How long does it take?

This is the most oft posed question to adopting families.  At least to this adoptive family.  And there's no answer.  A great many variables affect the timing - speed of organizing paperwork, turnover of documents by the government offices, the rules of the country from which adopting.   Last year, Ukraine totally stopped all foreign adoptions.  Now they're happening again, but it's always possible that they will shut things down again.  I watch chats on several message boards and it appears that families are traveling and coming home with new family members.  I've been in communication with a couple who started the process as late as this year and already have dates to travel and meet their new child.  So, how long does it take?  Anywhere from 6 months to over a year.  I'm being attentive to our documents, but I can't claim to have been as swift as possible.  My hope is that they will be submitted to Ukraine this fall.  Let's see how it goes....