West Hartford Yoga Instructor Needs Help to Adopt Child With Down Syndrome

In this time of giving, here’s one more cause that could use some support.

Nykki Poole, a senior instructor at West Hartford Yoga, is seeking to adopt her third child with Down syndrome.

Her first two children - Andrew, 4, and Bodhi, 2 - were adopted domestically.

And Poole, a former West Hartford resident who now lives in Newington, thought she was done once she adopted Bodhi when he was a newborn.

“I thought I’d stop with one son,” Poole said in a telephone interview Friday. “Then I adopted a sibling for him, my second son. I love having more than one child. And I want to do one more child and do it internationally as well.”

Then she saw Elliott, a 2-year-old Bulgarian boy with Down syndrome, and she knew that he was meant to be her third child.

Elliot’s future, if he isn’t adopted, is a bleak one.

“These kids have no chance,” Poole sad. “The kids [with Down syndrome] in orphanages in other countries, once they age-out of the baby home at 4, many die by age 5. The most they’ll live to is age 10. It’s heartbreaking."

Poole started the arduous process of filling out the paperwork to get the ball rolling on Elliot’s adoption.

The issue with Elliott’s adoption, however, boils down to money.

Already well into the adoption process, Poole estimates that it will cost about $30,000 in fees and other expenses to bring Elliott over to the United States (a list of expenses is below).

So Poole set up a page at Gofundme.com to raise the money. She’s already raised more than $6,000.

“When I saw him and was matched with him, I knew however this has to work, it would work,” Poole said. “I would not have not gotten this far [if it wasn’t meant to be]. I trust that God has a plan.”

And before levying any criticism at Poole - about adopting another child, about being a single mother of modest economic means, about adopting a child with Down syndrome from Bulgaria and having him enter the U.S. social services system at the expense of taxpayers, about why she isn’t adopting a child from the U.S. - know that she has heard it all before.

For Poole, it’s a moral issue.

“Down syndrome children born in the U.S. who are unwanted will have potentially a better life because of what we offer in the U.S.,” Poole said. “I know the adoption community here. I know people who run the organizations. I’m in it. These children are taken care of. I was up against 100 families to adopt one child. The waiting list to adopt a child with Down syndrome is 130 families. ...

When Elliott turns 4, he will be institutionalized. He will be put in a room with no light, love, or food. … Our kids are not in that situation. It’s not a great situation for anyone. However, they’ll have a fine life because of what the U.S. offers to Down syndrome orphans. In Bulgaria, they’re put away until they die.”

If and when Elliott - who turns 3 in January, so time is of the essence - is adopted, he’ll have an entirely different outlook.

“The home he’s coming to is amazing,” Poole said. “He’ll have brothers waiting for him as brilliant and beautiful as they come. …  The home he’s coming to is full of love and dancing and fun. At this point I have a ton of experience. I’m a seasoned mother of Down syndrome children. … We’re all here for a specific reason. I’m supposed to be the mother of Down syndrome children.”

Birth to 3 physical therapist Alicia Berger Harriman, who has been with the Poole family virtually from Day 1 four years ago, said that she believes the adoption is a good thing.

“Nykki has so much to give to children in general,” Berger Harriman said. “Elliot will be very lucky to come into this family.”

Berger Harriman elaborated.

“In Nykki’s house, she is constantly looking at what her children can do, recognizing that they have difficulties with some things and trying to support them in their learning, their talking and walking. The overall focus in the house is in what [her children] can do. She cultivates their strengths. It’s nurturing.”

To donate to Nykki Poole’s effort, visit her Gofundme page here.

Wasatch Agency Fees**

Application Fee - $500 - Due with application

Program Fee - $2,500 (due with contracts before manual can be sent or program manager assigned) - this is due when you sign and return the contracts that will be mailed soon

Home Study Review Fee - $150  - Due with home study (not applicable for Utah clients)

Home Study Fee - $1,200 (Utah Clients), $900-$1500 (depending on out-of-state Social Worker)  

Placement Fee - $2,000 - Due at acceptance of referral - this fee is reduced to $1500 as outlined below

Post Placement Fee - $900 (Utah Clients), $800 (Out-of-State Clients)

*There is an additional $1,500 agency fee when adopting a second child whether a sibling or unrelated

**Agency fees are reduced in the case of special needs or older child adoption see below

Special Needs Agency Fees

Placement Fee - $1,500 (for children 7 years of age and older)

Medical and Severe Medical special needs children Placement Fee is reduced on a case by case basis.

Foreign Fees

Foreign Program Fee - (amount may vary more or less depending on the exchange rate of the leva).  

Foreign fees are broken down into four increments - one due at submission of dossier- $1,660 (2000 BG leva);  one due at acceptance of referral- $2,190 (3000 BG leva); one due before first travel- $3795 (5200 BG leva) and one due before second travel-$1685 (2304 BG leva)

$6,350 (Approx.  9504 BG leva) for the adoption of one special needs child - this is your foreign fee

Other Costs Associated With Adoption

Round Trip Airfare to Sofia - $800 -$1,400 (per person depending on the time of year) - you will travel twice so include that in this figure as well as a one way ticket for your child home

Hotel in Sofia - $70 - $120 Approximately per person  per night

Food - $30 - $50 Approximately per person per day

USCIS Visa interview - $400

Medical Exam - $100

USCIS Paperwork and Fingerprints - $720

$85 (per person in household over 18 for fingerprints)

Passport - $135 Approximately

Fed-Ex Fees - $500 Approximately

Apostille of Documents for Dossier - $500 Approximately