July 1, 2005

Four kids make a family

Willow Glen couple adopts Ukrainian children

By Carol Rosen
Editor

When Willow Glen couple Sherry McGuire and Mike Mitchell decided to become parents, they jumped in feet first adopting four children instead of just one.

The Mitchell family poses inside their carnival booth at Dancin’ on the Avenue. From left, Sherry McGuire, 10-year-old Nikolai. 9-year-old Vitali, 11-year-old Alina, 8-year-old Karina and Mike Mitchell.

The two had been trying to start a family and were considering adoption when they heard about a Palo Alto exchange program allowing potential parents to host and, if they wanted, to adopt children from the Ukraine. They signed up and 11-year-old Alina came to visit last summer.

It was love at first sight for all three of us, noted McGuire. The three were ready to become a family. Then the couple learned the exchange program wasn’t working for two brothers—8-year-old Vitali and 9-year-old Nikolai, so they invited the boys to come to their home. Within days, the size of the family had grown to five.

During the fall, the couple began the process of adopting the three orphans. In the midst of all the legal ramifications, the couple found that the two boys had a sister. Feeling they didn’t want to break up a family, the Mitchell family suddenly grew to six with 7-year-old Karina.

In the meantime, Ukraine was holding a presidential election. When it was announced the people’s favorite had lost, there were cries of foul and demonstrations, with some newscasters forecasting a civil war. It was during that time the Mitchells received a phone call to let them know their adoption hearing was set.

Fears of problems and demonstrations didn’t deter them although there was some concern. The two decided to try to look as European as possible. But upon arriving in Kiev in early December, the couple found only peaceful demonstrations.

Their greeting at the Kharkov orphanage, in the eastern Ukraine near Russia, was quite different. Many of the children, including Alina’s friends, asked the couple to “’take them too.”

Since the couple couldn’t adopt all of the children, they are working on the next best thing. They are getting the message out as loud and as far as possible to let others know and learn about the orphaned and abandoned children in the Ukraine. One of their methods is through a Web site.

The Web site, http://home.mindspring.com/~ourfriends/id3.html, is titled “Mommys and Daddys Wanted. It tells the Mitchell family story along with photos offering snapshots of the various friends of their children that are left at the orphanage. In addition, it provides information about Ukrainian adoption, Ukrainian facilitators (aboutachild.org) and provides contact information for Mike and Sherry.

Learning experience
However, there’s more to adopting older kids than just the fun. Once the late-December adoption took place, the Mitchells brought their four kids home and enrolled them at Booksin Elementary School. The kids spoke Russian, but very little English. But unlike parents who are used to the workings of public elementary schools, Sherry and Mike were new to being parents too, so it was quite a learning experience.

Sherry can’t say enough about how wonderful the people at Booksin and at San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) have been. “The folks at Booksin Elementary, staff, educators and students alike, went the extra mile to educate our kids and family on the curriculum and family orientated activities they had to offer,” she said.

SJUSD hired Mrs. Ala, a Russian tutor, for the children, which brought them up to speed with math and science. “She worked with our kids,” Sherry said, “to continue their mathematics, science and English instruction with great success!”

The Mitchells decided to help the district in general and Booksin in particular, because of the help they received when they adopted. “SJUSD, like most California school districts, is suffering from ridiculous budgetary constraints. It grants schools a paltry $75 per a child per year for ESL education. That works out to about 15 minutes per child, per a week. Booksin Principal Sharon Roddick  and Norma Martinez of SJUSD’s  Bilingual Education Department found enough funds to hire our wonderful Russian speaking educator Mrs. Ala,” Sherry said.

So the Mitchells decided to run a fund-raiser for the school at the Kids Court at Dancin’ on the Avenue June 18. The family, with support from Sherry’s team from her Alchemy Salon and her brother Sean McGuire, offered carnival games for kids. WGBPA donated the booth space, and local retailers including Diddams Party Supply, which offered a discount and U-Save Tree Service, which provided dedication and booth support. Laurie Toscano, president of the Booksin Elementary Community Association, loaned the games.

Proceeds for the games were $324, which the Alchemy Salon doubled, providing a total of $648 to the school.

Two communities
The family maintains dedication to two communities, Willow Glen and the Ukraine. “In Ukraine we met many special people, not only our children’s friends from their orphanages, but the beautiful souls raising these children, who are ages 6 to 16 years old. We feel it our responsibility to help find homes for these wonderful children still in Ukraine so others can experience the life enrichment our kids bring to us everyday!

Helping with the carnival booths were Joe Diaz, Sean McGuire, Sherry McGuire, Anthony Cubas, Jen Goins, Regina Chavarrea and Mike Mitchell.

“Ukraine is the only Eastern European country fully endorsing independent adoptions at this time. It maintains a no pre-selection policy, meaning U.S. agencies cannot get photos of kids and bilk adoptive parents out of thousands dollars in unnecessary ‘referral” fees,’ says McGuire. “Fortunately, the legal loophole in the Ukrainian adoption policy is that adopted children can seek good parents for their friends still residing in orphanages in Ukraine. Of course, independent adoption does not mean you should take on this effort yourself.  We found our angels at About A Child,” she added.

The National Adoption Center (NAC) in Kiev is the sole legal child adoption authority in Ukraine. No U.S. agencies or attorneys are recognized or accredited to identify, locate, or place children from Ukraine.  However, families are allowed to hire facilitators in Ukraine to submit their paperwork to the NAC on a family’s behalf and provide translation, interpretation, and accommodation services throughout their adoption trip. The Mitchells’ facilitators were Victoria Kats of About A Child and Alex Zdebsky of Ukrainian Stork. 

McGuire raves about the two, noting that they “pulled off the impossible—two separate adoptions of four children from two different cities in 30 days—during the holiday season in the middle of a revolution!”

Upon their arrival at the NAC in Kiev, the Mitchells found that two of the four children were born in a distant neighboring country, and new birth certificates needed to be physically obtained in that country immediately after the court hearing. Working closely with his interpreter, Zdebsky dispatched personnel to achieve this and get all six of the Mitchells home in just under 30 days in time for New Years Day.

For more information about the Mitchell family and their four children’s friends, visit http://home.mindspring.com/~ourfriends/id3.html. To learn more about adopting a child from the Ukraine, go to aboutachild.org.