Dedham Woman Stuck in Ukraine, Hopeful Issue Will be Resolved Soon

For several weeks, Christine Caswell McCarron has been trying to help her adopted daughter Kristina and herself return to the U.S. from Ukraine. However, she was having trouble obtaining a passport for her daughter due to political issues in the country.

Caswell McCarron is one of at least 12 other Americans who are waiting for passports for their newly adopted children.  The reason for the delay is because the Ukraine was in the middle of making changes to the printing source for their passports.

"Ukraine stopped printing passports altogether because it took that role away from a private company and assumed it under state control," Caswell McCarron said.

This caused a backlog of 160,000 passport applications in the country.  But Caswell McCarron was told that the adopted children would be in the first batch of prints.

As a result, thousands of dollars were being lost on changed/cancelled flights, and living expenses.  In the meantime, parents were placed in apartments in Kiev until the issue was resolved.

On Thursday, Caswell McCarron met with Consul General Henry Hand in what she felt was a very productive meeting.

The general acknowledged that the situation was a "horrendous passport snafu."  However, he is very optimistic that something will be done soon.  This is due to to the fact that there have been four out of 13 American families that have received passports.

"He believes more will come in in the next couple days and the Embassy is going to stay open through the weekend so we can get our exit interviews and visas," Caswell McCarron said. "I am hopeful for tomorrow."