Misc Advice...

Get a good IA doctor. Don't rely on doctors in-country to tell you what you MUST know before you choose to go forward with a referral. For too many reasons to list, I highly recommend Dr. Alla Gordina, www.globalpediatrics.net. She is located in East Brunswick, New Jersey. She is a native of Russia, she is more thorough than any doctor I've met, she gets back to you immediately, she is plain-spoken, she knows the Russian medical and orphanage system inside and out, she will tell you what you need to know, whether you want to hear it or not. Then you make the decision on what to do. Here's a sign that she is good-- she has been banned from giving PAPs advice in St. Petersburg and Bryansk. How the Russians think they can tell an American family that they cannot consult with another American, I don't know. But they are trying.

Do not have the 8-doctor medical until you have accepted your referral and you are within 90 days of your court date. If your medical is more than 90 days old, you will need to take it again. And pay for it again. Ask other families using other agencies, in the city to which you are going, how much the medical costs.

If you need a computer with internet, there is an internet place with scores of computers in Manezhnaya Mall next to Red Square. It looks like a black stone pyramid and is an underground mall (where McDonald's is), leaving Red Square and heading toward the start of Tverskaya Street. On the lower food court level you can have a computer and internet access for the equivalent of $2 or $3 an hour in rubles.