Answers from the director of Global Adoption Service, Inc. in Moscow, to some commonly asked questions from adopting individuals and families.]

Q. If homeland Russians have first choice of children, does that minimize the number of healthy infants for international adoption?
A. Not really, because the number of families in the Russian population who are willing to adopt is lower than the number of children available for adoption. Russian families are small, usually no more than two children, yet modern birth control methods are not readily available. Thus, there are a larger number of children available for adoption per capita than in most western countries.

Q. How prevalent is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?
A. It does exist. But my opinion is that it is no more prevalent in Russia than for orphaned children in most other countries.

Q. What is the time period from submitting our paperwork to referral, then from referral to travel?
A. From submitting paperwork to referral, it depends on the region. For most regions, maybe six to eight months for kids under one year - shorter for older children, almost immediate for special needs children. From referral to travel, it depends again upon the region. For most regions, maybe one or two months; it takes a little time to get all the paperwork prepared for your arrival, and for you to prepare to come.

Q. My wife and I are about three weeks away from our second trip to Moscow to pick up our son. Could you please let us know what the procedure will be when we get there?
A. My answer depends upon whether you are picking up your child in Moscow itself or in one of the regions. In Moscow, you will follow a procedure something like this:

Arrive at Moscow Sheremetyevo II Airport.
Go through passport check, one at a time.
As you leave customs, find your coordinator waiting patiently, holding your name on a large cardboard box cover.
Meet your host family at their apartment or check into the hotel.
Try out your Russian.
Meet your adoption coordinator and discuss details of the day.
Go to the orphanage and pick up your child!
Hold your child. Forget about everything else!
Give gifts to the orphanage director.
Complete a short thirty-minute exam of the child for INS, then file and sign forms.
Visit the passport photo shop next to the American Embassy.
Wait in an extremely cramped room with twenty other couples and their children until your name is called for your visa appointment.
Meet the embassy worker in charge of your case.
Visit the largest MacDonald's in the world on Arbat Street.
Come back at exactly 5 P.M. that day and pick up the child's visa.
Sleep a wonderful night with your new child near you.
Rise and pack.
Be taken to the airport.
Watch Moscow disappear, as you rise into the clouds with your new family.