Diana & Aleksander's Story
By John & Sari D
After years of trying I was ready to adopt. John was not quite ready yet, although he was very open to the idea. Then John was ready and I wasn’t. When we were both ready, we went to an information session from a large, well-known and well-respected agency. They told us that since I had a medical issue in my past we would never be able to adopt. We were devastated and resumed trying. That set us back one year. Then we were both ready to try adoption again. We researched many agencies and then a friend of mine met a woman at a Mommy And Me class who had just brought her child home from Russia through Wide Horizons. We called the next day and the journey began. The woman never showed up at a Mommy And Me class again.
John and I had names in mind for our future children as we began the (endless) paperwork. The names all had "an" in them somewhere for my grandmother, Anne. When we were days away from submitting our dossier we mentioned that we wanted to consider a young sibling group. When we heard of a brother and sister, Diana, age 3, and Aleksandr (now Aleksander), just under age 2, it had to be meant to be. The names both had "an" in them!
We were told that Aleksander had some medical issues, but decided that we wanted to take the chance. And when he walked into the room the first time we knew that it really was meant to be. Aleksander toddled in as happy as could be. Diana walked in shyly but was hiding a smile behind her hair. We had been warned that a lot of times children do not come right over to their new parents, but they came right over to us and started to play. We were instantly a family.
Since they have been home for the past five months we really have become an instant family. That is to say that it has not always been easy, there have been temper tantrums, tears and a lot of love and joy as well. Aleksander has already started speaking a great deal and is being evaluated for surgery in a couple of weeks and Diana has grown over three and a half inches and was speaking English fluently within about two or three months. And there has already been a huge surprise.
Three days after we all got home from Russia in March we discovered that I am pregnant after many years of trying. We think that this little guy was just waiting to have his big brother and big sister home before he wanted to make an appearance. Diana and Aleksander know that there is a baby in Mommy’s belly and that the family is going to get a little bit bigger. Aleksander tries to feed the baby by pouring juice and leaving goldfish on my belly. Diana likes to feel the baby kick and doesn’t understand why he is sleeping when she wants to play. And we really do believe that while this baby is growing in Mommy’s tummy, Diana and Aleksander grew in Mommy and Daddy’s heart.