Dear Friends,

Family is our life and helping families through adoption is an extension of who we are. Let us tell you a little more.

Carol was raised as an only child (her biological sister grew up in a different home) by an aunt and uncle who loved her unconditionally. Her neighbor and best friend was an adopted girl from Korea. Their experiences as adoptive children in loving homes painted a beautiful picture of adoption. Carol decided that when she grew up she would help children, maybe even adopt a child to love with all her heart.

Fortunately, Carol met and married Bob. Bob's family had welcomed a foster brother into their home while a teenager. He, his biological brother, and his "adopted/foster" brother all played football together during their high school years.

After having five "bio" kids (three girls and two boys, one daughter died at the age of four months of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and experiencing the joys and hardships of being a foster family for a number of children, we decided it was time to adopt.

Marcie was the first in 1985. She joined us straight from Korea at the age of four months and was immediately loved by all. As time passed, Carol found herself helping other families adopt both internationally and domestically.

As the world became aware of the tragic plight of thousands of orphaned Romanian children, we again prepared the documents needed to adopt a Romanian child. The Los Angeles Times learned of our interests and published a feature article about our family. The article found it's way across the nation and soon calls came in from all over the country asking for advice and information about adoptions. International Family Services was born.

Over the next few years our family was joined by beautiful Angela, born 1990 in Romania, and Nickolas, also born 1990 in Russia. Then, in December, 1999, we made our way back to Russia to adopt our most recent babies (and last?), Hannah, born 1998, and Christina, born 1999. (As we were making preparations to adopt Hannah, Christina came into our lives. She was a little five month old about to die with severe heart problems. We [IFS] made arrangements in the U.S. for open heart surgery. The operation was a success, and for the next few months Christina recovered in our home. The family fell in love with her, and, well, the rest is history.) Bob now explains that he has 10 children, all boys -- except for 7 girls.

We are proud to have given birth to International Family Services, a non-profit orphan assistance and adoption referral organization, and a Texas-licensed full service adoption agency. We are also licensed agencies in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Oregon, Alabama and Kansas. The special relationship between our talented social workers, domestic and international staff, directors, field representatives and our client families is a major reason for our success.

The IFS staff is available to work with you and to answer any questions you might have about the adoption process. Please don't hesitate to call or drop us a note by email.

Bob and Carol Mardock

President, Executive Director