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| IAG Parent Comments |
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This page is dedicated to existing IAG parents and provides them with an opportunity to describe their experiences directly to prospective parents.
Prospective Parents may contact the IAG parents directly, using the email addresses indicated. Existing IAG Parents wishing to add their comments below should email jwilson@iagadoptions.org. Please send your comments attached to the email in Microsoft Word format. Also, if you agree to be contacted directly by prospective parents please indicate the email address you'd like us to print.
Hi Carol (and Larisa, and Alex, and Mary), We think IAG is FABULOUS! I've attached a few newer photos of Mary including our trip to Michigan in July where she enjoyed the beach and kayaking (remember this is the little girl who was frightened of bath water?!)...photos of her in her weekly gym class (she can do forward and backward rolls, walk on the balance beam and loves to hang from the parallel bars).... and a photo of her first day of preschool (she picked out her flowered lunchbox and pink backpack). She is doing just GREAT! She started preschool part-time in Sept. and loves it. Her teachers say she is doing very well and her verbal English is growing in leaps and bounds. Of course, she seems to understand everything we say anyway (she's very bright!). She loves her weekly gym class and is very strong! She also loves music and we sing lots of nursery rhymes together and have started a family music night where Rob plays the guitar, I play the flute and Mary "plays" the recorder or tambourine; she also has a little keyboard that she likes to "play". Well, I could just go on bragging, but the bottom line is that we are so happy as a family and can't thank you all enough for making our dream come true! Some of the most special moments are when she snuggles in bed with us (no more sleeping in on Saturday mornings) or when she pretends to "read" to her stuffed dog and bunny. And, when she gives me a hug and says "I love you"...I just melt. Yesterday she kept saying she was "happy" and for the past few days she has been saying "Mary family".... sometimes it comes out as, "Mama, Papa, Mary...Family".... it's just beautiful to hear. Hope all is well at IAG. Sincerely,
It is a year from the first time we met Alex and we have much to be thankful for. You and your agency helped us make our family even more special by finding our wonderful son and helping us through every step to bring him home. You have great people working for you in Pittsburgh, St. Petersburg and Moscow. Everyone we met was helpful, understanding, and genuinely cared about their work. We just want to share a few stories with you because you may not see the way they are day to day. On our first day at Baby Home #7 we found out the director understandably wouldn't let us take our son out to the doctor. Within a couple hours Kate and Natasha arranged a time for Dr. Yaroshenko to come to the baby home. They gave us the confidence early on that they were keeping things running smooth. Also on the first trip we asked to meet with the social worker. Kate couldn't arrange it because we ran into the weekend and I am not sure the woman was even around. However when we arrived on our second trip she informed us that the social worker would meet us at the baby home. It was a very worthwhile meeting for us. On a simple note, Kate picked up on our discussion about the popular drink Kvas and got us a bottle to try when she stopped for gas one day. Little things like that just made us feel comfortable and welcome so far from home. Natasha really took the hassle out of the paperwork on the first trip and prepared us well for the Ministry of Education. She is so genuine and caring. I was sick on day and she asked later how I was. On our second trip we gave her a gift of cash because we honestly did not know what to give and wanted to thank her somehow. It was in a card which she took without realizing what was in it. The next day she thanked us and kindly said she would not have accepted it if she knew. She told us she would get a small gift for the social worker and use the rest to get a few things for the baby home if that was okay with us. You can tell how much she cares about what she does. In Moscow our driver was Alex, how appropriate. He was very good. Our Alexander did not do well when our travels took him off his eating and napping schedule, which was every day. After our embassy appointment, the other families and drivers were going out to lunch. There was no way our boy was going to get through it. Alex drove us back to the hotel instead and wouldn't take money to get himself lunch. We cannot thank you enough and wish you continued success in bringing families together. Sincerely, Lisa and Bill Nollman
Christine and I had a wonderful holiday season this year. Your organization helped to give us the best present we could have ever received. We were delighted to welcome twelve month old Ian into our family; he is simply fantastic - happy, energetic, curious and outgoing. All of IAG went above and beyond in their efforts with us in the adoption process. We know that there are so many people to thank, but we would like to mention just a few of whom we communicated with and worked with on a constant basis. Lana Miller showed great patience, knowledge, professionalism, kindness and was always prompt to return our calls and e-mails concerning even the most basic questions. Carol Michaux was always there with the visas and other technical necessities, and gave us timely direction during the conference calls. Natasha, our guide in Moscow, was simply the best. She and her driver, Sulliman, made it easy, enjoyable and comfortable for us during our three trips. She served as our tourist guide, our advisor, an experienced Mother herself, and, as we liked to call her, our Fairy Godmother. Her thoughtfulness, patience and ability to get things done were very impressive. Sulliman navigated the Moscow roads with expertise and got us to every appointment on time despite ridiculous traffic. Zhenya worked the paper trails with brilliance, pinpoint accuracy and timeliness. We were very pleased with the care provided by the baby home where Ian lived; they were very sklled, kind and wanted the best for the children. Larissa, our experience simply could not have been better. We are delighted with Ian and our decision to work with IAG. Should there ever be anything we can do to help IAG, please feel free to contact us at davet09@aol.com. We would love to share our story with anybody thinking about adoption. We know there are many children in Russia, and in all parts of the world, looking for good homes in the USA and elsewhere. We wish IAG continued success in all their endeavors. Sincerely, David & Christine Taylor
How can we find the right words to thank you for bringing Kamilla into our lives? She was meant to be a part of our family, and your heart knew it upon meeting us. Kamilla is God's greatest gift to us, and you are His angel on earth that brought us together. Kamilla's Eurasian features are a wonderful blending of our Eastern-European and Korean heritages. She's observant and relaxed like her daddy, yet outgoing and affectionate like her mommy. Kamilla is very bright, and amazingly tries to recite the alphabet and count the 15 stairs in our house. Her favorite letters are A-B and H-I-J and favorite numbers are 1-2, 5-6, and 12-13. She loves to sing along with and dance to music, cuddle when we read books together, play hide-and-seek, and give and receive hugs and kisses. It's hard to remember our days before Kamilla's arrival (which was only 4 months ago) because having her with us feels so perfect and natural. Exploring and discovering new things with Kamilla is such a treat. Her curiosity and interpretations about the world around her fills our days with laughter. Seeing Kamilla's face as she completes a new task or learns a new word or trick is priceless. Upon meeting Kamilla, our pediatrician told us that Kamilla was tracking above average (75-90 percentiles) on all growth charts. Kamilla's physical exam and laboratory tests were all favorable too. We also consulted with a psychologist that specializes in the transitional needs of internationally adopted children. She was equally as impressed with how quickly Kamilla formed an attachment to us. IAG undoubtedly is devoted to working with the best orphanages, and Kamilla's excellent health and achievements are reflective of the love and care she received while at Baby Home #3 in St. Petersburg. We'd also like to thank Lana, Mary and Carol in the Pittsburgh office and Katia, Vlad, Natasha and Lena in St. Petersburg. Your knowledge and preparation made our adoption process smooth and worry-free, and your love and devotion enriched our experience tremendously. Adopting Kamilla was a wonderful journey, and we're so glad you were along for the ride. We couldn't have done it without you. A short note can barely say all we feel. Please know that we love Kamilla very much and she brings joy to all she meets. Thank you again, and may God grant you many more years of bringing forever families together! Love,
Wow!! I don't know where to begin. How do you say Thank-You to people who help you make a life long dream come true? We have had many gifts from God though out our life. My first was being adopted by the 'Worlds Best Dad'. Then meeting and marrying Randy and giving birth to our son B.J.. Next was calling IAG and speaking to Mary! We started our adoption journey in one direction and due to unforeseen events we thought it was over before it got started. But thanks to Mary and Larisa we were directed to the daughter God was saving for our family. When we met her 11 months ago she may have been small and fragile but we knew she was meant to be here. Our journey was a journey of a lifetime! We are not as young as most adopting couples. From the first phone call to IAG when I spoke to Mary, she made us feel like our dream was still possible. She not only made us feel like it was possible but she and the hard working people at IAG made it happen faster than we ever thought it would. During our trips to Moscow we met several awesome couples who were big helps to us and we will never forget them. And our translator Galina and our Driver Vladimir, what can we say except 'guardian angels' who held our hands the whole way though every single step. They also took the time to take us places and showed us the beautiful country which allowed us to have our daughter. We brought our Daughter, Nova home on Dec.29,2007. As I said she was very tiny and fragile but today 9 months later we have a hard time believing she is the same little girl. Nova is very smart, loving, caring and well adjusted. Friends and family cannot believe how fast she settled in, or how much she looks like her Dad and acts like her brother did at her age. All in all we could not have asked for any part of our journey to have been any better (except for the lost luggage) and we owe it all to the wonderful people who work at IAG. God Bless each and everyone of you!!!! Keep up the good work of making dreams come true and making families complete! THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU!!! The Sedler's
Dear Larisa, Alex, Mary, Carol and everyone at IAG, Thank you. These are the simplest words but behind them carry such enormous gratitude. We are so happy to have our Emily home with us. She is so smart, cute, funny, happy, well adjusted and quite the little redheaded spitfire. She completes our family so well. We are amazed at how quickly she has settled in. She is already sleeping through the night, signing and speaking words and attaching so well to all of us. She is a little cuddle bug who loves to laugh and just lights up the room with her presence. Her brothers adore her and she adores them. She runs up and gives them hugs, tries to play too and loves to sit on top of them when they are on the floor. It's so cute...princess of the castle. This adoption has been a "dream come true" for us. We have loved every moment of this most amazing process. We know who much trust you placed in us when you referred us our little girl and how hard you worked on our behalf. We really appreciate all you did for us throughout our entire adoption process, especially in trying to get us through before the change to three trips. Also, we are so grateful to IAG for all you do in the baby homes. Emily was well taken care of and loved by her caregivers. She was very loved by her caregivers as this was evident in their words about her, how well adjusted she was and how happy she was at the baby home. Your staff stateside and in-country is amazing, hardworking and very caring people. We are so thankful to have found you and so happy for the opportunity to travel to PA and meet everyone. Returning our 2nd trip to St. Petersburg felt like going home. It was so comfortable to be back, and seeing everyone again felt like returning to old friends. We were so well taken care of and knew we were in great hands with Natasha, Andrei, Katya and Ksenia. St. Petersburg will always have a special place in our hearts. We will forever be grateful to you for helping us to find our daughter and complete our family. Thank you, Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. Sincerely,
Dear IAG, Thank you for your part in finding Ryan for us. He is an angel on earth and is a perfect addition to our family. Your role in getting to know us and spotting Mikhail as a "match" for us is a gift and we love you and others at IAG for it. He is happy and content, albeit very busy! IAG is an incredible agency and we could go on and on about how wonderful our experience was. With love and gratitude,
April 16, 2008 Dear IAG,
Love, The Paylo's
Mary Graber
Dear Mary,
I completed my 3rd placement interview with Steve Malawski Sunday, February 24th. I am sending recent photos of Joseph to accompany the post placement report. We've had a great year. I can't believe it will be two years that we've been a family on March 6th. As much as the time has flown by, it's hard to remember a time without him. I wake up each day so thankful that Joseph is in my life and I am thankful to IAG every day for having made us a family. Joseph and I recently watched his video from Russia. I look at him now and it's hard to believe he is the same child in the video. Thank you and everyone at IAG for what you do to bring families together. Sincerely, Stacy Benson December 2006 It is hard to believe that six months have passed since we first brought Slava home. It has been an amazing time watching our son as he has grown in our family. He is an extraordinary boy. He loves to be read to, he loves to sing, and he loves to be cuddled. He also loves to play anything with this brother and sisters. His personality is like his eyes - they both sparkle and capture your heart. We often reminisce about the manner in which he came into our family. We remember fondly our first meeting at IAG, especially the time spent with you. We really appreciate the time you took to get to know our family, and truly believed you would find our son. It is true that our adoption path was not what we thought it would be initially, due to circumstances beyond the control of IAG. Our journey was difficult at times. However, we always had faith that IAG would take care of everything that needed to be done to help us bring home our son, wherever he would be. Our trips to St. Petersburg are still the stuff of daydreams. Sometimes we still wonder if it all really happened. Of course, with Slava in our home we know that it did! The days and nights were pure magic, most importantly meeting our son for the first time, but also other things like seeing Swan Lake at the Marinsky and walking the beautiful streets of our son's city of birth. We felt we had such an incredible opportunity to experience the true beauty of the Russian culture that will always be a part of our son. We can tell him how much we loved the people, the culture, and the beauty of his birthplace. We also really appreciate the opportunities we had to visit the baby home where our son was. We were welcomed by staff and caregivers that so obviously had the children's well being as their greatest priority. The director, Dmitri, is an extraordinary man who has done great things for all the children there. We were amazed also by the physical facilities, especially the therapy room, sensory room, and music area. The first time we played music at home, Slava started to dance. He remembered that special time from the baby home. When we brought Slava home, the adoption doctor was surprised that he was developmentally on target in every area, except for a mild speech delay. He continues to amaze us on a daily basis, whether in gymnastics class or learning new words when we read. He also is starting to know his shapes and colors. He is one bright boy! More importantly, he has a kind heart, a gentle soul, and an adventurous spirit. He keeps us laughing every day, and just the other night when Steve leaned in for a goodnight hug and kiss Slava said, "Daddy, I love you!" and the next night he said the same thing to Mommy. It doesn't get any better than that! The entire staff at IAG has been incredibly, but there are two people whom we got to know especially well, and whom we must mention. First of all, Alison has been an incredible source of support during the process, and I know that during some difficult times that could not have been easy for her. She is a true professional, but also knew how to provide a gentle ear when we needed it. She was always honest and upfront, and because of that we trusted her completely. She was the embodiment of everything we had heard that IAG was. In short, the best. We also must mention Andrei, our driver and translator in St. Petersburg. From the moment we met him, it was like an extension of our experience with Alison. He is an absolute professional, and went out of his way, we are certain, to make sure that our time in St. Petersburg went flawlessly. We were able to complete our adoption, as well as get to know the city of St. Petersburg, because of him. He and Alison are incredible assets to IAG. We also understand that you, Larisa, had a serious hand in making sure that our court date was able to happen as scheduled. We were never worried about anything. We knew that IAG would come through for us and for our son. IAG enjoys a reputation as a top adoption agency because it is richly deserved. We can't imagine ever trusting anyone else with something so important. We'll never be able to thank you enough for all that you have done for our family. The entire IAG team will be in our hearts forever. Sincerely,
Spending the time with Evelyn was an amazing experience. We were able to meet her foster mother, whom was another blessing. She took amazing care of Evelyn. Evelyn was home in September of this year at 7-1/2 months. She has only been home with us for two months, yet it seems like she has been with us forever. We can't imagine our family without her. She is our "princess" and big brother and sister adore her. Mary was so wonderful to work with. She always kept in touch via phone or e-mail and responded to any questions and concerns immediately. We can't say enough good things about Mary and IAG and we highly recommend their Guatemala program. Susan Stinson IAG came highly recommended and made it possible for my husband and me to adopt our daughter Ksenia. We brought her home August 27, 2005. She turns 3 on April 9th, is happy and healthy and truly a joy. We consider ourselves very lucky. Ksenia is adjusting extremely well to her new life and rapidly learning the language. The requirement of a personal interview with IAG staff is key. We did not want to work with an adoption agency without first meeting and talking with the agency's representatives. This is a huge step in anyone's life, and prospective parents want and need to feel comfortable with the staff. IAG (through our conversations with Barbara) did an excellent job preparing us for our two trips to St. Petersburg and Moscow and left no details to chance. IAG staff in Russia is exceptional and makes sure you are where you need to be when you need to be there. No question is too insignificant - no concern too trivial. Alison, our case worker, is a true gem. She responds quickly and completely to every question and was critical to the successful completion of our adoption. She understands the emotional roller coaster that is the adoption process and knows just what to say and when to say it. IAG is fortunate to have her. I have agreed to work as a mentor for IAG and look forward to talking about our specific experiences with prospective parents. Adopting dear Ksenia is the best decision my husband and I could make. There is nothing more beautiful than Ksenia's sweet, little voice and her infectious laugh. Life is so very good. Kim Lowry and Bill Neufeld
My husband and I have adopted twice through IAG. We were delighted with our experience and highly recommend IAG to others interested in adopting from Eastern Europe. In 2002, we adopted a son from St. Petersburg, Russia. He was 10 mos. old at the time of placement and in good health. He is a cheerful, clever, curious little charmer. We credit the excellent care he received in St. Petersburg for his sound physical and psychological health. In 2004, we adopted a little girl. She was 13 mos. old, in excellent health, and developmentally on track. Both children continue to do well and are great joys for us and our two older (also adopted) children. You can be confident that IAG will be completely forthright with you throughout the adoption process. This relieves a lot of stress during your wait. Both adoptions were completed under the two-trip system. Although this adds considerable expense and time to the process, the staff in St. Petersburg made the extra time we had available worth the trouble. We were immersed in Russian history and culture. The time in-country is invaluable for connecting with your child's heritage. |
 IAG accredited in Russia | 
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October 2009
Dear Larisa,
Dear Larissa,
Dear Larisa,
Dear IAG,
April, 2008
April 2008
Oh gosh, where do I start? I just want to thank each and every one of you for making our dreams come true. I know there are people behind the scenes that process and interpret paper work and we never meet them. We have two little miracles at home that are true gifts from God. I am only assuming all of you are working on his behalf as angels. All your hard work and dedication has given my husband and I a future we use to only dream about. I just want you to know that all your hard work and stressful days changed our lives forever. Our children are the center of our life and bring joy not only to us, but our families too. Mary and Alison (please tell her if you see her) thank you for always being there for me and keeping me sane. I am not sure what I would have done without your support. You make people feel like family and not just a "client" or "customer." You both have a special gift with people; please continue to utilize that gift. Also whoever places the children with families needs to be commended. We have people stop us all the time and tell us what a nice looking family we have. They say Alex looks identical to my husband and my daughter is petite and has big brown eyes like me. Keith and I just chuckle and agree. This is how I truly know that all of you are angles at IAG. The work all of you do for the children and parents is something you should carry in your hearts forever. God bless all of you and please continue to make miracles happen.
I hope your new year is off to a good start. Hard to believe it's almost March.
My husband and I recently adopted our beautiful baby girl, Evelyn, from Guatemala. Our family is extremely blessed that Mary Graber and IAG helped in so many ways to bring our forever family together. We initially started the Russian adoption program in September of 2005. On Valentines Day of 2006 we received a letter from IAG that forever changed our lives. IAG indicated that they had recently opened their Guatemala program if any families were interested in switching. The shorter travel times made the decision easy, especially with two other children at home. One other factor that appealed to Curt and I was that we could travel to visit our child during the adoption process- -something we took advantage of and would highly recommend every family to do.