It took a bus, a train and then another bus, but after nearly 24 hours of travel, two Ukrainian boys who are still hoping to be adopted by a family in Maine have safely fled their war-torn country.
Tracy Blake-Bell, who lives in Leeds with her husband and their two biological sons, said the boys, Vanya and Serogzha, are now staying at a facility in Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west.
“They have comfortable mattresses and clean sheets. They were able to shower and eat. They were some of the lucky ones,” Blake-Bell said Tuesday.
Although the teenagers are safe, their adoptions remain in limbo. Blake-Bell said they have the necessary legal documentation with them, which means they are still Ukrainian citizens, not refugees. Nevertheless, she fears that when Russia invaded last month, any hope of a legal pathway dissolved.
“I’ve been trying to claw my way up the government ladder and try to understand international law,” she said. “The hardest part is not knowing who can help. The Ukrainian government, I have so much empathy for them. They are just trying to protect and save their country, and I feel bad even asking about these boys knowing so many others aren’t safe.”
Tracy Blake-Bell opens a ‘go bag’ that is ready for travel to Europe if needed. Blake-Bell and her husband, Nat Bell, visited Ukraine three weeks ago to sign paperwork on adopting two teenage boys there. There were supposed to go back, but then war broke out. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
Blake-Bell and her husband, Nat Bell, first got to know Vanya and Serogzha in early 2020 when the boys stayed with the couple and their sons, Nathaniel and Eli, as part of an international program that pairs orphans with American families. The visit went so well that both the family and the orphans expressed an interest in adoption, a process that can take many months or even years. There are tens of thousands of children orphaned in Ukraine, many because of widespread poverty.
In January, months after the family hosted the teens for a second time in Maine, Blake-Bell finally got an official invitation to visit Ukraine and sign paperwork that would finalize the adoption proceedings. She and her husband visited for 10 days and left with the expectation they would return in a month to go before a judge.
Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 made that impossible. It also forced the boys and many other vulnerable Ukrainians to seek refuge elsewhere. For several days, Vanya and Serogzha stayed at their orphanage, which is located in a rural part of the country away from major military action.
“Their path from the orphanage to Poland I think was much less dangerous than some others,” Blake-Bell said.
Still, there was a period of uncertainty. Around the same time they were trying to flee, there were reports that Russian troops were not honoring an agreement to allow civilians to leave safely.
Blake-Bell doesn’t know what will happen next. She’s working with elected officials, her adoption agency and other advocates to get answers but said well intentioned international laws designed to keep children safe are making things difficult. There might be an option to bring the boys to the U.S. on a temporary visa, but even that isn’t certain.
“If this war has taught me one thing, it’s that these really are my kids,” Blake-Bell said through tears.
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