Since Cornell's Adoption Assistance Program was implemented in 2005, 39 families have received financial assistance from the university to help with their adoption expenses. This reimbursement program -- as well as workshops and e-lists that the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality offers -- is one of the reasons that Cornell has recently been recognized for the third year in a row by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

Of course, each family and its need for assistance is different, but following are the stories of two families -- one adopting a very young child and one a child entering his teens -- that capture how the program can make the arduous adoption process a bit easier.

Marty, Jami and Javi

A year has passed and Marty Kurth, director of IT Infrastructure at Cornell University Library, still can't believe that he and his wife, Jami Carlacio, a lecturer in the English department, had the good fortune to adopt Javier when he was eight months old.

"We brought Javi home from Guatemala on March 14, 2008, about 14 months after beginning the paperwork for adoption," Kurth says.

Carlacio adds, "Javi bonded with us the moment we met him, so we are extremely grateful for Cornell's support in making it possible for us to adopt him."

Before Kurth and Carlacio began the adoption process, they had already heard about Cornell's Adoption Assistance Program from a friend who had adopted a child. "We knew Cornell had our back in that regard; we applied for assistance as soon as we had all necessary documentation, and we quickly received reimbursement for some of our expenses. It helped a lot," Kurth says.

The Kurths' expenses included two trips to Guatemala City, one in January 2008, when Kurth and Carlacio stayed for a week, and the second time to bring the baby home. "Those trips allowed us to get a special visa, which gave Javi U.S. citizenship as soon as the plane touched ground," Kurth says. "We are thrilled to have Javier in our lives."

Elise, Patrick and Yeison

"We had been interested in adopting for several years but weren't sure how, where or who to adopt. Two years ago we went to the Dominican Republic in conjunction with a trip offered through our church, St. Catherine of Siena," says Elise Ferree, a postdoctoral associate now working at the Laboratory of Ornithology. "There, the church was taking care of an older boy, age 11, called Yeison [pronounced "Jason"]. We visited with Yeison several times. Once we decided we wanted to officially adopt him, I returned to the Dominican Republic for three and a half months to complete the cohabitation and adoption process. He just came back with us to the States last October."

Ferree says that the expenses of adoption were far more than she and her husband had anticipated, especially paying for two lawyers and fees at each level of approval.

"First you get home-study approval from the U.S., then you need to go through Immigration, and then our documents had to be translated by the Dominican consulate -- it adds up real fast," she says. "Without the information we gathered from workshops that Cornell offered on adopting a child and the grant through the Adoption Assistance Program, we would not have thought this was possible."

Yeison has adapted quickly to his new home. "He is very charming and outgoing, and already knows a lot of people in Ithaca," Ferree says proudly. "He did not know English when he arrived, but he has learned quickly. We are new to parenting, but he called us 'Mom' and 'Dad' almost from the beginning. It has been a great learning experience for all of us."