News from Bulgaria: Bulgarian Bro-Love! Welcome Home Hopscotch Family!!! January 2015

Together Forever Day 2013

By Viviane Martini

Two years ago today, I traveled across Bulgaria, from the capital city of Sofia to the Black Sea coast, to pick up our little girl from the only place she'd ever known, the orphanage in Dobrich. The child I scooped into my arms forever that day was not well: significantly malnourished, severely anemic, scared, confused, and socially and emotionally starved.

Since then Emilia has found trust and love in a family that adores her.  She has become confident, adventurous, loving, and full of joy.  And yes, she has found her tongue and with that her voice (we'll kick you to the curb yet, apraxia), opening a steadily widening window into her mind.

Since that snowy November day, Emilia has found her bright smile and happiness.  In those early weeks with her, we couldn't distinguish Emilia's cry from her laughter because it all sounded the same.  Today, her giggles peal through our home every single day and tears are far and few between.

And Emilia has found her spark, her will to live, her zest for life.  She has gone from frightened, resigned and withdrawn to a cheerfully determined, spunky preschooler who won't be slowed down by her tiny size or her developmental delays.

Happy Together Forever Day, my sweet and wonderful daughter.  You are the sunshine in our universe and we couldn't imagine life without you.  Keep following your own yellow brick road and I know you will bless and be blessed along the way.

Happy Belated Birthday Emilia!

News from Bulgaria:  Happy Belated 4^th Birthday Miss Emilia!!  Under the definition of "Charm" you will see Emilia's picture.  She is full of charm and is most definitely a joyful sprite of a little girl.      

News From Bulgaria

News from Bulgaria: Congratulations and welcome home a beautiful young lady. Today she is forever the daughter of a family that cherishes and loves her to the end of the world... just as all children deserve.  We are all so happy for your family!

What I Love About Bulgarian Inter-country Adoption

By Robin Sizemore, Executive Director of Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc.

Well, many things of course.  I love how this country, though we all have flaws in our own systems, seems to really 'get it' when it comes to appropriate family recruitment. 

· Bulgaria has demonstrated an expedient child centered policy and process after diligent attempts have been made to reunite the family or place the child domestically.

· The transparency of waiting children's profiles offered publicly without identifying information to expedite the child's prospects for a future in a permanent family. 

· Bulgaria provides profiles of waiting children that often include extensive medical, social, educational and psychological assessments, along with photos and videos. 

· The Ministry of Justice is supportive when families have additional questions or need reasonable testing prior to a family determining to proceed or not with an official match. 

· The process to adopt a waiting child is clear and incredibly reliable, shorter than most countries and the travel is just two short trips to meet the child and finally to bring the child home.  Most trip stays are no longer than 5-7 days each. 

· And finally, what I REALLY love about Bulgaria's inter-country adoption is the ability to connect with your future child, after officially being matched, via Skype! 

A country that allows the intended adoptive parents to start their bonding in such a way deserves a gold medal for inter-country adoption practice!  Skype is perfect since kids are universally very tech savvy and more than ever it's a preferred way to socially connect.  This mode of connection allows for the ongoing discovery of each other while in wait.  

From the days when we brought our first child home from Georgia in 1995, there were neither cell phones nor consistent land line connections; this opportunity to connect is incredibly futuristic and so great for families.  Go figure! 

Now you see why Bulgaria deserves the gold medal.  Hopefully other countries will look to Bulgaria as a model for their own programs, which often lack the child centered impetus.  Bulgaria puts the child first in every step of the process.  If you are thinking about international adoption, you may want to learn more about our Bulgarian program.  For more information, contact info@hopscotchadoptions.org

News from Bulgaria: Welcome Home

Hopscotch welcomes home three families with their terrific children.  Two families bought home adorable girls each and another family brought home three handsome young sons!  We couldn't be happier for these three Hopscotch Families!

News from Bulgaria: 5 Princesses

Hopscotch Adoptions celebrates 5 little Bulgarian princesses being matched to three terrific families!  Twins and more...  It's a dream come true! 

News from Armenia & Bulgaria

One very proud Mom asks… "How did I get so lucky?!?!"  This photo captures a Hopscotch Happy Family.

News from Bulgaria

Two amazing kids were granted court decrees in Bulgaria today!  Congrats Hopscotch Mom!!!!!

News from Bulgaria

Found & Homeward Bound: Two Bulgarian Children Arrive to North Carolina on Easter Weekend.  Hopscotch staff member, Megan Gardinier, was honored to be a part of the welcoming party.  Congratulations to our Hopscotch family on your beautiful new family additions!   

News from Bulgaria

Successful match of two beautiful sisters to our Hopscotch family.  We are so thrilled for the girls and their new family!

News from Bulgaria

Four Hopscotch families traveled to Bulgaria this month to meet their children through our Waiting Child program.  A total of seven children were matched to these four families.  Two more families are awaiting I-800 approval to complete their adoption.  A very Merry Christmas indeed!

News From Bulgaria

Today Hopscotch received invitations for TWO families to travel and meet their future children in Bulgaria.  We never get enough of this kind news!  We'll keep you posted.   

Warning: I get cuter everyday!

Bulgaria News

Congrats to three Hopscotch families on their official match to FOUR amazing children!  These families jumped through incredible paperwork hoops to make their family dreams come true on short notice... we love the intense commitment families feel for their waiting children – it's affirming to see how much children are loved.  Love knows no boundary!

2012 Invitation: Bulgarian Adoptive Families Reunion

WHO: Families who have adopted, are submitted and waiting to adopt, or considering a Bulgarian adoption.

WHEN: June 22-24, 2012

WHERE: Winton Woods near Cincinnati, OH.

WHAT:

• Bulgarian Cultural Activities
• Arts and Crafts
• Water Activities
• Hiking
• Bonfires
• Families sharing their adoption experiences
• Kids connecting to their heritage

WHY:

• Because we have adopted, are considering adoption, or are waiting to adopt an orphan from Bulgaria.
• Because we will all have adoption experiences to share.
• Because it will be wonderful to meet and share stories
• Because it will let our little Bulgarians/Americans hang out and understand that they are not alone in their journey and assimilation into American culture.
• Because we plan to incorporate Bulgarian culture to keep our children's heritage alive.
• Because the siblings of our Bulgarian children need to hang out and share their own stories about the adoption of their Bulgarian brother(s)/sister(s).
• Because it is a great excuse to get away and to just have a... great time!

Please place your family's response in the comment section of this invite or e-mail your family's response and include the following basic information: Click here.

• Family name
• Number of adults and children
• First names, (include age & gender for children)
• Accommodation Type: deluxe cabin, camper cabin, tent camping, RV camping, hotel or other. (w/site #)

We will be sending a registration form shortly for more information.

******Please provide a status response by Wednesday March 9.********

Do not wait to make your reserations! Campground and cabins are getting booked for the June 22-24 weekend and I do not want anyone to miss festivities! If you are a "maybe" check the local hotels and reserve a room that may have a better cancellation policy than the park.

Click here for more information.

Hopscotch's Viviane Martini, Mom to a Bulgarian Princess & Armenian Prince Revisted the Ministry of Justice Statistics Today

Monday, February 20, 2012

Bulgaria Statistics Revisited
One of my readers, Lucy, left an informative comment on my post about the adoption statistics, so I wanted to make sure everyone interested could see it. I do think she is quite accurate in noting that the second column shows special needs adoption procedures of identified waiting children and they are included in the total of the first column. So, for example, of the 65 MOJ consents given for adoptions by U.S. APs, 45 were for identified waiting children with special needs and only 20 were for children referred through the main procedure. I don't know how this slipped off my radar. I guess I shouldn't do translations late at night. My apologies.

It also makes much sense that these numbers reflect final consent given by MOJ for the adoptions since the statistics are released by MOJ and those last signatures is where their involvement with the process stops.

Lastly, I was not terribly clear in my initial post in indicating that the numbers reflected in the first column are not equal to the number of children that were adopted, but rather to the number of adoption procedures. So, just to reiterate, a total of 287 adoption consents were issued by MOJ in 2011, (soon) bringing 329 children to other countries.

Here's Lucy's original comment:

"The public statistics show in fact the number of the signed consents given by the Minister of Justice, it means the dossiers that have received their signatures, but haven't still passed through Court, received the new birth certificate and Bulgarian passport. Therefore if we have any kind of statistics for the number of issued Bulgarian passports for intercountry adopted children, it will be different. In brief, these are not the numbers of the children that have been adopted by foreign AP and have left Bulgaria, but rather part of the one that have left Bulgaria in 2011 and the one that will be shortly leaving."

The second column shows the number of SN procedures. If I do remember correctly, it is included as number in the one of the first column or namely about US:

There have been 65 given consents by the Minister of Justice, including 45 for SN kids. As I think you already know, the number 65 indicates the number of the referrals/adoptive families and not the number of adopted kids, as sometimes under 1 referral/dossier we could have even 2 or more kids. It is the same for the SN procedures.

Moreover, you could see as well the share that US has taken in 2011, namely 23% /for 65 cases/, Italy - the first one is 38% /for 107 cases/."

Thank you, Lucy!

Hopscotch's Viviane Martini, Mom to a Bulgarian Princess & Armenian Prince Shared Today...

2011 International Adoption Statistics Bulgaria
Saturday, February 18, 2012

MOJ released the final statistics for international adoptions from Bulgaria in 2011. A total of 287 adoptions were completed, bringing 329 children to other countries. Here's the breakdown of adoptions by receiving country:

• Italy    107
• USA   65
• France   31
• Germany  24
• Sweden   17
• Netherlands  13
• Spain   9
• Norway   6
• Greece   4
• Canada   4
• Cyprus   3
• Switzerland  2
• Luxembourg  1
• Malta   1

The document also includes a column that I can't quite interpret with certainty. However, I think it shows the number of adoptions that have received the final MOJ approval, but the children have not yet been picked up by their parents. Those numbers are:

• Italy    18
• USA   45
• France   7
• Germany  5
• Sweden   14
• Canada   2

If I remember correctly, in 2010, there were 40 adoptions from Bulgaria to the US, so we are once again seeing an increase in children coming home.

For anyone wishing to review the original document, click here.