Odeen Velyky Pyvo and an Unexpected Pause in Paris
Published May 31, 2005
On chat sites for adoptive parents we have been vilified both for speaking out about Yunona and for not having selected alternative children on the spot, under pressure, while still distraught after having learned we'd been deceived. I suppose some parents who have been in our position, yet made a different choice, feel defensive – perhaps because they feel to be otherwise is to implicate themselves as victims or to somehow denigrate their love for the children they nevertheless did wind up adopting. It is a shame they cannot see Yunona for what it is without removing the innocence of their adopted children from the equation, because to defend Yunona is to defend everything that is wrong with international adoption.
Yunona could easily abandon their deceptive practices and cease issuing contracts for specific children. They could stop buying photos of kids they know nothing about. So why don't they? I believe it is because there would then be a sharp decline in a call for their services and therefore a sharp decline in their income. The faces are the bait. Bait gathers clients. Pressuring parents to adopt alternative children once in country is the switch.
Yunona runs a bait-'n-switch operation because that's where the money is.
What, then, about the other type of contract Yunona offers: the open contract? An open contract secures adoptive services in which the client parents are aided in selecting children the way Ukraine expects them to – ridiculous as it is – by choosing in a matter of minutes a child from an out-dated profile book that they can't even read for themselves. But there is no money-back clause in an open contract, and besides, even parents who took the switch readily admit they wouldn't have gone halfway around the world to adopt if they hadn't fallen for a specific photograph in the first place. They're okay with this, mind you, now that they have chosen to adopt a different child; but they don't want to hear their lost dream of a child called bait.
Another reason the open contract route is less popular is that this route can be taken for a whole lot less money — by merely excluding Yunona from the process in the first place. Adopting "independently" is the method sanctioned by the Ukrainian government and there are helpful groups of parents readily available on the Internet (see: www.frua.org) who will help new and interested adoptive parents through the sometimes daunting journey of independent international adoption. Tens of thousands of children living in American homes today testify to the effectiveness of sanctioned routes to adoption. Unfortunately for us and for many other unsuspecting, uninformed parents, falling in love with a face and signing on the dotted line preceded understanding.
- Odeen Velyky Pyvo and an Unexpected Pause in Paris
- Published: May 31, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet, Politics: International, Culture: Society, Culture: Family and Relationships
- Writer: garrie keyman
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- garrie keyman's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Thank you for writing, Jeanne. One thing that's been rewarding for me through all of this has been hearing from many wonderful adoptive parents out there who take a few moments to share their personal thoughts and stories in return.
Congratulations on your adoption. Sounds like our adopted daughters are about the same age.
And thank you for the compliment on my writing. Next to my husband and children, writing is the most important thing in my life.
-- gk
I only wished that I would have read this 5 months ago. We have lost over $10,000.00 since 1-2006 to Yunona USA (and what ever else they decided to use as a name for there illegal scams).
They are currently under investigation and the coward Ivan Jerdev is curreently hidding in Russia. I can not beleive people are out there that take advantage of desperate parents!
If you are the lucky few that had a positive experience with Yunona, concider yourselves very blessed to not be taken advantage of. Unlike the MANY that are heart broker and not to mention broke because of this.
If you have been a victim of Yunona or any other affiliate to them, please call the NAPA Police Dept in California. Thay are trying to get all the people who were scammed by Yunona invovled so that they have enough evidence to charge all people involved and hopefully reimburse all our money back.
Please don't speak out negatively to all those who were scammed. We are hurting and we do not need the persecution of others to stick up for a company that has lied to ALL of us from the beginning.
I only wished that I would have read this 5 months ago. We have lost over $10,000.00 since 1-2006 to Yunona USA (and what ever else they decided to use as a name for there illegal scams).
They are currently under investigation and the coward Ivan Jerdev is currently hiding in Russia. I can not believe people are out there that take advantage of desperate parents!
If you are the lucky few that had a positive experience with Yunona, consider yourselves very blessed to not be taken advantage of. Unlike the MANY that are heart broker and not to mention broke because of this.
If you have been a victim of Yunona or any other affiliate to them, please call the NAPA Police Dept in California. They are trying to get all the people who were scammed by Yunona involved so that they have enough evidence to charge all people involved and hopefully reimburse all our money back.
Please don't speak out negatively to all those who were scammed. We are hurting and we do not need the persecution of others to stick up for a company that has lied to ALL of us from the beginning.
Ivan Jerdev is very much a crook. We were referred to a child in Rostov on Don and discovered upon our arrival there that the agency has never even worked there. It was a horror story from there...................We have adopted through 2 previous agencies and realize adoption is not a cut and dried procedure but Yunona is plain crooked.
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First of all-you are indeed a wonderful writer.I am sure that I would not be able to resist any of your literary adventures but since this subject is close to my heart I was all the more intralled.I adopted my daughter from Kazakhstan in 1999 at the tender age of 10 months.I did not use Yunona but I certainly have learned some lessons regarding International adoption through my journey and through the experiences of friends.One friend went to Russia to adopt 2 children and when she arrived was told that their parents had decided to keep them.She fainted and became hysterical when she came to.She and her husband "picked" out 2 different children who are now 8 and 10 and yet she continues to mourn the children she lost and yet she never really had.When I visited my daughter's baby house to meet her for the first time I was brought a three year old rather than a small baby.For a period of time I waited while they looked for her in quite a panick.Luckily she was there and seemed to be waiting for me.