Birth Search Info

Several of you have asked how we searched for Nina's birth family.  If you will allow me first to make the disclaimer that at this point I cannot fully recommend their services since we have yet to receive any concrete information, then I am glad to share. We used a group called International Adoption Search. Some of you may know them as "Anna and Ruslan". They do birth family searches in Russia, Kazakhstan and other former Soviet countries as well as Guatemala.

There were no upfront fees and we agreed to pay only if the search was successful. Ulitimately, the cost was $1,700 which included photos, report and DVD. The process is supposed to be confidential, sensitive and respectful of all parties.

To start we were asked to prepare a letter to the birth mother/family, a list of questions and several photos of Nina. We also provided various documents like our adoption decree and birth certificates which were used to identify the birth family. Lastly we included a list of questions we would like answered by the birth family.

We initiated our search three months ago. The timing of the search however depends on Ruslan's travel schedule. I am expecting to see photos in the next week or so but the remainder of the information including the DVD with translation may not be available for several more weeks.


Not all searches are successful. I have some very dear friends who recently had unsuccessful searches which was hugely disappointing for them. I think one needs to be prepared for almost anything, including the mixed bag of emotions you might feel if you actually making contact. Best wishes.