Dave and Jen's Adopting Adventure: Full Circle Part 1

Where to start....

When we last wrote we were counting down the days until our court hearing. Our original hearing date was on September 23rd. Unfortunately the internet in Izmail has been poor at best in the past two weeks (since we posted), which has been more than frustrating to say the least. Thankfully we have access again and can update you on our journey.

The big (and very good) news: Our court hearing was successful. Actually, it was more than successful. Apparently we can mark it down somewhere in the record books as one of the quickest cases they have dealt with. This however did not come without some huge ups and downs along the way. A day before our hearing we found out our hearing had to be postponed due to some incomplete documents. Initially this news was received without any sense of when it might be rescheduled. We were discouraged and disheartened. We had everything lined up perfectly for the court date and for (Dave's) journey home. Time was moving slowly for us, and although our daily meetings with our boy provided a lift in our spirits, trying to occupy the hours outside of the orphanage was taking a toll. And now we had to mentally prepare for the fact that the process could be prolonged by week(s) or more.

Thankfully we did not have to wait that long. Our document (actually it was one document) arrived the next day, and our hearing was rescheduled for the 25th ( a mere two days after our original hearing).

OUR DAY IN COURT
We received a call the evening of the 24th from one of our facilitators asking us if we were nervous. The nerves would set in the following the morning. We did not know what to expect. All we knew is that we would be sitting in front of a judge, a jury, and a team of our facilitators and representatives from the orphanage. We were told it would take an hour and a half or more, and to be prepared for some possible questions. We arrived to the court house in Izmail where our boy and facilitator were waiting for us. We were all very nervous, including our facilitator and our boy who sat quietly in his suit pants without saying a word.

Once we entered the court room we were sat in the centre with the judge and jury in front of us, a jail cell to the left, and the team of facilitators and orphanage directors to the right. Really, from where we stand now the whole things is a bit of a blur. We stood. We stated our full names and addresses, and the reason why we were in court; to adopt our boy. Everyone else stood and said their piece (of something... it was all "Russian" to us). The only thing we really understood came a mere 10 minutes later. "We are done". We shook everyone's hand and walked out approved to take Sasha home. We all, facilitators, our boy, and us, were overjoyed. A day we have anticipated now for 2 years now took 10 minutes of our morning, and the end (or beginning :) of this long journey now lies ahead.

So where does the process go from here? Well, we are currently happy to say that we are writing this blog from Liviv (from the wonderful Lviv Coffee Factory). That means that we have officially started (Dave's) journey home, while (Jen) will stay behind to finish the rest of the process. October 7th will mark the end of a mandatory 10 day waiting period in which anyone may contest the adoption, and the day that we can officially claim custody of our child.