,000.

But, they said, the process went relatively smoothly and was expedited because they used a top-notch American adoption agency specializing in Russian adoptions.

Melanie Good said they visited an orphanage near Moscow in January and first met Adin. They took a second trip in February. The combined airfare alone was more than $7,000.

That, they figured, was still cheaper than staying in Moscow for the duration of the adoption process.

Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world. A meal for two at a TGI Fridays was $80. A cup of coffee at another restaurant was $5. The Goods bought Adin a stuffed toy that might have cost $9 in the United States; it fetched the equivalent of $42 there.

On each trip, the Goods got to spend considerable time each afternoon at an orphanage getting to know Adin and interacting with her.

That is, when they weren't going to various agencies and bureaucratic offices filling out forms, Melanie Good said. Still, they got to sightsee, touring the Kremlin, Red Square and a number of Russian Orthodox churches. They learned that Adin, like many Russian babies today, was baptized Russian Orthodox.

"Not many Russian people go to church on a regular basis, except of course on holidays," Melanie Good said, "but they are very proud of their Russian Orthodox heritage."

In March, the Goods made their final trip to Moscow. This time they appeared before a Russian judge in adoption court, who granted them full custody. The couple returned to Worthington -- as a family of three -- on March 21, Good Friday.

Dalton Good said the timing of the adoption was good. He said that there is growing trend by the Russian government to encourage their own citizens to adopt Russian children rather than have them adopted out of the country.

The Goods said that adopting a Russian child was in many ways, their best choice, though the adoption process that occurred stateside was "very invasive."

"My husband is 58 and I'm 46," Melanie Good said. "We've been married 9 1/2 years and have no children. Because of our age, it would be a very long and difficult process for us to adopt an American child through an area adoption agency."

Dalton Good said a friend adopted one Russian child and was returning to adopt a second.

The Goods used the International Assistance Group adoption agency in Oakmont.

"It was the best agency we could have picked," he said. "A number of their staff are Russian or Ukrainian emigres and were familiar with a lot of the bureaucratic red tape that we'd we're warned we could run into. Like any good agency, they conduct an intensive screening of the prospective parents."

Melanie Good said the couple underwent a three-month home study conducted by Lutheran Services. The agency will follow up with regular post-placement visits during the next four years.

Good said the International Assistance Group scrutinized the couple's finances and family history. They were required to write a short autobiography. Medical lab test and physicals were also required.

"This was actually a nine-month process," Dalton Good said. "But it went quickly. Some couples we met in Russia said their pre-adoption process took 18 months to two years, so we consider ourselves very fortunate."

The Goods said they are sometimes asked if the adoption was worth the cost and effort.

They both smile, and point to a happy looking, blond-haired Adin contentedly playing with a large rubber ball. Their simple, smiling reply is: "Look."