diff --git a/pymongo/change_stream.py b/pymongo/change_stream.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b96a1750c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pymongo/change_stream.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Copyright 2024-present MongoDB, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""Re-import of synchronous ChangeStream API for compatibility."""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pymongo.synchronous.change_stream import *  # noqa: F403
+from pymongo.synchronous.change_stream import __doc__ as original_doc
+
+__doc__ = original_doc
+__all__ = ["ChangeStream", "ClusterChangeStream", "CollectionChangeStream", "DatabaseChangeStream"]  # noqa: F405
diff --git a/pymongo/synchronous/change_stream.py b/pymongo/synchronous/change_stream.py
index dc2f6bf2c..a971ad08c 100644
--- a/pymongo/synchronous/change_stream.py
+++ b/pymongo/synchronous/change_stream.py
@@ -22,13 +22,7 @@ from bson import CodecOptions, _bson_to_dict
 from bson.raw_bson import RawBSONDocument
 from bson.timestamp import Timestamp
 from pymongo import _csot, common
-from pymongo.aggregation import (
-    _AggregationCommand,
-    _CollectionAggregationCommand,
-    _DatabaseAggregationCommand,
-)
 from pymongo.collation import validate_collation_or_none
-from pymongo.command_cursor import CommandCursor
 from pymongo.errors import (
     ConnectionFailure,
     CursorNotFound,
@@ -37,8 +31,16 @@ from pymongo.errors import (
     PyMongoError,
 )
 from pymongo.operations import _Op
+from pymongo.synchronous.aggregation import (
+    _AggregationCommand,
+    _CollectionAggregationCommand,
+    _DatabaseAggregationCommand,
+)
+from pymongo.synchronous.command_cursor import CommandCursor
 from pymongo.typings import _CollationIn, _DocumentType, _Pipeline
 
+_IS_SYNC = True
+
 # The change streams spec considers the following server errors from the
 # getMore command non-resumable. All other getMore errors are resumable.
 _RESUMABLE_GETMORE_ERRORS = frozenset(
@@ -65,11 +67,11 @@ _RESUMABLE_GETMORE_ERRORS = frozenset(
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from pymongo.client_session import ClientSession
-    from pymongo.collection import Collection
-    from pymongo.database import Database
-    from pymongo.mongo_client import MongoClient
-    from pymongo.pool import Connection
+    from pymongo.synchronous.client_session import ClientSession
+    from pymongo.synchronous.collection import Collection
+    from pymongo.synchronous.database import Database
+    from pymongo.synchronous.mongo_client import MongoClient
+    from pymongo.synchronous.pool import Connection
 
 
 def _resumable(exc: PyMongoError) -> bool:
@@ -100,7 +102,9 @@ class ChangeStream(Generic[_DocumentType]):
     def __init__(
         self,
         target: Union[
-            MongoClient[_DocumentType], Database[_DocumentType], Collection[_DocumentType]
+            MongoClient[_DocumentType],
+            Database[_DocumentType],
+            Collection[_DocumentType],
         ],
         pipeline: Optional[_Pipeline],
         full_document: Optional[str],
@@ -149,6 +153,8 @@ class ChangeStream(Generic[_DocumentType]):
         self._closed = False
         self._timeout = self._target._timeout
         self._show_expanded_events = show_expanded_events
+
+    def _initialize_cursor(self) -> None:
         # Initialize cursor.
         self._cursor = self._create_cursor()
 
@@ -180,7 +186,7 @@ class ChangeStream(Generic[_DocumentType]):
             else:
                 options["resumeAfter"] = resume_token
 
-        if self._start_at_operation_time is not None:
+        elif self._start_at_operation_time is not None:
             options["startAtOperationTime"] = self._start_at_operation_time
 
         if self._show_expanded_events: