Date: Fri 15-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Dunn-adoption-Micah

Full Text:

The Dunns Return From Russia, With Love

(with photos)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

Luana and Michael C. Dunn took a copy of The Newtown Bee with them to Russia

last month, believing they could still enter the newspaper's "farthest away"

contest.

The contest hasn't been held in the last few years, something the Newtown

couple didn't learn until Luana brought a photograph into The Bee offices

after they returned home.

But the Dunns weren't disappointed. The fact that the contest was over

couldn't dampen the joy they were experiencing because of their trip.

For in the photograph, almost hidden behind the July 18 issue of The Bee , was

8«month-old Michael Thomas "Micah" Dunn, a beautiful blue-eyed baby the Dunns

adopted from an orphanage in Kostroma.

The Dunns made the 22-hour flight to Moscow on July 19, then traveled by car

for seven hours to reach the orphanage. They arrived back in Newtown on July

24.

"There were two other couples, two single moms, and a single dad who were with

us in a seven-car caravan," Mrs Dunn said. "They were from California, North

Carolina, New York and New Jersey. The couple from North Carolina adopted a

16-month-old boy and a 2«-year-old girl. The single dad adopted a 4-year-old

boy. One of the single moms was accompanied by her 13-year-old daughter and

they adopted a 4-year-old boy."

Luana and Michael have a daughter, Sara, 8«, who will be starting fourth grade

at Middle Gate School in September.

"We've wanted a second child for a long time and finally decided to adopt,"

Luana said.

For three years the Dunns attended workshops sponsored by the Hudson Valley

region of the Committee for Adoptive Parents, a nationwide volunteer

organization. Finally, they selected Adoption Services Associates of San

Antonio, Tex., an agency that had been recommended by other adoptive parents.

Ann Steers, a social worker from Catholic Charities in Bridgeport, was the

local adoption coordinator, coming to the Dunn's house on Old Purdy Station

Road to do the home study.

The Dunns first tried to adopt a baby in the United States. They wrote a

10-page letter and provided an album of photos of their family and their home

and were "chosen" by a young Texas woman who was pregnant and had decided to

put her baby up for adoption.

"We talked with the birth mother daily for seven months. We had an 800 number

put in so that she could call us any time," Mrs Dunn said. "She insisted right

up to the end that she wanted to go through with the adoption. But she changed

her mind during labor. That was last August. I couldn't go through that

again."

An International Adoption

So the Dunns decided to switch to the adoption agency's international

division.

"We told them we didn't care whether we got a boy or a girl. We didn't care

about the (infant's) coloring. All we wanted was a healthy child, preferably

one under one year old."

On May 6 they learned that Micah was available for adoption.

"It was a typical story. Boy leaves girl, who is only 17 and pregnant. Nobody

has a job. There's no way she could keep the baby even if she wanted to,"

Luana said.

The Dunns had to be ready to leave at a moment's notice because they wouldn't

know until the last minute when the court dates and other arrangements had

been finalized. The adoption process nearly was derailed on July 1 when the

United States adopted new regulations about the timetable for vaccinations for

infants immigrating from other countries. Immigration officials finally

decided to allow the adoptions to proceed.

The trip to Russia was a real eye-opener for the Dunns.

"Russia is very barren," Luana said. "The city of Moscow is beautiful but

everything is falling apart. They're painting everything in the city to make

it look good for the tourists but underneath it is deteriorating."

"Nobody has a job," she said. "If they have jobs, they haven't been paid in

six months. People used to have money but there was nothing in the stores to

buy. Now there is everything you could want (in the stores) but no money to

buy it."

Drinking and alcoholism predominate in the country. "You can buy vodka - a big

bottle -for $1.90 on every corner but there is no drinking water. All the

water is polluted. The air is polluted and causes your eyes to burn."

In the restrooms, the toilet paper was ripped-up store receipts.

"Everything is 100 years behind the (United States)," Mrs Dunn said. "The

Russians put all their money into the military for years."

The Dunns stayed with a woman who had been a geologist. A recent widow, she

was fortunate now to have a job as an English teacher. Her sister was a

pediatrician in Moscow.

"Everyone was very friendly," Mrs Dunn said. "But our driver, who had been a

major in the military, said that if we had approached him on a street five

years ago, he would not have been able to talk to us because he would have

been shot."

Bring $100 Bills

The adoption cost the Dunns about $27,000, including $9,000 in new $100 bills

which they had to bring with them.

"We were told to bring brand new bills, no marks, no folds," Luana said. "I

ran around to three People's Banks to get enough bills. Then we stood at the

side of a road [in Russia] and handed out envelopes of bills. They were pretty

sophisticated about what they wanted."

At the orphanage, the adoptive parents were kept in a brightly decorated room

and the children which they intended to adopt were brought out to them. They

were not shown other children or the rest of the orphanage.

"After an hour, we were asked if we had made up our minds whether to adopt

Micah," Mrs Dunn said. "But we knew the instant we saw him that he was ours."

The group then went to court and to the police station for processing, had

photos of the children taken for visas, then spent three hours waiting for the

visas to be processed. A seven-hour car trip back to Moscow followed.

"We were up for 24 hours," Mrs Dunn said. "Then in Moscow we spent an entire

day at the American Embassy, getting processed. We visited Red Square, then

left for the 22-hour flight home."

Micah was the youngest child adopted. He was also very healthy. At 18 pounds,

he was the only child that met the norm on the size charts for his age.

"He was all smiles and giggles from the beginning," Mrs Dunn said. "He was

great on the flight back and has adjusted to everything 1-2-3. They must have

done something right."