The Team at Americans Adopting Orphans

We, the staff of Americans Adopting Orphans, take our work seriously and your satisfaction is important to us. All of us hope to make your adoption experience as pleasant and rewarding as it can be. Our primary goal is to bring joy to the lives of the children and parents we serve by uniting them as families.

To help you become better acquainted with us and our roles in your adoption processing we are providing you with photos and descriptions of each staff member. We are very proud of the diversity and skill of our staff at Americans Adopting Orphans. Each person is valued for his or her contribution to keeping our clients happy and the agency running smoothly.

In reading about each person, you will see that everyone has their own areas of expertise within our agency. This will help you to know who to ask for when you have a question or concern. Also, know that everyone in the office is interested in and able to help you with general document processing issues. We are all familiar with the process of gathering and preparing a dossier for submission to China. Most of us can also answer basic questions concerning home study requirements, travel, referral times, etc. Click on any of our images to see a larger picture.

Dave Ptasnik

Co-Director of Americans Adopting Orphans

Dave’s involvement with adoption began over 40 years ago when he was placed with his adoptive parents. As an adoptee, an adoptive parent, and an adoption professional, Dave has seen and experienced many sides of adoption. He is dedicated to helping children find homes in loving families, helping others as he was helped. Dave is an imaginative man with a strong sense of ethics, which has been the impetus in making Americans Adopting Orphans a very exciting alternative for adoptive families.

Dave is primarily responsible for contacts with other adoption agencies, our branch offices, social workers, domestic and foreign government bodies, and travel offices. When e-mail is sent to our account, Dave is usually the person to answer. He also conducts our monthly Information Meetings and handles our Public Relations.

A voracious reader, Dave boasts a library of over 4,000 books mostly of the science fiction genre. He listens to classical music whenever he can and cannot resist a good action adventure movie.

Cindy Ptasnik, RN

Co-Director of Americans Adopting Orphans

Cindy started her career as a Registered Nurse in Maternal-Child Health. She worked Labor & Delivery and Pediatrics for many years. When starting her family, Cindy decided that she wanted to be at home with her kids so she became licensed to provide day care in her home for healthy and special needs children. It was then that the adoption bug bit her! Combining her love of nursing and babies, Cindy found the transition into adoption work very natural. One of the benefits of her job is that she is able to work side by side with her husband Dave.

In the office, Cindy handles much of the day-to-day operations including distribution of workload to the staff, keeping up with documentation requirements for adoptive parents, working with the Immigration & Naturalization Service, reviewing applications and issuing acceptances to new clients, and administering our Vietnam program. In addition, Cindy writes and edits the Americans Adopting Orphans newsletter, helps plan our class schedules, and teaches classes in infant care and travel medicine.

When she has spare time for herself between her work and raising two busy kids, Cindy catches up on her reading, tries out new recipes, writes articles for magazines, and daydreams about a pampered vacation at an exotic resort.

Jennifer White

Office Administrator

Jennifer came to Americans Adopting Orphans seeking a change in her career after years in the insurance field. With a strong desire to help people in a tangible way, Jennifer has found tremendous satisfaction working with adoptive families.

Accustomed to detail-oriented work, Jennifer’s skills were a perfect match for our agency where she performs technical reviews on dossier documents and home study reports. She also handles authentications for Full Service Step 2 clients and manages client accounts. Her easygoing manner and straightforward style of communication are appreciated by our clients.

At home Jennifer enjoys spending time with her husband, two school-aged children, and a menagerie of pets. Having a particular fondness for sports, she can often be found at local events cheering on her team. She is a diehard Mariners fan. Reading and gardening are pastimes for Jennifer. Though she has to look out for the bobcat that frequents her backyard, she likes watching the deer that graze in her lawn.

Amy Guo

China Liaison, Travel Specialist, and Translator

Amy Guo grew up in China and graduated from Jiangxi Normal University in Nanchang with a Masters Degree in English. After several years working as our facilitator in Guangzhou where she assisted families with their processing at the US Consulate she came to the US in 1999 to act as an intern in the Americans Adopting Orphans Seattle office. She now continues those same duties as a full staff member.

In our home office, Amy handles communication with our China facilitators, works with families to establish their travel plans and itineraries, and translates referral documents and other correspondence from China. She also gathers documents for our Full Service Step 1 clients. In addition, Amy teaches some of our most popular classes including the Chinese Language Crash Course for Adoptive Parents and a Chinese cooking class.

Amy loves children and is proud of her part in bringing families together. In her spare time Amy enjoys watching movies, cooking, singing, and spending time with her husband (a long-time friend of the Ptasniks) whom she met at an Americans Adopting Orphans party.

Edd Vick

International Adoption Coordinator

Edd Vick and his wife, science fiction author Amy Thomson, adopted their daughter Katie from China through Americans Adopting Orphans in 1999. He worked in retail bookstores for more than twenty years, but moved to our agency to be more involved in finding children for other folks. Edd orders all Full Service Step 1 documents, and handles many administrative duties, including answering the phones, filing, and coordinating mailings. He also revises our instruction packs, and has been adapting much of our information for the Ukraine program. He is a tremendous asset to our staff.

In his spare time, Edd reads, writes, draws, and collects books. He is a published science fiction writer with several short fiction credits.

Victoria Grasso

Ukraine Liaison, Travel Specialist, and Translator

Victoria Grasso as joined our staff as the Manager of our new Ukraine program. Having grown up in Ukraine, she is familiar with both the land and culture there. By training and education she is a language specialist. In addition to speaking English and Ukrainian, she also speaks Russian and German. She has valuable experience working with adoptive families in Ukraine through another agency.

When Victoria relocated to the US, she knew she wanted to continue helping parents and children, which led her to Americans Adopting Orphans. She is eager to use her skills and talents to help our families.

When she is not at work, Victoria spends her free time with her daughter Valeria, who is almost one year old.

Kathy Gore, MSW, LCSW

Lead Social Worker

Kathy is quite an asset to Americans Adopting Orphans with her professional and personal experience. She comes to us after 10 years of doing social work in one of Seattle’s busiest emergency rooms.

She knows adoption inside out as the mother of a daughter adopted from China (through Americans Adopting Orphans). Kathy and her husband also have a birth son. As a result, she has a lot of practical advice and parenting anecdotes from which parents-to-be can benefit. Families appreciate Kathy’s down to earth approach and her easy laugh.

Kathy coordinates our social work staff in completing preplacement and postplacement home studies for our client families. She also facilitates Waiting Family Support Group meetings.

When she has free time, Kathy enjoys being with her family and going on outings, whether it be camping in local forests or a road trip to see the sites. She also keeps in touch with members of her China travel group who have bonded very closely with each other.

Erin Eason

Bookkeeper

Keeping the books balanced, bills paid, paychecks issued, and taxes calculated are Erin’s primary functions. Erin is a behind the scenes peron, so you may never encounter her.

Eugene Hwang

Computer Analyst

As we depend so much on computers to do agency work, Eugene’s background in computer networks, programming, and troubleshooting makes him a pivotal person in keeping our agency running, and in helping the orphaned and abandoned children for whom we seek families.

Eugene manages our network of 10 computers and a server, researches and installs new software, orders and installs hardware, and fixes bugs as they crop up. He also helps out with our phone and voice mail systems.

Susan Eilenberg, MSW

Manager of the Americans Adopting Orphans St. Louis Branch Office

With years of experience as a private therapist and social worker, Susan had been searching for an opportunity to apply both her professional skills and personal interest in the service of children without families. From her first call, we knew she was someone truly special. Susan is a very friendly and knowledgeable woman and a real asset to our families. She enjoys working with people touched by adoption and brings passion and enthusiasm to the adoption process.

Susan conducts home studies and helps our Missouri clients gently through their adoption processing. She also conducts information meetings for our agency and maintains close ties with the adoption community in Missouri.

Susan keeps herself busy cheering on her daughter in sports. She enjoys the outdoors and can often be found at the racetrack. She breeds killer bees in her backyard. (just seeing if you’re paying attention). Seriously, what are your hobbies? Inquiring minds want to know.

Chen Yuan, MD

Our primary contact in China is Dr. Chen Yuan. We originally met Dr. Chen when we were adopting our son Joe. He took care of all of the official meetings and travel arrangements during our stay. We are very fortunate that he is willing to work with our client families. He is much more than just a travel guide. Dr. Chen is a respected medical professional, with influential personal connections throughout China. He is able to resolve problems and expedite stuck paperwork in an almost miraculous manner. In most cases, he and his staff will meet you at the airport when you arrive in your child’s home province, and be with you until you leave for your Consulate Appointment in Guangzhou. His medical skills and access to medical facilities have been critically valuable to our traveling families.

You will be met in Guangzhou by Richard and Alexa, Visa Processing Specialists. They will review your documentation, and prepare you and your paperwork for your appointment with INS and State Department personnel. They also efficiently move you through the crowded Visa Photograph and Medical Examination process.