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Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the labor of love to bring our children home... I will forever be blessed by the love of Gift of Love.

Kar and Dave

Adopted Payton and Serik in 2002 and Satchel and Mason in 1998

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Russia is the far-away land that will be in our hearts forever.

Our adoption journey began in October 2000. The staff at GOL was professional and very compassionate during our steps towards becoming a forever family with our sons, Ryan and Jake. They did a wonderful job assisting with the tedious stacks of paperwork, numerous phone calls to Russia; and they continually reassured us that we would soon meet the children who were in our dreams, prayers, and hearts.

March of 2001 we traveled to Tula, Russia to meet our sons. We could not have been more blessed, as they both were so healthy and adorable. The hard part for us was leaving Ryan and Jake in Russia due to paperwork that was required for the Tula region. Luckily, we were able to fly back to Russia within a couple months, arriving home with Jake and Ryan on June 10, 2001. We were fortunate in so many ways; our sons were very healthy, our hosts and liaisons in Russia were sensational, and knowing that our road towards being a family had just begun.

To date; Jake and Ryan continue to thrive, grow, and keep us on our toes. Each day brings our household new challenges, from jumping into mud puddles to fighting over their tractors. Typical little toddler boys growing up in Iowa! :

Jeff and Julie

Adopted Jake and Ryan in 2001

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We had talked about adoption for some time. It was through Myron's employer in January 1999 that we met Sandy and Gary who had adopted two children from Russia and used Gift of Love as their agency. We discovered that very night that GOL had an informational meeting in Eau Claire, WI, and after a quick supper we drove over an hour in an ice storm, no less, to find out more! Later that year, we began our process to adopt two children from Russia.

The wait was so frustrating, but the staff at GOL was so patient with us, answering our barrage of questions and comforting us when the tears of frustration flowed. We were hoping to get our children by Fall 2000, but when Vladimir Putin first came to power things slowed down considerably and we were crushed. Gift of Love let us know that they were starting a new program in Ukraine. Would we be interested? We discussed it and since we were not yet matched with any children, we decided to switch countries. Some paperwork had to be redone, but we kept the faith that we were doing the right thing. On February 28, 2001, we received the call to "get our running shoes on" as we were leaving for Ukraine on March 3! Talk about a rush! Just days later we found our son Adam and daughter Erika in Lviv Children's Homes #1 and #2 in Lviv, Ukraine. We met so many wonderful people on our journey; it was hard to leave the Ukrainians whom we found to be very warm, gracious, and caring individuals. They praised Gift of Love's preparedness in this whole process which confirmed for us that we made the right decision as far as selecting an agency.

Our children are exactly 7 days apart in age so, essentially, we came home with twins! They will both turn 3 in August 2002, and it is amazing how they've grown and learned in the year and a half that we've had them. They really are our pride and joy!

We recommend Gift of Love very highly to anyone considering an international adoption. Their staff is the best! They've introduced us to so many other wonderful families as well and we feel we've made some great friends. We want to thank GOL for this incredible experience. We are forever grateful to them for bringing this forever family to fruition. Thank you, Gift of Love!
 

Myron and Kathy

Adopted Adam and Erika in 2001

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I discovered Gift of Love through the Internet when I began researching my different options on adoption. I especially liked the fact that Gift is a local agency.

I attended their information meeting with the support of my parents and sister and we immediately felt like we were part of Gift of Love's family. So, in July of 1999, I started down the road of international adoption.

After many discussions with my family and a lot of prayers, I selected Gift of Love's Russian program. Gift of Love walked me through every step of the process. Unfortunately for me, Russia was going through lot of turmoil and the process seemed to take especially long. Because Russia was redeveloping their adoption process, it went from a one-trip program to a two-trip program. The two-trip program may have added extra time to my adoption process, but I was actually able to meet, hold, hug, kiss and interact with my daughters. I was given the gift of meeting their doctor and caretakers first hand and ask any questions. I would not have had that opportunity in a one-trip program.

Gift of Love was an integral part of the entire process. They lined up translators, drivers, and accommodations. They even greeted us at the airport when we returned home as a family.

I once heard that life was like a rollercoaster with many ups and downs. Adoption is just like that. There were many days that were down and many days that were ups. The end result definitely by far outweighed any of the downs.

Gift of Love is staffed with individuals that are loving, caring and actually care about the children that are being placed. It isn't "just a job" for them and that is what makes their agency excel above the rest.

Gift of Love helped me achieve my dream of having a family and they can help you.
miller

Nancy

Adopted Emily and Kirsten in 2001

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The St. Arnold family wants to let you know how impressed we are with Gift of Love. You have helped us to become one of the happiest families in the world.
From that very day when we inquired about your services over the telephone, we knew that we were with the right agency. We have also heard many wonderful things about Gift of Love from other friends and acquaintances. You helped us through each step of our adoption process with such care and precision. We feel very lucky to have chosen Gift of Love as our agency.
While in Russia we were so well taken care of. We had a good experience without delays and really, none of the problems that we had braced ourselves for prior to our trip. You most definitely have the most experienced, high quality liaisons in Russia. In fact we were told at the U. S. Embassy that our liaison in Moscow was "the best". Of course all the staff members here in the United States are "the best" also!
We know we have adopted the most precious child from Russia. We all just fell in love with her right away. She was well taken care of in her baby home. We could tell that this baby home was not one of the horrible places you see on television. The staff really cared about the children. Tatyana (Bailee) really seemed to relate well to them too. We even had a tea party with the baby home care givers before we left.
We are so confident in your services, we are hoping to be able to adopt another child in the future. If we do, there is no question what agency we will choose-Gift of Love.

Tim and Lisa

Adopted Bailee in 2000

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We adopted our two baby boys from Tula, Russia in September 2000.  The boys were 3 and 4 years old now and are healthy and doing great.  Ti is hard to believe there was ever a time they weren't in our lives.  We took two trips to Russia and both trips went very smoothly.  The coordinators in Russia took very good care of us and it was a wonderful, exciting and emotional adventure in finding our children.  We felt very fortunate to have such a nice judge in Tula who was very pro adoption and truly seemed to care about the children's best interest. We are very thankful for all that GOL staff did in helping us bring Caleb and Zachary  into our live.  They were always willing for us to come into the office to talk about how the adoption was going as well as to answer questions over the phone or email. It has been after our adoption and in talking to others and hearing about their experiences that we really realized just how much GOL did in taking care of so much our our paper work. With them being a smaller agency it certainly has a more personal and caring feel to the process.
 

Arvil and Patti

Adopted Caleb and Zachary in 2000

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Gift of Love was one of dozens of agencies we considered when we began our adoption journey. During their orientation meetings, we were given much personal attention and felt an immediate sense of trust in the staff. We were impressed with the scope of services provided by Gift of Love, from our beginning paperwork to our travel arrangements home. Also, we appreciated that their fees were so inclusive and clearly stated upfront.

While we waited to travel, we attended several Gift of Love functions and were very impressed with the adoptive families we met. We heard many encouraging stories, and met beautiful children who were very happy in their new placement.

While in Russia, we felt secure and well cared for every step of the way. We were encouraged to sightsee and enjoy our stay, and found the cultural experience very broadening. Much attention was paid to our comfort, and our personal preferences were taken into account whenever possible.

We came home from our journey with two beautiful, healthy, active children who are precious beyond words. We will forever be indebted to the staff of Gift of Love for joining us with our twins!

Dan and Bonnie

Adopted Daniel and Kathryn in 2000

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With the first two children, you adopt to create a family. With the following children, you adopt to help a child have a better future.

We have adopted 4 children from the St. Petersburg area of Russia. The adoptive children ranged in ages from infant to teen (5 months, 3 years, 9 years, and 11 years.) We traveled in 1995 and 2000 adopting 2 children each time. It took us one year through the adoption process till we reached the children on both occasions.

We have built a strong bond with Gift of Love staff and other adoptive families. We have volunteered right from the start. By volunteering, we developed trust in the agency, kept up on our adoption progress, and met many families. There are plenty of volunteer positions: library, newsletter, web site, publicity, event planning, and office work. It is a great way to know the agency better.

After being foster parents, international adoption has its advantages. Although you have a couple visits with a social worker to finalize the adoption, you are not sharing your children with birth parents, social workers, juvenile court officers, etc. These children are yours. It makes the paperwork of the home study, INS, and Visas sound easy.

The end result is worth all the effort. We recommend adopting any age of child. The older children were fairly easy to adopt in our case. One expected hurdle continues to be spelling. The kids may have a little lower resilience. But having sibling brings out their assertiveness. We have been very fortunate in our adoptions.

Doug and Cindy

Adopted Vaughn and Andre in 2000, and Natasha and Nathan in 1995
 

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