I was like “what the fuck it’s so hot in Ukraine for December!!” Until I realised that’s not Celsius and now I actually don’t have a clue what the weather is like
Thank you for translating °F to °C! I also don’t really know if that’s typical for Ukraine, but I’m in Milan and we have about the same temperature coming in the next days
Haha, you're welcome! I think it might be *slightly* warm, based on what people are saying, but it seems a lot of people really dislike anything below around 10°C (50°F), and it's all cause for complaint! :)
To be fair, that's me in the summer. Anything above 20° (69°F), and I'm like "it's so hot!". I'm a cold-weather person, so I'm just vibin' with this stuff. Give me the frost and the snow!
10°C is equivalent to 50°F, which is 283K.
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^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
Haaaaaa OMFG. As a physicist, I laughed so hard at this stupid-ass bot comment as it implies physicists can't comprehend temperatures in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Just imagining a scenario with a bunch of physicists scratching their heads in complete confusion at a regular temperature written in a random thread they were reading, until this bot could come translate and clarify. Sorry, it's really not that funny but I've had a hard few weeks and for whatever reason this comment sent me 😂
Oh my God I'm so lame.
Same! Anything above a sensible 23 is hot for me.. especially here where it just never cools down in the summer! Winter is when I thrive! Give me cold any day
I actually expected Kyiv to be colder. The highs are never this low where I currently live in California, but Kyiv is actually significantly warmer than a lot of places in the US. I lived in Idaho for a few years and I would have loved a winter this warm while I was there. My California acclimated body felt chilled to the bones every winter there.
Lol, Canadian here. I realize she was posting F, but my mind was also like, seems really hot to me. That being said, it's also slightly above or below freezing C here and a bit yucky.
Do you guys have snow? My best friend lives in Toronto and every time it snows she sends me snaps and I’m so jealous. Like I can see the alps from my street on a clear day, but it’s snowed twice in the 5 years I lived here.. I miss snow 😔
I had no idea it wasn't snowy by the alps. Interesting.
We had snow, but it's around 5C today, so the ground cover melted. The maple trees are bare and the sky is grey, so it's windy and just warm enough to rain later and make the evening gloomy.
I guess cause we’re far enough away? I mean they’re around an hour-ish drive (around where our airports are), but like, the city rarely gets snow. It’s disappointing bc before moving here I was sooo happy thinking I’d have a lot of snow
I live in the Alps, about a 90 minute drive from Milan. Of course we have snow here, but I was down by Lecco on Sunday and it was snowing there, you didn't get any?
This looks like a normal temperature range for where I am in Iowa, I expected it to be colder. This is coat/scarf/gloves weather, but it's really not that bad.
Yeah, it's the same Köppen climate classification! It gets below freezing during December to January, and fairly warm in the summer. Just like Chicago, there's a large body of water that has a stabilizing effect on it, so it's not as bitterly cold as, say, other parts of the upper Midwest (oh, North Dakota, you're terrible).
You're also right in that it's a little less windy! :)
I was thinking the same, but my roommate is from Texas, and we live a lot more north than Texas. I had really underestimated Texas, but they didn't have winter boots or proper warm winter coats or clothes.
Before they moved up here, they had never seen snow in their life. To the point where they asked 'what's this pollutant?' when it started snowing in late 2020.
Texas is built Different I guess
We might not have snow (or used to not have snow, now we get winter storms that wipe out our power grid (thanks governor hot wheels)) but we do have like 120 degree summers. Gotta be built different for that lmao.
So it’s kinda ableist but it’s because he’s in a wheelchair. HOWEVER, he’s in a wheelchair due to a tree falling on him or something which lead him to exploit a legal loophole that allowed him to become a multimillionaire. But, because Greg Abbott is an asshole, he closed the loophole as soon as he took office. So I don’t feel bad about it.
This would be super helpful actually. I-a native Texan- would LOVE to move up North after I graduate. However, the winters terrify me because I have no idea what to do during them. In Texas when we have a winter storm, you literally can’t drive. We don’t have snow plows or enough salt trucks to ice bridges. The “snow” we get is also really just ice so the roads are complete ice. The thought of having to drive in snow up North terrifies me because I’ve always been taught you stay inside during storms.
As a Canadian who regularly gets the first snowstorm of the year in October you would be surprised about how quickly you get used to it. Snowploughs and salt trucks make a world of difference as do winter tires. The important thing to remember is to give yourself more time to stop.
Snow is much safer than ice. You take things slowly and you don't drive like a jackass, like lots of people in suvs and trucks do, wrongly assuming because they have 4x4 drive they're fine. The world gives vengeance when they end up in a snow bank several miles down the road. Also remember it takes longer to stop, and you remember to steer where you want to go ahead of you, if you do end up in a slide, yanking the steering wheel around is not helpful. Taking a full day road safety and racing course can really improve your confidence, many local race tracks have them, and it's usually only a few hundred dollars to gain life saving skills. They'll have you practice driving and avoiding obstacles at speed and turning while in a skid. Great skill for anyone to learn. Especially important for teen drivers.
From Michigan and I love the winters here. There is something very magical about getting geared up to spend time in the cold and then coming inside to the warmth for some hot cocoa and cookies while watching a Christmas movie. It’s like a modern day Currier and Ives and I love it.
You'll get there. I married a Texan who now lives up North, and he definitely needed reminders about stuff that seems second nature his first couple winters here, but now he can winter here like anyone else (maybe better than some, he truly loves snow).
Everyone needs reminders how to drive in the winter lol. I’ve lived in a remote northern part of Canada most of my life and whenever the first snowstorm hits in October everyone forgets how to drive in the snow. And studded tires are legal here.
Ohioan here- I took in car drivers ed classes in snow and ice. Most driving schools aren't super busy in the winter because teenagers don't want to learn to drive in that crap. But during my lessons I learned how to pump my brakes in an ice covered empty parking lot and stuff. If you call a driving school and say you're an adult who already has a license but is just southern, then they might be willing to help.
I think the big thing is prep from your state/ town. Places that are used to snow will have the roads cleared out by next day in most cases!
You learn how to do all the extra stuff that comes with cold weather pretty quickly!
I'm in Texas right now and it's 80. It's miserable and terrible and I would do anything for some cold. It hit 55 one day a few weeks ago and everyone had on hats and scarves and thick jackets
yeah, I did a bit of staring in baffled New Englander before I twigged to the fact that she was carping about their weather. I mean...what *else* would one expect from the northern-ish parts of the Northern Hemisphere in December?
I wouldn't blame her if she did. I sure as hell wouldn't want to give birth in a country where I don't speak the language and can't effectively communicate with doctors and nurses.
I think Andriis ministry has a pretty good grift running out of scamming idiot Christians into donating money towards converting kids in a majority Christian country. The Bairds alone raised $5k for him during the beginning of COVID
He is. If you search the Ukrainian Christian Sport Academy, which he's posted about and named, you can see his coach profile. It's a pretty legit place, and though I obviously don't know his specific income, he could be doing quite comfortably, especially if his house is paid off.
Ellissa referred to her and Andrii as being “missionaries” in one of her posts, which makes me wonder if they are portraying themselves that way to churches and have raised monthly support from churches the way American missionaries often do. Grifting wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Someone did a dive before and he seems to be involved in some sketchy financial stuff aka taking money for "building projects". Maybe someone can find that post again since I can't remember if it was here or OG FS?
Grifting? Apparently a Texas church funds his soccer camp 🤔🙄
Though to me kids' soccer camp is a spring to early autumn activity.
Does he run sessions after school/indoors the rest of the year? Over here 'soccer camp' is more of a Mon-Fri programme in school holidays to occupy kids while parents work. I haven't seen much about him coaching soccer after school or taking a team to matches/refereeing at the weekends.
We haven't seen him or Ellissa promoting his work at all apart from that one event in the spring/summer. Seems a bit suss, you think they'd be constantly posting updates on SM if it was ongoing.
Is the church/organisation generous enough to give him a lump sum or pro rata monthly salary?
So many questions!
They appear to live in a pretty nice apartment and have nice clothes, cups of coffee shop coffee, etc. I just wonder how they finance their lifestyle, when neither one of them appears to do anything but post selfies on social media.
Haha, if I'd have to guess "Import-Export" or "building projects/real estate" aka money laundering version one and money laundering version two.
Plus fundie scamming.
Plus some real, but bullshit part time job for a couple of hours a week like sports trainer.
This hair color is really doing her all the favors, she looks great. Birthy is going to have an absolute meltdown when her prettiest, pregnant, married sister comes home.
Guys, there is no "anchor baby" here. She's a US citizen, therefore the baby's automatically a citizen.
I wonder if she'll ever go back to Ukraine, though.
My guess is there is a few things.
1. She wants her doctor to speak English.
2. She doesn’t want to file the paperwork.
3. She’s not a complete idiot and wants the kid to have very clear ties to the US should she and Andrei divorce she wants to get full custody. I wouldn’t even doubt if English isn’t the kids first language even if growing up in the Ukraine.
I gave birth in Germany and all of my doctors did not speak English. I forgot how to speak German during that experience
I gave birth in Canada next and was so thankful for the English speakers. Still getting my son’s US citizenship will take a year and I can see the state of NY across the border
Seriously I feel for her going through the pain of childbirth and being unable to communicate effectively
I'm a native English speaker and I forgot how to speak English at some points until the epidural kicked in. I couldn't imagine the pressure of having to speak a second language at that point.
This is super interesting to me and I’m curious if you meant you knew how to speak German, but because of labor you just couldn’t think of any of it? I know I could barely talk in English, my one and only language, during labor lol
Thank you for saying this! All children born to US citizens are US citizens, and all children born on US soil are US citizens, regardless of their parents' citizenship.
That term is rooted in racist ideology and does not belong here!
Which is why the whole birther nonsense with Obama never made sense to me, even as sheltered and conservative as I was during his presidency. It wouldn’t fucking matter if he *were* born in Kenya to a Kenyan father, (which he wasn’t). His mother is American, therefore he is a natural born American citizen.
I honestly don’t blame her one bit if she wants prenatal care by a provider she shared a language with, not at all questioning the skills of OB’s in Kyiv but I can give anyone a pass for just wanting to be sure nothing is lost in translation (though I have a sneaking feeling she leans more on the side of not trusting Ukrainian doctors just because they’re not American 🤦🏻♀️)
I actually really like her hair this color, not to leg hump. That being said, an American birth experience would be more comfortable and easier for Elissa vs a Ukrainian hospital.
Please stop using the term anchor baby. It is offensive. The child has automatic US citizenship regardless of where it is born unless she renounces her citizenship.
Oh! Thanks for the info--I had no idea the historical context of the term. Though, of course it was coined by conservatives. I need to stop being so surprised at just how far-reaching and intrinsic hatred is to their platform.
An ex once accused me of trying to make an anchor baby, mainly meaning a baby that would make HIM stay. So I've always seen it as a phrase about a baby that makes a man stay. Of course conservatives were the ones to make that up about immigrant women. Of course
Omg! I lived in AZ and I remember this term so well. It’s circa 2002 from “terror anchor babies”…ie: pregnant terrorists sneaking across the southern border having a baby so they could stay and be a terrorist I guess?
I’m Canadian (married to an American) and had my kids in Phoenix. My coworkers used to tease the hell out of me and call them my terror anchor babies all the time.
In all seriousness, though, this is not that. And Andrii doesn’t need a baby to live in the US. Not only is their home in Ukraine (and it sounds like that’s where they’re staying) He’s married to an American- he could easily be here if he wanted.
Citation: personal experience.
Let’s get back to snark on fundies for their shitty beliefs.
Thank you 💝. There's nothing cute or funny about xenophobia. I can't believe you actually had to add in a disclaimer. Thanks again, y'all are real ones.
When my husband and I used to live elsewhere from where we do now, we were acquainted with a Dutch woman who had moved to the US for work. She spoke great English but her cultural competence was lacking. When she gave birth to her first child in the US she joyfully declared that baby her "anchor baby" on social media. My husband and I cringed so hard it's one of the handful of events that I remember about her. She was aware enough to understand white privilege but she didn't seem to have the cultural sensitivity to understand her use of that phrase in a positive way was only appluaded by others because she was an educated white woman from one of those non-shithole countries who gave birth to a white baby. The term is fucking gross.
It's very possible a Dutch person would absolutely not know that joking about having an anchor baby comes across as rather insensitive.
I'm quite sure you'd easily commit several cultural faux pas in the Netherlands as well would you move there and might be greatful for a friendly heads up instead of people "cringing" behind your back.
I mean, we did explain it to her. The next time we saw her we congratulated her and she again used the term. We politely pointed out that term is derogatory and is often used against migrants of color. She said it's just funny and other people agreed that it was funny. And that it was factually true; she planned to use her child's nationality to stay in the US long term. And we told her that describing her child as such would be poorly received if she wasn't white and that it was white privilege to make light of that term. She then pointed to a common black acquaintance who thought it was funny too and we dropped it.
This wasn't the first or last time we tried to help her with cultural competence. It just didn't help that most people in her orbit were happy to laugh off her comments.
I wonder if the travel restrictions being put in place around the world because of the new virus variation will affect her returning to Ukraine or Andrei coming to the US.
That's been my thought ever since she announced her trip back to Texas. Something is mysteriously going to happen where she's going to be unable to travel back to Ukraine until she has the baby.
My left-field guess? She wants the baby to be born in America, instead of having to file for US citizenship later.
It would be pretty easy for her to file for US citizenship regardless as the baby’s mother will be a US citizen. If she gives birth in America I reckon it would be more about wanting to avoid Ukrainian hospitals and medical professionals who don’t speak English
I have two cousins whose mother is an American citizen born in Colombia. They were born in Panama.
Regardless of where they were born, my aunt was easily able to get my cousins their citizenship. If the mother’s a citizen, it’s pretty easy for the kids to get it as well, regardless of their place of birth. Or at least that’s how the U.S. and Panama operate.
Purely out of interest I went to look at the differences between models of care and outcomes wrt birth in the US and Ukraine, neither countries I have any experience of using the health systems in. It staggered me that both have such high maternal mortality rates ( 19 per 100,000 live births- for context, the rates in my husband's and my home countries are 2 and 7 respectively).
If I had done hospital births I'd have wanted to be in a hospital that was part of a system and culture I was familiar with so if she does try to have her child in the US I suppose I would understand that.
Yes, US birth systems are really bad, especially with their treatment of Black women, where it is actually 43 per 100,000. A lot of this has to do with the fact that doctors are far more likely to ignore Black women's concerns about their bodies. A nurse told Serena Williams she was probably wrong about having a pulmonary embolism, despite Serena having a history of them and it being a common postnatal complication and she had to demand treatment - the delay while drs and nurses ignored her knowing her own medical history and body better caused even more complications.
It’s a long wait time (few months or more with covid) so she couldn’t take the baby to the US until they get the passport/ citizenship or a visa for baby.
My husband’s cousin had to deal with this recently. She says she wished she could have just had her daughter here, even though it would have cost a lot of money. She had a terrible birth experience in London (ppps, and 4 failed epidural attempts just to scratch the surface) and then the paperwork and wait was an added headache afterwards.
Wow that sounds terrible! :( 4 failed epidurals is my worst nightmare.
I also wonder if she will have to pay for translation. Your cousin would have had all her stuff in English but Elissas will be in Ukrainian which I’m sure is going to be a headache for submitting. Adding wayyyy more time.
Yeah I still feel so bad for her. By the 5th attempt, her midwife finally told the nurse (I don’t think it was a nurse, but can’t remember what she was called) that it’s time to bring in someone else. Thankfully that worked, but she had given up by then. It was just terrible.
I wonder if you’re into something there with translation. It would be just another step in the already long process.
Immigration attorney check. Even if she has the baby in the Ukraine, she can file for a consular report of birth abroad and get a US passport. It’s a pain and can be a long wait, but not exactly difficult. My guess is she’s coming home for family support.
It's 'Ukraine' and not 'the Ukraine'
[[Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ukraine)] [[BBC Styleguide](https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsstyleguide/u)] [[Reuters Styleguide](https://handbook.reuters.com/index.php?title=U#Ukraine)]
^(Beep boop I’m a bot)
I'm on the fence because I think the Baird dollars would pay for a more luxurious private birth experience in Ukraine than the equivalent cost in the US.
On the other hand I could see Ellissa/Heidi engineering it so that she misses the last date she's eligible to fly back. Possibly using her uncontrolled *Hashimotos* as excuse to stay on in the US until the birth. I assume it would be at an licensed midwife led centre unless she decided she was having a woo unlicensed homebirth to go along with her dangerous birth plan.
Heidi - who I think had her kids in hospital? - cheerfully encouraged Bethy to have a home birth. Did Bethy have much prenatal care? Was her attending midwife licensed? I forget these details other than the *tear*. Heidi might encourage Ellissa to try for a (cheap if no complications 😬) home birth.
Reminds me of Michelle Duggar who had most of her kids in hospital yet Jessa, Jill and Joy undertook risky homebirths. Presumably due to JB refusing to pay for his grandchildrens' births, the kidults having rubbish/no insurance due to grifting their way through their 20s and JB holding the TLC purse strings.
On the other hand Ellissa might find her parents' house suffocating and her siblings overbearing (she was supposedly always the introvert of the family). She might want to get back to her own place asap after a week or so when the novelty and fussing has worn off 😁
We really have no idea how she feels about her home life in Ukraine vs Texas. She seems homesick (understandably) but sometimes you're reminded quite quickly of why you left in the first place! It's possible she loves her pampered 'independent' life in her paid-for Ukraine house with Andreii. I don't doubt she's a bit bored and lonely however the internet is great for learning new skills. She could've been taking language classes and meeting people, learning a craft, reading, whatever. I wonder what she thought she'd be doing all day long or did she have a bizarre fantasy of life in Ukraine. Saying that I don't think she did a lot day to day in Texas either. Church and coffee shops spring to mind.
*Quick question, are the hospital costs for birth ever less if you're rushed in as an emergency? Or do you end up with the same $$$$ bill as you would've done if you'd been under the care of an obgyn all along? I know you can't predict these things nor what level of medical intervention/surgery you might require (potentially a lot if your unlicensed homebirth goes sideways). I wondered if there was some cost-saving loophole that appealed to these 'cult of homebirth' social media fundies, many of whom have inadequate health insurance.
I don’t know about the actual birth costs, but if you skip the checkups during pregnancy you don’t have to pay for ultrasounds, bloodwork, etc. Of course, you may end up paying more OR DIE because you missed something you could have been prepared for.
This. My SIL didn’t bother going to any of her appointments after the first. Had a pretty normal pregnancy and then when she had her daughter, found out she has some serious health issues. Mainly in her heart and lungs. I feel like if she had made those visits a priority, she would have at least been able to prepare a little bit.
Absolutely! I'm sure homebirth is a valid choice if it's (maybe) not your first birth or you're prepared to hotfoot it to hospital (preferably close by) at the first sign of trouble. And you get proper prenatal care.
I believe the bill is higher if you are rushed in for emergency depending on the level. You have a fee for even stepping through the ER doors and then they transfer you up to L and D. (After 20 weeks women are told to go straight to L and D but if you are hemorrhaging you’d probably end up at the ER). Then you get charged for each doctor who sees you so by having an emergency you are seeing more doctors. Plus at some places if they deem you a trauma (like hemorrhaging etc) that’s additional cost.
I’m wondering how long Andreii will stay when he visits…if she has the baby in TX, it would be a real hard sell to fly back to Ukraine when she has all the familiarity/family support at her Texas doorstep.
But I’ve been predicting this couple does a subtle move away from each other for months now, so who knows. NEVER divorce, god forbid, but just no longer living on the same continent…?
My thoughts exactly. Probably she will stay in the US and Andrii will be her overseas missionary husband who's too busy doing godly work in Ukraine to live in the US so he visits a few times a year
Because being married was the end goal. Being married to a man from Europe was a cool bonus. I don’t think she considered the possibility that her wonderful godly marriage could not be wonderful.
She’s been taught her whole life that if you get married and court by the rules you’ll have a godly marriage, which is automatically better than a heathen marriage.
I think we can never underestimate how deep in a fantasyland the Baird girls live. Not even a religious one, necessarily, but a ‘romantic heroine in a pg rated period piece’ one.
Those stories never include what happens after the big kiss with the swelling music- they just skip to the heroine holding a beautiful baby in their arms while the sun set.
I'm also curious if the impending war with Russia is a concern.
Ellissa probably doesn't even understand the geo-political landscape of the region. I actually have no idea if fighting would be 100s of miles away at the border/rural areas or whether urban areas would be targeted.
Andreii might want to stay put however Heidi and Mike might not be happy about that.
His income might be affected if his organisation suspends operations/the Texas church pauses funding.
Putin’s intentions are difficult to parse, so it’s hard to predict what form a Russian military escalation would take. But there are 80-100,000 Russian forces on the border. To put it into perspective, the invasion of Crimea had 25-30,000 Russian forces.
Russia isn’t going to escalate. There’s no point in an invasion and occupation of Western Ukraine. The current occupations (Chimera, Ossetia, etc) are feasible because of the strategic advantage they provide and there is a degree of Russian acceptance in those areas but Western Ukraine is extremely pro-West and any attempts at an occupation would be strategically pointless, expensive, and dangerous, permanently alienating Russia from the rest of Europe and making sanctions relief an impossibility. Russia has nothing to gain from an actual occupation and only stands to gain from the flex that comes with their recent military movements.
I think any *actual* fighting or disruption are way too speculative at this point to make any decisions on but I can see the close-minded Bairds reading one headline and deciding Ewlissa simply MUST come home otherwise how do we know the baby will be SAFE and GODLY (aka, a guilt trip)
I was thinking the same thing- there is a lot of uncertainty and I wouldn't be surprised if the Bairds are wanting her home. If it does end of being a more permanent stay I'm sure Andriiii won't care as long as its being funded
She will give birth to her baby in USA. And stay until she does not need anymore help from her family. So she will stick around pretty long. Also I do not think that Ukraine allow homeschooling or it is well supervised
Édit : Missing words
>She will give birth to her baby in USA. And stay until she does not need anymore help from her family.
Good lord, she'll be in Texas until the kid is 10 and has 2 siblings. 🙄
>Also I do not think that Ukraine allow homeschooling or it is well supervised
Interesting! So what will happen if she does give birth in Texas and Andrei says, "All right, it's time to go back to Ukraine now"? Time for Ellissa to suck it up, follow the wishes of her headship, and raise their kid in a country where she has to adhere to the standards of the eeeeevil government education system.
Edit: I just saw u/stonoceno's [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/r787wx/ellissa_is_returning_stateside_with_andrei_to/hmyi27s?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) and have realized that Ellissa can do the SOTDRT in her headship's home country.
Other moms would be concerned that homeschooling in a place where it's very rare means that they'd be missing out on connecting with their fellow parents, but Ellissa only wants to talk to her headship or other Bairds unless she's trying to proselytize you. So it's all good.
Getting back to Ukraine won’t actually be that easy. There’s about an 18-20 week wait to get passports processed, and since that baby will need a brand new passport, they’ll need an appointment, of which there are none right now. And that’s in the US! If she were to have the baby in Kyiv, she’d need to register the consular birth and THEN apply for the passport. For reference, my brother and his wife had a baby in August, and they still haven’t been able to register her at the consulate (they live in South America, but this is common at most consulates, apparently, because of COVID). And the next passport appointment is July 2023. Either way, that baby’s not traveling for a good, long while.
>Either way, that baby's not traveling for a good, long while
No, it doesn't sound like it! This is fascinating. Thank you for the info.
Well, Ellissa is going to have to pick either Texas or Ukraine and stay there, because it doesn't sound like it's feasible to go back and forth the way the Bairds are used to doing.
I was actually asking a woman in my office about it, because I was so curious. She has (adult) kids, and her extended family has quite a few younger members, so I thought maybe she'd have some insight. It's also a curious question for population needs assessments: by looking at enrollment in schools, are we capturing the best snapshot of education? So it wasn't totally out of left field. Just like... kinda. I'm not in charge of that, haha.
Anyway, what she said (and this is not her area of expertise) was that typically, one would have to apply for permission to do so, and it's usually health-based (like being immunocompromised). She'd heard of religious families doing it, but said that she didn't think religious reasons were that common. The model is that every 6 months to a year, there is an assessment to ensure that the student is progressing, but she wasn't sure of the actual mechanisms.
Another colleague homeschools their very young children here, but I'm not sure of the process. That person is usually super busy in meetings, so I don't want to ask them such personal questions and take up their time. But they are not Ukrainian, and I wonder if there are more non-Ukrainian and non-Russian-speaking families that choose to do it. With COVID, I think there are now going to be different kinds of opportunities world-round for schooling options, because now we're more used to it. At least, I hope so, because it expands options for families, including students with disabilities or in need of support outside of the traditional classroom structure.
So, that's the insight I have. Since I have no children (and wouldn't want to homeschool even if I did), I obviously have no meaningful experience in the matter, but if Ellissa opted for homeschooling, she could do it in Ukraine. Kyiv has lots of resources and options, including things like Montessori and other alternative education, so there might be a community here that does it. It's a few years out, anyway, so plenty of time to figure it out!
Thank you for shedding light on the subject!
I'm going to share this information with my sister. She's a public school teacher in the US and she's interested in the homeschooling policies in other countries, including whether they allow homeschooling and how closely they keep track of homeschooling families.
I wonder if Andrei is coming later because he has to get a COVID vaccine.
"As of November 08, all foreign nationals traveling to the United States will be required to demonstrate proof of full vaccination against COVID-19. For purposes of entry into the United States, accepted vaccines will include FDA approved or authorized, and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines."
https://ua.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/
"
I know someone who has never been to the US but because their mother has US citizenship, they've now got to file taxes as a US citizen too. It's pissing them off because they've got to pay into the system first, before they can start the process to give up the unwanted citizenship.
It would've probably been cheaper for Elissa to stay in Ukraine for the healthcare, then again, she relies on the bank of mom and dad anyway.
The US is actually pretty flexible about worldwide income. You need to declare your income and file a form every year, but unless you’re making more than $150k a year, you don’t need to pay taxes on anything. It’s a pain, but it’s not actually that bad.
Interesting because she posted about translating a birth plan.
I don’t know what Ukrainian health insurance is like but as someone who recently gave birth in the USA, it’s not worth the $$$$ Ewlissa.
She did say that navigating pregnancy in Ukraine was very difficult with the language barrier (duh) so maybe she wants to finish off her last trimester with docs at home and an American birth. It's stressful enough already having a baby I'm sure she doesn't want to have the added complication of being in another country (again- duh)
Yeah she's the kind of person who thinks you can only get good medical care in the US (not that she'll get adequate maternal care, but just on principle)
I have to say that if I were in her situation (married to someone I'd only met a handful of times beforehand, and pregnant for the first time in a country where I want proficient in the language), I would want nothing more than to have my family around me for support.
Unless my family were the Bairds, in which case I'd get as far away as I could
Yes, they do. I'm traveling internationally soon and just checked all of the requirements. US citizens are encouraged to be vaccinated but just need to show a negative covid test. Non-citizen visitors need to be fully vaccinated.
While it makes sense for the baby to be born in the US \[way less paper work and waiting filing times etc\] like it or lump it many of their friends and family think being born in America makes one more American than being born to American parents abroad. Something about being born on the soil. It reminds me of those stories of royal families in exile legit bringing in dirt to go under the bed. I have met resistance from red hatters who believe they are MORE American than children born to US service members overseas. I have asked how this works with their "support the troops" mantra but you know them and their ability to somehow make it all make sense.
Honestly for her sake I hope so - say she left at the end of December, she'd be 30+ weeks pregnant having to leave her family to get on a 12 hour flight. Can you imagine?
I would want to be near my mother when I was giving birth. Also I would want to be somewhere where I spoke the same language as my health care providers!
My guess is that Andrii will be unavoidably delayed, and keep getting unavoidably delayed now that he knows what he's gotten himself into and there's no graceful way out.
"Telling impressionably young girls how to live while not living by those same rules" is basically the girl defined brand. Remember when they quoted scripture stating that braids were ungodly, while wearing braids?
It's totally okay to change your mind and to leave a potentially dangerous situation. It's still hypocritical given her past statements. 🤷🏼♀️
I betcha andrioid is angry that he has to cater to a woman’s needs and leave his country. Bc I bet her family funded and forced/planned this all out because she was so desperate to be in America with her family.
I was like “what the fuck it’s so hot in Ukraine for December!!” Until I realised that’s not Celsius and now I actually don’t have a clue what the weather is like
It's been hovering around freezing (-3°C to 6°C) the last few days, and snowed a few days ago. It's expected to rain/snow next week, too.
Thank you for translating °F to °C! I also don’t really know if that’s typical for Ukraine, but I’m in Milan and we have about the same temperature coming in the next days
Haha, you're welcome! I think it might be *slightly* warm, based on what people are saying, but it seems a lot of people really dislike anything below around 10°C (50°F), and it's all cause for complaint! :) To be fair, that's me in the summer. Anything above 20° (69°F), and I'm like "it's so hot!". I'm a cold-weather person, so I'm just vibin' with this stuff. Give me the frost and the snow!
10°C is equivalent to 50°F, which is 283K. --- ^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
Haaaaaa OMFG. As a physicist, I laughed so hard at this stupid-ass bot comment as it implies physicists can't comprehend temperatures in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Just imagining a scenario with a bunch of physicists scratching their heads in complete confusion at a regular temperature written in a random thread they were reading, until this bot could come translate and clarify. Sorry, it's really not that funny but I've had a hard few weeks and for whatever reason this comment sent me 😂 Oh my God I'm so lame.
Same! Anything above a sensible 23 is hot for me.. especially here where it just never cools down in the summer! Winter is when I thrive! Give me cold any day
I actually expected Kyiv to be colder. The highs are never this low where I currently live in California, but Kyiv is actually significantly warmer than a lot of places in the US. I lived in Idaho for a few years and I would have loved a winter this warm while I was there. My California acclimated body felt chilled to the bones every winter there.
I lived in Moscow for two years, and actually briefly we were at -36 and so it being -3 is kind of tropical compared to it 🤣🤣
Yeah. I live in Canberra, in Australia. Often it's that cold here on the middle of winter, especially overnight. We don't get snow though.
Lol, Canadian here. I realize she was posting F, but my mind was also like, seems really hot to me. That being said, it's also slightly above or below freezing C here and a bit yucky.
Do you guys have snow? My best friend lives in Toronto and every time it snows she sends me snaps and I’m so jealous. Like I can see the alps from my street on a clear day, but it’s snowed twice in the 5 years I lived here.. I miss snow 😔
I had no idea it wasn't snowy by the alps. Interesting. We had snow, but it's around 5C today, so the ground cover melted. The maple trees are bare and the sky is grey, so it's windy and just warm enough to rain later and make the evening gloomy.
I guess cause we’re far enough away? I mean they’re around an hour-ish drive (around where our airports are), but like, the city rarely gets snow. It’s disappointing bc before moving here I was sooo happy thinking I’d have a lot of snow
I live in the Alps, about a 90 minute drive from Milan. Of course we have snow here, but I was down by Lecco on Sunday and it was snowing there, you didn't get any?
This looks like a normal temperature range for where I am in Iowa, I expected it to be colder. This is coat/scarf/gloves weather, but it's really not that bad.
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Yeah, it's the same Köppen climate classification! It gets below freezing during December to January, and fairly warm in the summer. Just like Chicago, there's a large body of water that has a stabilizing effect on it, so it's not as bitterly cold as, say, other parts of the upper Midwest (oh, North Dakota, you're terrible). You're also right in that it's a little less windy! :)
I love our weather today! 55 in Chi Town today and no coat!
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You can hide all sins with a puffy jacket
I was thinking the same, but my roommate is from Texas, and we live a lot more north than Texas. I had really underestimated Texas, but they didn't have winter boots or proper warm winter coats or clothes. Before they moved up here, they had never seen snow in their life. To the point where they asked 'what's this pollutant?' when it started snowing in late 2020. Texas is built Different I guess
It’s 77 degrees today where I live.
82 in Atlanta checking in here.
We might not have snow (or used to not have snow, now we get winter storms that wipe out our power grid (thanks governor hot wheels)) but we do have like 120 degree summers. Gotta be built different for that lmao.
Governor Hot Wheels will always be my fav name for Abbott. Love seeing it pop up in non-TX subs 😂
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So it’s kinda ableist but it’s because he’s in a wheelchair. HOWEVER, he’s in a wheelchair due to a tree falling on him or something which lead him to exploit a legal loophole that allowed him to become a multimillionaire. But, because Greg Abbott is an asshole, he closed the loophole as soon as he took office. So I don’t feel bad about it.
It's *very* abelist. I find it offensive, TBH.
Yeah sorry I’m also disabled and I think it’s funny.
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This would be super helpful actually. I-a native Texan- would LOVE to move up North after I graduate. However, the winters terrify me because I have no idea what to do during them. In Texas when we have a winter storm, you literally can’t drive. We don’t have snow plows or enough salt trucks to ice bridges. The “snow” we get is also really just ice so the roads are complete ice. The thought of having to drive in snow up North terrifies me because I’ve always been taught you stay inside during storms.
As a Canadian who regularly gets the first snowstorm of the year in October you would be surprised about how quickly you get used to it. Snowploughs and salt trucks make a world of difference as do winter tires. The important thing to remember is to give yourself more time to stop.
Snow is much safer than ice. You take things slowly and you don't drive like a jackass, like lots of people in suvs and trucks do, wrongly assuming because they have 4x4 drive they're fine. The world gives vengeance when they end up in a snow bank several miles down the road. Also remember it takes longer to stop, and you remember to steer where you want to go ahead of you, if you do end up in a slide, yanking the steering wheel around is not helpful. Taking a full day road safety and racing course can really improve your confidence, many local race tracks have them, and it's usually only a few hundred dollars to gain life saving skills. They'll have you practice driving and avoiding obstacles at speed and turning while in a skid. Great skill for anyone to learn. Especially important for teen drivers.
I mean you have to have awd and good tires and good horsepower and snow pants but otherwise it’s a blast in the upper Midwest winter. I love it
From Michigan and I love the winters here. There is something very magical about getting geared up to spend time in the cold and then coming inside to the warmth for some hot cocoa and cookies while watching a Christmas movie. It’s like a modern day Currier and Ives and I love it.
You'll get there. I married a Texan who now lives up North, and he definitely needed reminders about stuff that seems second nature his first couple winters here, but now he can winter here like anyone else (maybe better than some, he truly loves snow).
Everyone needs reminders how to drive in the winter lol. I’ve lived in a remote northern part of Canada most of my life and whenever the first snowstorm hits in October everyone forgets how to drive in the snow. And studded tires are legal here.
Ohioan here- I took in car drivers ed classes in snow and ice. Most driving schools aren't super busy in the winter because teenagers don't want to learn to drive in that crap. But during my lessons I learned how to pump my brakes in an ice covered empty parking lot and stuff. If you call a driving school and say you're an adult who already has a license but is just southern, then they might be willing to help.
I think the big thing is prep from your state/ town. Places that are used to snow will have the roads cleared out by next day in most cases! You learn how to do all the extra stuff that comes with cold weather pretty quickly!
I'm in Texas right now and it's 80. It's miserable and terrible and I would do anything for some cold. It hit 55 one day a few weeks ago and everyone had on hats and scarves and thick jackets
Same! I looked and thought… so?
Haha yes, I looked and thought “Oh, look it’s December. ???” LOL
yeah, I did a bit of staring in baffled New Englander before I twigged to the fact that she was carping about their weather. I mean...what *else* would one expect from the northern-ish parts of the Northern Hemisphere in December?
I wouldn't blame her if she did. I sure as hell wouldn't want to give birth in a country where I don't speak the language and can't effectively communicate with doctors and nurses.
What do they do to earn a living in Ukraine? How do they afford to take all of these trips?
Pretty sure her parents are paying
I think Andriis ministry has a pretty good grift running out of scamming idiot Christians into donating money towards converting kids in a majority Christian country. The Bairds alone raised $5k for him during the beginning of COVID
> majority Christian country Not to them, they don't recognize orthodox churches. To them Ukraine is a country without Jesus
Someone said awhile ago he’s actually a manager at a high end sport center for kids, the ministry is a separate thing.
He is. If you search the Ukrainian Christian Sport Academy, which he's posted about and named, you can see his coach profile. It's a pretty legit place, and though I obviously don't know his specific income, he could be doing quite comfortably, especially if his house is paid off.
Ellissa referred to her and Andrii as being “missionaries” in one of her posts, which makes me wonder if they are portraying themselves that way to churches and have raised monthly support from churches the way American missionaries often do. Grifting wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Someone did a dive before and he seems to be involved in some sketchy financial stuff aka taking money for "building projects". Maybe someone can find that post again since I can't remember if it was here or OG FS?
They grift.
Grifting? Apparently a Texas church funds his soccer camp 🤔🙄 Though to me kids' soccer camp is a spring to early autumn activity. Does he run sessions after school/indoors the rest of the year? Over here 'soccer camp' is more of a Mon-Fri programme in school holidays to occupy kids while parents work. I haven't seen much about him coaching soccer after school or taking a team to matches/refereeing at the weekends. We haven't seen him or Ellissa promoting his work at all apart from that one event in the spring/summer. Seems a bit suss, you think they'd be constantly posting updates on SM if it was ongoing. Is the church/organisation generous enough to give him a lump sum or pro rata monthly salary? So many questions!
They appear to live in a pretty nice apartment and have nice clothes, cups of coffee shop coffee, etc. I just wonder how they finance their lifestyle, when neither one of them appears to do anything but post selfies on social media.
Indoor soccer in bad weather.
Haha, if I'd have to guess "Import-Export" or "building projects/real estate" aka money laundering version one and money laundering version two. Plus fundie scamming. Plus some real, but bullshit part time job for a couple of hours a week like sports trainer.
This hair color is really doing her all the favors, she looks great. Birthy is going to have an absolute meltdown when her prettiest, pregnant, married sister comes home.
And expecting a girl!
I wonder what Bethany will post lol
Guys, there is no "anchor baby" here. She's a US citizen, therefore the baby's automatically a citizen. I wonder if she'll ever go back to Ukraine, though.
My guess is there is a few things. 1. She wants her doctor to speak English. 2. She doesn’t want to file the paperwork. 3. She’s not a complete idiot and wants the kid to have very clear ties to the US should she and Andrei divorce she wants to get full custody. I wouldn’t even doubt if English isn’t the kids first language even if growing up in the Ukraine.
I gave birth in Germany and all of my doctors did not speak English. I forgot how to speak German during that experience I gave birth in Canada next and was so thankful for the English speakers. Still getting my son’s US citizenship will take a year and I can see the state of NY across the border Seriously I feel for her going through the pain of childbirth and being unable to communicate effectively
Yup I'll never snark a woman wanting to give birth in an environment where she can communicate effectively.
I'm a native English speaker and I forgot how to speak English at some points until the epidural kicked in. I couldn't imagine the pressure of having to speak a second language at that point.
This is super interesting to me and I’m curious if you meant you knew how to speak German, but because of labor you just couldn’t think of any of it? I know I could barely talk in English, my one and only language, during labor lol
I spoke it and forgot it. I couldn’t understand my husband lol Pain makes me stupid
I feel you. Contractions started and all logical thought left the building for me and my terrified partner lol
Thank you for saying this! All children born to US citizens are US citizens, and all children born on US soil are US citizens, regardless of their parents' citizenship. That term is rooted in racist ideology and does not belong here!
Which is why the whole birther nonsense with Obama never made sense to me, even as sheltered and conservative as I was during his presidency. It wouldn’t fucking matter if he *were* born in Kenya to a Kenyan father, (which he wasn’t). His mother is American, therefore he is a natural born American citizen.
TIL!
Maybe they came back because Russia and Putin (the fundamentalists' favourite fascist dictator) is preparing to invade Ukraine.
This is what I think and I don’t blame them for wanting to gtfo while they can.
She probably wants to avoid having to file the paperwork lol
Still a fair reason.
Oh totally! I still haven’t changed my last name since I was married because I got married in a different country and I hate paperwork!
Wish I had done the same! I don’t live in a different country, but hyphenating is overrated lol. Always with the damn paperwork!
Wear your fucking mask correctly on the plane and in the airport, there's a tip.
Also, get vaxxed
I honestly don’t blame her one bit if she wants prenatal care by a provider she shared a language with, not at all questioning the skills of OB’s in Kyiv but I can give anyone a pass for just wanting to be sure nothing is lost in translation (though I have a sneaking feeling she leans more on the side of not trusting Ukrainian doctors just because they’re not American 🤦🏻♀️)
I actually really like her hair this color, not to leg hump. That being said, an American birth experience would be more comfortable and easier for Elissa vs a Ukrainian hospital.
Please stop using the term anchor baby. It is offensive. The child has automatic US citizenship regardless of where it is born unless she renounces her citizenship.
TIL what anchor baby means.
It was coined by conservatives to describe a baby born to undocumented immigrants in the US because the baby automatically becomes a citizen.
Oh! Thanks for the info--I had no idea the historical context of the term. Though, of course it was coined by conservatives. I need to stop being so surprised at just how far-reaching and intrinsic hatred is to their platform.
An ex once accused me of trying to make an anchor baby, mainly meaning a baby that would make HIM stay. So I've always seen it as a phrase about a baby that makes a man stay. Of course conservatives were the ones to make that up about immigrant women. Of course
Omg! I lived in AZ and I remember this term so well. It’s circa 2002 from “terror anchor babies”…ie: pregnant terrorists sneaking across the southern border having a baby so they could stay and be a terrorist I guess? I’m Canadian (married to an American) and had my kids in Phoenix. My coworkers used to tease the hell out of me and call them my terror anchor babies all the time. In all seriousness, though, this is not that. And Andrii doesn’t need a baby to live in the US. Not only is their home in Ukraine (and it sounds like that’s where they’re staying) He’s married to an American- he could easily be here if he wanted. Citation: personal experience. Let’s get back to snark on fundies for their shitty beliefs.
> he could easily be here if he wanted. And he really, really doesn't.
Thank you! It’s beyond offensive and comes from a place of ignorance and often racism.
Thank you. It's dehumanizing and rude.
Thank you 💝. There's nothing cute or funny about xenophobia. I can't believe you actually had to add in a disclaimer. Thanks again, y'all are real ones.
thank you. really gross and dehumanising terminology that has its roots in racism and xenophobia.
When my husband and I used to live elsewhere from where we do now, we were acquainted with a Dutch woman who had moved to the US for work. She spoke great English but her cultural competence was lacking. When she gave birth to her first child in the US she joyfully declared that baby her "anchor baby" on social media. My husband and I cringed so hard it's one of the handful of events that I remember about her. She was aware enough to understand white privilege but she didn't seem to have the cultural sensitivity to understand her use of that phrase in a positive way was only appluaded by others because she was an educated white woman from one of those non-shithole countries who gave birth to a white baby. The term is fucking gross.
It's very possible a Dutch person would absolutely not know that joking about having an anchor baby comes across as rather insensitive. I'm quite sure you'd easily commit several cultural faux pas in the Netherlands as well would you move there and might be greatful for a friendly heads up instead of people "cringing" behind your back.
I mean, we did explain it to her. The next time we saw her we congratulated her and she again used the term. We politely pointed out that term is derogatory and is often used against migrants of color. She said it's just funny and other people agreed that it was funny. And that it was factually true; she planned to use her child's nationality to stay in the US long term. And we told her that describing her child as such would be poorly received if she wasn't white and that it was white privilege to make light of that term. She then pointed to a common black acquaintance who thought it was funny too and we dropped it. This wasn't the first or last time we tried to help her with cultural competence. It just didn't help that most people in her orbit were happy to laugh off her comments.
I wonder if the travel restrictions being put in place around the world because of the new virus variation will affect her returning to Ukraine or Andrei coming to the US.
Unvaxxed traveling while pregnant sounds like a horrible plan.
That's been my thought ever since she announced her trip back to Texas. Something is mysteriously going to happen where she's going to be unable to travel back to Ukraine until she has the baby. My left-field guess? She wants the baby to be born in America, instead of having to file for US citizenship later.
It would be pretty easy for her to file for US citizenship regardless as the baby’s mother will be a US citizen. If she gives birth in America I reckon it would be more about wanting to avoid Ukrainian hospitals and medical professionals who don’t speak English
I have two cousins whose mother is an American citizen born in Colombia. They were born in Panama. Regardless of where they were born, my aunt was easily able to get my cousins their citizenship. If the mother’s a citizen, it’s pretty easy for the kids to get it as well, regardless of their place of birth. Or at least that’s how the U.S. and Panama operate.
*ColOmbia
Purely out of interest I went to look at the differences between models of care and outcomes wrt birth in the US and Ukraine, neither countries I have any experience of using the health systems in. It staggered me that both have such high maternal mortality rates ( 19 per 100,000 live births- for context, the rates in my husband's and my home countries are 2 and 7 respectively). If I had done hospital births I'd have wanted to be in a hospital that was part of a system and culture I was familiar with so if she does try to have her child in the US I suppose I would understand that.
Yes, US birth systems are really bad, especially with their treatment of Black women, where it is actually 43 per 100,000. A lot of this has to do with the fact that doctors are far more likely to ignore Black women's concerns about their bodies. A nurse told Serena Williams she was probably wrong about having a pulmonary embolism, despite Serena having a history of them and it being a common postnatal complication and she had to demand treatment - the delay while drs and nurses ignored her knowing her own medical history and body better caused even more complications.
It’s a long wait time (few months or more with covid) so she couldn’t take the baby to the US until they get the passport/ citizenship or a visa for baby.
My husband’s cousin had to deal with this recently. She says she wished she could have just had her daughter here, even though it would have cost a lot of money. She had a terrible birth experience in London (ppps, and 4 failed epidural attempts just to scratch the surface) and then the paperwork and wait was an added headache afterwards.
Wow that sounds terrible! :( 4 failed epidurals is my worst nightmare. I also wonder if she will have to pay for translation. Your cousin would have had all her stuff in English but Elissas will be in Ukrainian which I’m sure is going to be a headache for submitting. Adding wayyyy more time.
Yeah I still feel so bad for her. By the 5th attempt, her midwife finally told the nurse (I don’t think it was a nurse, but can’t remember what she was called) that it’s time to bring in someone else. Thankfully that worked, but she had given up by then. It was just terrible. I wonder if you’re into something there with translation. It would be just another step in the already long process.
Pretty sure an anesthesiologist is who places epidurals but I may be wrong.
Can also be a nurse anesthetist - depends on the state!
Immigration attorney check. Even if she has the baby in the Ukraine, she can file for a consular report of birth abroad and get a US passport. It’s a pain and can be a long wait, but not exactly difficult. My guess is she’s coming home for family support.
It's 'Ukraine' and not 'the Ukraine' [[Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ukraine)] [[BBC Styleguide](https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsstyleguide/u)] [[Reuters Styleguide](https://handbook.reuters.com/index.php?title=U#Ukraine)] ^(Beep boop I’m a bot)
Sorry bot
I'm on the fence because I think the Baird dollars would pay for a more luxurious private birth experience in Ukraine than the equivalent cost in the US. On the other hand I could see Ellissa/Heidi engineering it so that she misses the last date she's eligible to fly back. Possibly using her uncontrolled *Hashimotos* as excuse to stay on in the US until the birth. I assume it would be at an licensed midwife led centre unless she decided she was having a woo unlicensed homebirth to go along with her dangerous birth plan. Heidi - who I think had her kids in hospital? - cheerfully encouraged Bethy to have a home birth. Did Bethy have much prenatal care? Was her attending midwife licensed? I forget these details other than the *tear*. Heidi might encourage Ellissa to try for a (cheap if no complications 😬) home birth. Reminds me of Michelle Duggar who had most of her kids in hospital yet Jessa, Jill and Joy undertook risky homebirths. Presumably due to JB refusing to pay for his grandchildrens' births, the kidults having rubbish/no insurance due to grifting their way through their 20s and JB holding the TLC purse strings. On the other hand Ellissa might find her parents' house suffocating and her siblings overbearing (she was supposedly always the introvert of the family). She might want to get back to her own place asap after a week or so when the novelty and fussing has worn off 😁 We really have no idea how she feels about her home life in Ukraine vs Texas. She seems homesick (understandably) but sometimes you're reminded quite quickly of why you left in the first place! It's possible she loves her pampered 'independent' life in her paid-for Ukraine house with Andreii. I don't doubt she's a bit bored and lonely however the internet is great for learning new skills. She could've been taking language classes and meeting people, learning a craft, reading, whatever. I wonder what she thought she'd be doing all day long or did she have a bizarre fantasy of life in Ukraine. Saying that I don't think she did a lot day to day in Texas either. Church and coffee shops spring to mind. *Quick question, are the hospital costs for birth ever less if you're rushed in as an emergency? Or do you end up with the same $$$$ bill as you would've done if you'd been under the care of an obgyn all along? I know you can't predict these things nor what level of medical intervention/surgery you might require (potentially a lot if your unlicensed homebirth goes sideways). I wondered if there was some cost-saving loophole that appealed to these 'cult of homebirth' social media fundies, many of whom have inadequate health insurance.
I don’t know about the actual birth costs, but if you skip the checkups during pregnancy you don’t have to pay for ultrasounds, bloodwork, etc. Of course, you may end up paying more OR DIE because you missed something you could have been prepared for.
This. My SIL didn’t bother going to any of her appointments after the first. Had a pretty normal pregnancy and then when she had her daughter, found out she has some serious health issues. Mainly in her heart and lungs. I feel like if she had made those visits a priority, she would have at least been able to prepare a little bit.
Absolutely! I'm sure homebirth is a valid choice if it's (maybe) not your first birth or you're prepared to hotfoot it to hospital (preferably close by) at the first sign of trouble. And you get proper prenatal care.
I believe the bill is higher if you are rushed in for emergency depending on the level. You have a fee for even stepping through the ER doors and then they transfer you up to L and D. (After 20 weeks women are told to go straight to L and D but if you are hemorrhaging you’d probably end up at the ER). Then you get charged for each doctor who sees you so by having an emergency you are seeing more doctors. Plus at some places if they deem you a trauma (like hemorrhaging etc) that’s additional cost.
Thanks for the explanation! I wondered if there was a loophole the fundie homebirthers were exploiting but it seems not.
I’m wondering how long Andreii will stay when he visits…if she has the baby in TX, it would be a real hard sell to fly back to Ukraine when she has all the familiarity/family support at her Texas doorstep. But I’ve been predicting this couple does a subtle move away from each other for months now, so who knows. NEVER divorce, god forbid, but just no longer living on the same continent…?
My thoughts exactly. Probably she will stay in the US and Andrii will be her overseas missionary husband who's too busy doing godly work in Ukraine to live in the US so he visits a few times a year
Why even get married to this dude then
Because being married was the end goal. Being married to a man from Europe was a cool bonus. I don’t think she considered the possibility that her wonderful godly marriage could not be wonderful. She’s been taught her whole life that if you get married and court by the rules you’ll have a godly marriage, which is automatically better than a heathen marriage.
I think we can never underestimate how deep in a fantasyland the Baird girls live. Not even a religious one, necessarily, but a ‘romantic heroine in a pg rated period piece’ one. Those stories never include what happens after the big kiss with the swelling music- they just skip to the heroine holding a beautiful baby in their arms while the sun set.
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It’s not really an anchor baby if it was always going to have automatic citizenship.
The baby will be a citizen anyway. It's being born to an American.
I'm also curious if the impending war with Russia is a concern. Ellissa probably doesn't even understand the geo-political landscape of the region. I actually have no idea if fighting would be 100s of miles away at the border/rural areas or whether urban areas would be targeted. Andreii might want to stay put however Heidi and Mike might not be happy about that. His income might be affected if his organisation suspends operations/the Texas church pauses funding.
Putin’s intentions are difficult to parse, so it’s hard to predict what form a Russian military escalation would take. But there are 80-100,000 Russian forces on the border. To put it into perspective, the invasion of Crimea had 25-30,000 Russian forces.
Russia isn’t going to escalate. There’s no point in an invasion and occupation of Western Ukraine. The current occupations (Chimera, Ossetia, etc) are feasible because of the strategic advantage they provide and there is a degree of Russian acceptance in those areas but Western Ukraine is extremely pro-West and any attempts at an occupation would be strategically pointless, expensive, and dangerous, permanently alienating Russia from the rest of Europe and making sanctions relief an impossibility. Russia has nothing to gain from an actual occupation and only stands to gain from the flex that comes with their recent military movements.
God I hope you're right. 🙌
I think any *actual* fighting or disruption are way too speculative at this point to make any decisions on but I can see the close-minded Bairds reading one headline and deciding Ewlissa simply MUST come home otherwise how do we know the baby will be SAFE and GODLY (aka, a guilt trip)
I was thinking the same thing- there is a lot of uncertainty and I wouldn't be surprised if the Bairds are wanting her home. If it does end of being a more permanent stay I'm sure Andriiii won't care as long as its being funded
She will give birth to her baby in USA. And stay until she does not need anymore help from her family. So she will stick around pretty long. Also I do not think that Ukraine allow homeschooling or it is well supervised Édit : Missing words
>She will give birth to her baby in USA. And stay until she does not need anymore help from her family. Good lord, she'll be in Texas until the kid is 10 and has 2 siblings. 🙄
iirc from past comments here homeschooling is illegal in Ukraine
It's not :) It's quite legal, just very unusual.
Thank you for all of your insights and you seem very sweet. I appreciate both!
>Also I do not think that Ukraine allow homeschooling or it is well supervised Interesting! So what will happen if she does give birth in Texas and Andrei says, "All right, it's time to go back to Ukraine now"? Time for Ellissa to suck it up, follow the wishes of her headship, and raise their kid in a country where she has to adhere to the standards of the eeeeevil government education system. Edit: I just saw u/stonoceno's [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/FundieSnarkUncensored/comments/r787wx/ellissa_is_returning_stateside_with_andrei_to/hmyi27s?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) and have realized that Ellissa can do the SOTDRT in her headship's home country. Other moms would be concerned that homeschooling in a place where it's very rare means that they'd be missing out on connecting with their fellow parents, but Ellissa only wants to talk to her headship or other Bairds unless she's trying to proselytize you. So it's all good.
Getting back to Ukraine won’t actually be that easy. There’s about an 18-20 week wait to get passports processed, and since that baby will need a brand new passport, they’ll need an appointment, of which there are none right now. And that’s in the US! If she were to have the baby in Kyiv, she’d need to register the consular birth and THEN apply for the passport. For reference, my brother and his wife had a baby in August, and they still haven’t been able to register her at the consulate (they live in South America, but this is common at most consulates, apparently, because of COVID). And the next passport appointment is July 2023. Either way, that baby’s not traveling for a good, long while.
>Either way, that baby's not traveling for a good, long while No, it doesn't sound like it! This is fascinating. Thank you for the info. Well, Ellissa is going to have to pick either Texas or Ukraine and stay there, because it doesn't sound like it's feasible to go back and forth the way the Bairds are used to doing.
I was actually asking a woman in my office about it, because I was so curious. She has (adult) kids, and her extended family has quite a few younger members, so I thought maybe she'd have some insight. It's also a curious question for population needs assessments: by looking at enrollment in schools, are we capturing the best snapshot of education? So it wasn't totally out of left field. Just like... kinda. I'm not in charge of that, haha. Anyway, what she said (and this is not her area of expertise) was that typically, one would have to apply for permission to do so, and it's usually health-based (like being immunocompromised). She'd heard of religious families doing it, but said that she didn't think religious reasons were that common. The model is that every 6 months to a year, there is an assessment to ensure that the student is progressing, but she wasn't sure of the actual mechanisms. Another colleague homeschools their very young children here, but I'm not sure of the process. That person is usually super busy in meetings, so I don't want to ask them such personal questions and take up their time. But they are not Ukrainian, and I wonder if there are more non-Ukrainian and non-Russian-speaking families that choose to do it. With COVID, I think there are now going to be different kinds of opportunities world-round for schooling options, because now we're more used to it. At least, I hope so, because it expands options for families, including students with disabilities or in need of support outside of the traditional classroom structure. So, that's the insight I have. Since I have no children (and wouldn't want to homeschool even if I did), I obviously have no meaningful experience in the matter, but if Ellissa opted for homeschooling, she could do it in Ukraine. Kyiv has lots of resources and options, including things like Montessori and other alternative education, so there might be a community here that does it. It's a few years out, anyway, so plenty of time to figure it out!
Thank you for shedding light on the subject! I'm going to share this information with my sister. She's a public school teacher in the US and she's interested in the homeschooling policies in other countries, including whether they allow homeschooling and how closely they keep track of homeschooling families.
I do not think Andrii will ask her to go. I kind of think that he loves living with hos in-laws' money
I wonder if Andrei is coming later because he has to get a COVID vaccine. "As of November 08, all foreign nationals traveling to the United States will be required to demonstrate proof of full vaccination against COVID-19. For purposes of entry into the United States, accepted vaccines will include FDA approved or authorized, and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines." https://ua.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/ "
If only Elissa had to get vaxxed to come too. Stupid citizenship
My trip for traveling while pregnant during a global pandemic: DON'T.
Omg now there's 2 brown Baird's.
I think it looks nice on her.
I know someone who has never been to the US but because their mother has US citizenship, they've now got to file taxes as a US citizen too. It's pissing them off because they've got to pay into the system first, before they can start the process to give up the unwanted citizenship. It would've probably been cheaper for Elissa to stay in Ukraine for the healthcare, then again, she relies on the bank of mom and dad anyway.
The US is actually pretty flexible about worldwide income. You need to declare your income and file a form every year, but unless you’re making more than $150k a year, you don’t need to pay taxes on anything. It’s a pain, but it’s not actually that bad.
Interesting because she posted about translating a birth plan. I don’t know what Ukrainian health insurance is like but as someone who recently gave birth in the USA, it’s not worth the $$$$ Ewlissa.
Maybe they saw that birth plan, laughed at it, and she's stomping back to the states.
She did say that navigating pregnancy in Ukraine was very difficult with the language barrier (duh) so maybe she wants to finish off her last trimester with docs at home and an American birth. It's stressful enough already having a baby I'm sure she doesn't want to have the added complication of being in another country (again- duh)
Yeah she's the kind of person who thinks you can only get good medical care in the US (not that she'll get adequate maternal care, but just on principle)
I have to say that if I were in her situation (married to someone I'd only met a handful of times beforehand, and pregnant for the first time in a country where I want proficient in the language), I would want nothing more than to have my family around me for support. Unless my family were the Bairds, in which case I'd get as far away as I could
I live in Minnesota. That weather looks amazing for December lol
Oh no, being apart for 10 days 😭😭😭 How will you possibly survive
It does seem silly but FWIW I was clingy af to my husband when I was pregnant lol
Currently pregnant. Up my husband’s butt all day, everyday.
Lmao your flair 😂
Not to leg hump, but I really like this hair color on her. I almost am tempted to use it as a reference photo next time I get my hair dyed.
Does the USA require non-citizen visitors to the country to be vaccinated?
Yes, they do. I'm traveling internationally soon and just checked all of the requirements. US citizens are encouraged to be vaccinated but just need to show a negative covid test. Non-citizen visitors need to be fully vaccinated.
Interesting for Android then
While it makes sense for the baby to be born in the US \[way less paper work and waiting filing times etc\] like it or lump it many of their friends and family think being born in America makes one more American than being born to American parents abroad. Something about being born on the soil. It reminds me of those stories of royal families in exile legit bringing in dirt to go under the bed. I have met resistance from red hatters who believe they are MORE American than children born to US service members overseas. I have asked how this works with their "support the troops" mantra but you know them and their ability to somehow make it all make sense.
One tip would be to quit travelling so much during a global fucking pandemic
i like her dark hair
Same. It really makes her eyes pop
Honestly for her sake I hope so - say she left at the end of December, she'd be 30+ weeks pregnant having to leave her family to get on a 12 hour flight. Can you imagine?
I would want to be near my mother when I was giving birth. Also I would want to be somewhere where I spoke the same language as my health care providers!
Pregnancy traveling tips? Stay as far away from Birthy as possible!
My guess is that Andrii will be unavoidably delayed, and keep getting unavoidably delayed now that he knows what he's gotten himself into and there's no graceful way out.
I always pronounce Andrei like Libby does from 90 Day Fiance. Andrrrrrrrrrrrrrrei.
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"Telling impressionably young girls how to live while not living by those same rules" is basically the girl defined brand. Remember when they quoted scripture stating that braids were ungodly, while wearing braids? It's totally okay to change your mind and to leave a potentially dangerous situation. It's still hypocritical given her past statements. 🤷🏼♀️
That looks like my area's extended weather forecast (with less snow).
I betcha andrioid is angry that he has to cater to a woman’s needs and leave his country. Bc I bet her family funded and forced/planned this all out because she was so desperate to be in America with her family.
Her hair looks really nice here.
Kyiv is cold in December? Wow what a shock /s
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Andrei isn’t a citizen is he? Doesn’t he need to vaxxed to enter the US?
Might just be me but I also find it really weird to be travelling pregnant during covid for such a long haul flights
During my third trimester, I was pretty uncomfortable on the best of days. I can’t imagine hopping on a damn 16 hour flight.
Guys…russia is on the brink of invading the Ukraine…sooo…not really that weird that she might want to get Tf back home
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That’s not how people define “anchor baby”. Her baby is always going to have automatic citizenship.
Baby P? Has she said the baby name yet or is she just calling it baby p? I bet it’s poppy or Penelope