Complaint sent to The Adoption Guide
We set out to adopt two children and found the two. Then a month later Scott Banks calls me at work to inform me that one of the girls has a sister that will have to be adopted with her. He apologizes because he was not aware of this. We decide to adopt three because we couldn't face turning down one referral. Later we saw the girl's sister listed with another facilitation service under the same last name as her sister.
Several travel delays. Originally we asked if we could travel in the summer since I was a teacher and would be off. No problem according to Lana Arnold. We did not travel until 10-01 after waiting all summer for word. Communication was extremely poor. We would have to call them to find out new information.
Once in Kazakhstan our attorney, Yackov Dvorskey, left the country to Azerbajan to bring back a car. We were told by his wife Ana that he may not be back for court but not to worry becuase everthing was completed and court was a formaility. He did show up for court and had no problems.
Upon arrival at the US Embassy in Kazakhstan, we learned that one of our daughters had a prolapsed heart valve and was never informed in country. She had been taken to a hosptial for a week and we were never told.
Upon return home two of my daughters (the sisters) have special needs. My now 6 year old has emotional problems and had to be hospitalized in Nov of 2002. Called Scott Banks to see if we could get more information regarding her medical history. Scott said he would check (this was Friday, Nov. 8 2002) and give me a call on Monday Nov. 11, 2002 by 12pm. Never received a call and have not heard from him again. Her sister who is now 5 has FAE and will recieve speical education services. I can not help but wonder if they knew this in country but didn't want to tell us for fear we would not adopt. I really suspect that they knew about the possible needs because of the call claiming my oldest had a sibling that they never knew about.
After we arrived home, I contacted the attorney about the possiblilty of another birth sibling becoming available for adoption. I received an email stating that the mother was not to be trusted and was known around Pavlodar and was not the type to raise children. This was the first red flag that led us to learn that our daughters probably suffer from FAE. I still have this email and can forward it to you by request.
After much support by other professionals (attachment therapist, p-docs, speech therapist and respite care) we are on our way to becoming a functioning family. I am truly grateful for our children but sometimes wonder how we are going to pay for all of this much needed support. I would not recommend using this agency and am considering going public with my story, but I am concerned about backlash from them. It might be too much to handle right now.