Court Part Deux

So...I suppose you're all waiting here, wondering what happened today.

Aren't you?

C'mon, I know you are.

Guess I better dish then. Started off with breakfast, and a trip to Amstor. At least I went to the store; the girls stayed back here to play on the playground, which I think they needed more than another bus ride. Got home to lunch. The girls really like this sausage/cheese on toast thing we've been making. The bread here is very good, and Tierney can't get enough. Even Amissa is sneaking as much as she can, which hopefully isn't causing her wheat-related problems to crop up.

But I suppose those are the mundane details you're not looking for. So off to court. We arrived at 2:30, and as usual, waited. We eventually went into the courtroom, and I've got to say this was not how I think an American court would work. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just a different thing. The judge and the two jurors sat together in the front. The judge's assistant sat off to the side. We sat, with Angelina, off to the left side of the "bench" and the prosecutor sat to the right. Yes, a prosecutor for an adoption case. We didn't see that coming. There was also a representative from the orphanage, and a representative from the Makeevka city council. And of course the three girls.

The court proceedings themselves did follow a predictable pattern. First the judge introduced the case and the stakeholders. We were all asked to provide our names, dates of birth, professions, etc. All fairly standard stuff. Then the questioning began, and anyone in the courtroom had the option to ask questions of whoever was the person in the spotlight. I was first, followed by Shannon, the prosecutor, the city councilwoman, and the orphanage rep. Each of us received questions from others. What was interesting to me was that the jurors were as involved as they were in asking questions. They also were the ones who went with the judge into chambers to deliberate on the decision.

The consensus from the prosecutor, the city council and the orphanage was that it would be in Galya's best interest to be adopted by us (well, in our minds too.) So it really wasn't a surprise when the judge came back with the order saying that they were approving us as adoptive parents. Kinda made the wait worth it:)

Here too I need to say the girls were tremendously patient, sitting for nigh on two hours in a warm courtroom before starting to get overly-antsy. I'm thinking we'll need to do something special for them this weekend. Our court appointment was set for 2:30, and by the time we left it was nearly 6:00. That's a long time to go on a little water and some fruit snacks. Especially when the last 20-30 minutes of the hearing was the judge reading the entire dossier we submitted into the record.

I also have to again say I'm glad Angelina's working for us on this. Usually there is a period of 10 days between the preliminary and final court hearings, so we did get that first 10-day period "waived" as Angelina knew the judge enough to schedule it this way. Unfortunately, we did not get the other 10-day waiting period waived. So at the moment, Galya is still at the orphanage (which disappointed our girls quite a bit) and we do not officially become her parents until 12/16. This is because the 10 days ends on a Sunday, so they have to give it to the next working day for the "10th" day to be available for any appeals. That would be 12/15, so our actual, official, date for taking Galya is 12/16.

This is not to say prayers and wishes went unanswered, merely that they were answered differently from how we'd have wanted. But there's a purpose to it all, and we will spend the next ten days (plus) in Donetsk, and visit Galya as much as we can. We'll be hosting a party at the orphanage sometime next week, and try to get Galya for Saturday's excursion into downtown.

We did find out today that there really is no way to know for sure how Galya's scars came to be, so we're left with the story we have. And we know a little more about the circumstances of her birth (mother was 17, born to a well-off family. She kept it secret from her family, especially her grandfather, who apparently wouldn't have approved. Galya was abandoned at the hospital, and her mother asked that nobody ever reveal she was the mother.) We also learned she was in the hospital for a year dealing with her injuries, which is something we hadn't known. Her guardian is criminally responsible for her condition, but not in prison. It's odd to think that, as much as we know about Tierney and Amissa, there will be so many things we will never know about the first six years of Galya's life.

There are some challenges left here. First, obviously, working with Galya to quickly learn English. She's smart, and this should be fairly quick. Second, I need to get copies of the paperwork, translated, submitted to my workplace for my FMLA application. That will be a challenge as I have to get that in soon, and getting things translated/sent from here will take some time. Finally, our plane tickets right now are for 12/18. It would take a miracle to get everything done in time for all five of us to take that flight now, with the official date of the adoption order being 12/16. It may be that I come back with the girls on 12/18, and Shannon comes with Galya a day or two later. It all depends on the bureacracy in Makeevka, and then at the American embassy in Kiev. Fortunately there are ways to deal with this, however it plays out, so we're not worried about anything in particular. But it would be nice to be able to all return at the same time. Holidays are not great times to try and reschedule a flight, although our travel agent is good. Shannon has already reached out to her, and tomorrow we'll be contacting the American embassy to see what we can do to ensure the quickest turnaround possible there. And we'll sic Angelina on the Makeevka paperwork. It'd be a whirlwind, but we'll see if we can't get it all pulled off.

In short: Galya's our daughter barring any protests or appeals, which aren't expected. But as Ukrainian law says we wait ten days to be sure, we wait ten days. That leaves some logistical challenges, but it will all work out somehow.

Thanks again for all your prayers, support, love and concern. It is greatly humbling to know we have so many people behind us on this!

God bless,
Ron