Daughter Adopted from Eastern Europe

The Hulme Family

Jennifer Lisa Hulme

About five months ago, the Hulme family consisted of Dave (52), Ellen (39) and Daniel (6). New it seems like Jennifer Lisa, known as "Lisa" has been a part of our lives forever. We decided a couple of years ago that we wanted another child. After some fertility frustrations, Dave and I selected adoption as the right way to add to our family. We first attempted to adopt a child within the southern CA area through an Orange County agency offering services to abused children. Our preference was to offer our home to a little girl, 1 - 4 years old.

Unfortunately, our desire to adopt a child locally never became a reality. No little girls became available for adoption during the year we waited for a new daughter. Many teenagers, severely, handicapped children, and foster placements were discussed but never the "right" child for us. Through the Internet and the yellow pages, I selected a few international adoption agencies to contact. I chose God's Families primarily because it seemed to offer the most accessible and comprehensive services. I was very impressed with the website and my initial and subsequent conversations with Jim and his staff.

Our biggest fear was that we would go through all the preparation and travel only to arrive in a foreign country and be presented with a child who was not reasonably healthy or in some other way not right for us. We felt that the chance to actually choose a child was very important to us and we wanted as much medical information as possible. Adoption procedures in Eastern Europe offered families both a chance to choose from available children and a considerable amount of medial information including blood work and examinations by specialists.

We arrived in Eastern Europe and met "Lisa" or Leeza (Yelizaveta) as she was called at the time. At an orphanage in Donetsk, we met two little girls prior to meeting Lisa. During our second day in Donetsk, Lisa became available for adoption. After, five minutes of observing her in a music class, Dave and I knew that she was the right girl for us. She was so animated and happy. She waved and giggled and called me "Mama" though she was quite afraid of Dave since she had not been around many men. Initially, she was also quite jealous of Daniel as she felt that she had to compete for Mama's attention. She is now very affectionate and loving with the whole family including Grandma, Grandpa, and aunts, uncles, and cousins.

The main way Lisa has changed our lives is too make us even busier than before. I think her presence in our family has made Daniel more independent. She is a wonderful addition to our family. We definitely found the right girl for us!

Ellen, Dave, Daniel and Lisa Hulme