We adopted independently (with the help of Cathy Harris) and it was a great experience.  They whole adoption cost us around $11,000 and remember that was for 2 kids.  It is so much cheaper to go independently.  You just have to make sure that you pick a good facilitator.  Cathy actually works just like an agency, you just don't pay the high prices.

We went to Ukraine wanting to get 2 children under the age of 3 - (actually, secretly we both wanted under the age of 2) - one of each sex!  I wanted an infant - hopefully around 6 months and the other child, I wanted to be at least 9 months older.  After we arrived in Ukraine, our facilitator met us at the airport and drove us to the Tourista Hotel.  Very different from American's Hotels.  The beds are tiny - and lumpy!  We met our facilitator that would travel with us and after they left, we settled down for the night.  (Though we ventured to the restaurant attached to the hotel and ate something like Chicken Kiev)

The next day, we went to the NAC (The National Adoption Center - it is the only 'agency' in Ukraine that deals with adoptions.  They have a database of all the children that are in the orphanages around the country) at around 9:00 - it was a Wednesday when we went and there was only one other couple there.  You'll hear all different stories about Ms. Kunko (the old adoption director) - here's ours:  We bought flowers for her and I presented them to her when we were ushered into her room.  She smiled and said thank you and after looking at us for a few moments we were able to go look at the books of available children.  She never talked to us other than to say thank you and never asked one question.  You'll hear of other people getting grilled by her.  She was in a very good mood when she saw us.  

We were ushered into a room with two women - one was the dreaded Irina (no longer there) and the other was Galina.  These women were very Coiffed.  They looked better than I do any day of the week.  I could just imagine how long it takes them to get ready in the morning.  They sat us in front of a desk and our facilitator told Galina what we wanted and what medical issues we could deal with and she proceeded to flip through a few books of photos.  Let me amend that, she actually WHIPPED through.  It was hard for me to see the pictures - though I was sitting on the end of my chair and leaning forward.  She was going through them so fast - and would slow down every once in a while and pull out a picture.  She piled the pictures on the desk.  Meanwhile there was an older couple there - (both looked to be in their 50's)  (I'm in my late thirties and my husband is early forties) - they were there for the 3rd time and Irina (she was showing them books) was not too happy with them.  She kept yelling at them.  I asked Sveta (our facilitator what they were saying and she said she would tell me later - - - - she was saying - NO YOUNG CHILDREN!  NO HEALTHY CHILDREN!!)  I felt bad for the people - they looked stressed.  I realized that I was paying too much attention to them and forced myself to pay attention to Galina.  I was trying to look my kindest and most co-operative - though don't ask me if I succeeded.  She had three piles of pictures - 6 in one, 2 in another and 2 in another.  She said, "Which orphanage do you want to go to?"  Christopher and I looked at each picture in the piles.  The first pile had all 2 and 3 year olds - only one girl; the second pile held a 2 year old boy and a 3 year old girl with cleft palate and the last pile had a 6 month old girl with bi-lateral cleft lip and palate and an 18 month old boy. 

We talked it over and decided to go to the orphanage that had the 6 month old - Cleft was an issue that we both felt able to handle.  I prepared myself by going the the widesmile websight and boy did that help.  We were in the photo room for less than a half hour.  You will hear stories of others being in that room for hours and being able to flip through the book themselves.  That was not our experience.  We gave our gifts and then we left to obtain tickets to the Donets'k region.  We were scheduled to leave that afternoon - we upgraded our train tickets - I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT.  It was nice being in our own compartment.  Sveta had to share with a man - though she didn't seem to mind.  The train ride wasn't that bad.  You sleep through most of it.  The bathrooms are not the greatest but I used to be a camp counselor and had to go in an outhouse - and it wasn't as bad as that.  Just don't drink a ton - and you'll be fine.

When we reached Donets'k - we were met by our driver - VOVA - he works from that region - he was a nice guy!  He took us to the orphanage.  We met with the director and the head doctor and they took us to a big room with lots of chairs - then they started to bring in the children.  (While we were at the AC - after we picked out what orphanage we were to go to - we waited out in the hall and Sveta told us that they were calling the orphanage to see if there were other children available - there was 4 more that we could see - yippeee!)  They first brought in the 18 month old - (the picture at the AC was when he was an infant) - and I knew right off the bat that he wasn't our son.  He was very afraid and the only reason he came to me was that they stuck him on my lap and gave me a cookie.  He cried through the cookie and started to scream once the cookie was gone.  I didn't feel much for him.  THey next brought in the 6 month old baby (our Clara).  And even though she had the cleft - she was beautiful, very alert and very spunky!  I looked at Christopher and we both said yes.  We both held her and was delighted by her.  THey next brought in a boy that was 3 and he had cleft lip and palate, though it was fixed.  He was very sweet but I didn't think he was our child.  Then they brought in a boy that I felt was too unhealthy.  I was starting to stress because I didn't see our son in any of the children - until they brought in Max - 21 months.  He was TINY - and was barely walking!!  I immediately went to him and started to try to engage him.  He would roll a ball to me but would hardly look at me.  I was concerned about that but thought that he was closer to what we wanted.

After we played with the children for a few moments - Sveta took us aside and asked us what we wanted to do - we told her that we definitely wanted Clara but was unsure of Max - she told us that we could sleep on it or if we wanted, she could start the paper work and if we chose not to adopt him, we could just change our minds - as long as it was before court.  We decided to proceed.  The next day, I really spent a lot of time trying different things with Max and decided that he didn't have an attachment issue.  He was just nervous around strangers.  We both decided that he was our son!!

When we met Clara, she was 5 1/2 months and our judge said that we had to wait until she turned 6 months before we could go to court - if we hadn't waited - we would have been out of Ukraine in 10 days - but since we only had to wait 8 days our whole trip - door to door took 24 days.  Which was probably good because it took a long time for Max to warm up to us.  He would cry when he saw us, but by the end of the days there - he would cry when we left!

The rest of the time we spent getting paperwork done, waiting, shopping, waiting, visiting with the kids, waiting, eating ;), and trying all the different Ukrainian beers!

After we took possession of the kids, (it was at 3:00 and we had to leave Donets'k at 4:30) we boarded the train with our two children.  Talk about jumping in with two feet.  We had a fine ride (the kids slept a lot).  We were brought to a host family in Kyiv.  I'm glad we stayed there because part of the 'deal' was we paid them 50 dollars for food - our board was included with the money you paid the facilitator when you land in Ukraine.  It was a big help not having to worry about feeding the kids.  Such a relief!!  The only problem was we were in someone's house - who hardly spoke English - we were in one little room with two children that didn't know us other than our visits.  So it was a big stressful adjustment.  And to top it off, we all developed colds.  AND we changed Clara's formula because we couldn't get an answer on what they were feeding her - they kept saying milk though, I didn't believe it!  I should have tasted it at the orphanage.  We used a soy based formula and it was a BIG mistake - should has stuck with the milk based.  She was really fussy - and we didn't know what was 'normal' for her - we wised up in Poland and changed her back to milk based and she acted like a different child.  Thank Heavens.

The trip to the Embassy in Kyiv was fine - we were in and out.  It was weird walking to the front of the line just because we had adopted but I guess that is the process.  The Embassy doesn't issue visas for the children so you have to go to Warsaw Poland.

People say that the Sheraton in Warsaw is worth it!!  BELIEVE them!  It is!  We stayed there one night - because it was full after that - but the Sheraton called another 5 star hotel and got the adoption rate for us there.  I'd recommend staying in one place.  :)  The plane ride is hard only because you get so nervous when the kids cry - but just remember you're almost home!!