The Verdict is In

We had a very exciting day here in Bryansk. We left Moscow by train and arrived here around 1:00am. Neither of us slept on the train, we were far too excited about the day ahead! We checked into our hotel room, and met Olga at 7:30 to go to Karachev to visit Angelina.

Angelina is just as wonderful and happy as we remember her, maybe a bit bigger! We danced, played, and she even followed the directive from the orphanage care giver to give me a kiss! She babbled a lot more than last time, and she seems to be much sturdier on her feet. We only got to see Angelina for about an hour before we had to leave to get to court on time.

Olga prepared us for court on Thursday by telling us that there will be a different judge hearing our case, and that she is very strict. This put us on edge for the whole weekend. Then, on Sunday, Olga told us the news about a Russian-adopted child’s death in the USA over the past few days. She said that this may give us some trouble in court as well. So, I was pretty nervous and worried about our hearing.

So, our hearing lasted 2 hours, in a hot, stuffy room with no air conditioning. I looked up at Ken once and he had beads of sweat running from his forehead. The judge questioned us for about an hour, some simple questions, like about our employment and housing situations. Then, some tougher questions: She asked us about our feelings towards the latest death of a Russian-adopted child. We were asked about our motivations for adopting and why from Russia. She also asked us how we plan to care for our child, and if our families approved of this adoption. She asked us to describe our meetings with Angelina, and what our feelings were towards her. This is when I proceeded to cry, Ken…just sweated. She also asked Ken if he was upset that we were not referred a boy, and then said to him, "maybe next time."

The judge grilled me on how name changes work, and how I got my married name on all of my documents. She thoroughly went through our and Angelina’s paperwork. There were representatives from the orphanage present. They needed to testify to the judge that Angelina was available for adoption and that she was not approached by any Russian couples first. They also were there to support us in our desire to adopt her.

So, after two long hours of court, we are proud to say that the judge approved our petition, and we are officially the parents of Angelina! We are going to celebrate at the nice Italian restaurant in town!

This will be our last post from Russia. Tonight, we hit the midnight train to Moscow, then our flight takes off at 12:30! We can’t wait to come home and get ready for GOTCHA DAY!