Our Final Hurdle

I apologize in advance for the lack of a post for a couple of days, but we have been very busy and so tired when we get home that I haven't posted. Our translator submitted the court approval request on Tuesday and it was rejected that evening with a phone call from the Adoption Center. Katya is a true orphan, meaning she has no living parents or grandparents. She doesn't even have any aunts or uncles or cousins, but she does have one lady who visits her about once a year. It is an older lady in failing health. She has never expressed a desire to adopt or care for Katya. She occasionally brings her gifts. We met her when we came for Katya's birthday in September. She claims to be a distant relative on Katya's fathers side. The orphanage is supposed to log all visits from Ukrainians when they visit kids in the orphanage. The sad irony of this is that there are major hurdles to overcome when someone wants to be adopted that has had visitors. The orphanage told us that they had not been logging any visits from this lady because they did not want to complicate Katya's adoption. However, with the move to a new ministry and extra scrutiny in this country on adoptions, the orphanage Director got cold feet and decided that we needed to add language into the court approval request that there was a Ukrainian citizen that had been visiting Katya. We don't blame the director for doing this. While it may complicate things, it is the truth, and she is surely worried about her job. Which is her right to do. We can't expect people here to break the law to make this adoption happen. It scares us to death that it will cause problems, but we just have to face the issue head on and hope that it will work out. So we knew when we submitted the paperwork on Tuesday that this was a real possibility. So it has been a stressful few days. When they rejected the paperwork, they said that we needed to provide a statement from the Inspector in the region with more information on this person and whether or not they had ever had an interest in adopting Katya. Our translator was able to get this done in a day. The inspector did not have any information, but she wrote that there was no record of any person requesting to care for Katya. Luckily, this was enough for the Adoption Center and they issued the court approval. So court is going forward on Monday as planned. We then just need to wait for 10 days and we can bring Katya home. The 10 day wait is so that anyone can object to the adoption during that time. While we don't forsee a problem, it is possible, so that is really our final hurdle. For 12 more days we just need to stay healthy and safe and let the time pass.

Katya's grandparents arrived on Thursday morning. They were very tired, but they were troopers and they were able to visit with Katya that evening. She was very excited to see them. It has been great spending two days with them and having them be able to see where 5 of our kids lived for so long. They toured the orphanage and saw their old beds. They visited their school and met all of their caregivers. It was great to experience it with them as they soaked it all in. The great thing is they are so adventureous. We explored the subway system today and made it to the stop close to the orphanage. Although I would never ask for directions, we were never really lost for more than twenty minutes at a time deep underground. How bad could it be, anyway? If you get lost, you just go above ground and take a taxi like we always do to the orphanage. We walked our legs right off today and they kept up every step of the way and kept asking for more. I really believe the family units are never just one or even two generations deep. I just wish Julia's parents could be here too. They will have to come on the next round for sure. Does anyone know of any motels for sale? Preferably close to a swimming pool and a school.

We met up with the Scott and Kayla Thompson family for lunch today. We ran into them at the local store here. They are adopting 2 children ages 6 and 7 from the same orphanage. It was great to get to know them and hear their story. They have their son, Cade, with them and they remind us of ourselves three years ago when we were adopting a brother and a sister and we had Alexia with us. It was so fun to hear how their adoption is going and what they are feeling. It brought back all of the memories for us with Sonya and Nikitta's adoption. We have discovered a great cafe here that we shared with them today. They have a lunch special that changes daily, but it is several courses and it is only about $4.50. We have really liked the variety and this is one of only a few places that has a non-smoking section. (It seems as though 90% of this country smokes. This is one American export they can do without here.)

We will be bringing Katya back to the apartment tomorrow at her request. We asked her what she wanted to do and she said "I want to go to the apartment." She could go out for pizza, or to a movie, or anywhere, but she wants us to take her home and spend time with her there. Even if it is a temporary home, that is where she wants to be. How many years has she wished and hoped that someone would come and take her home? It just breaks our hearts that we couldn't have had her home years ago. These kids don't deserve to be here. One of the first observations of grandma and grandpa was that every kid in that orphanage would be a great addition to any family. They are fun, sweet, kind, well-mannered kids that just want nothing more than parents. I am so grateful that I have discovered this thing called adoption. It is one of the best secrets that shouldn't be a secret. I just want to be able to do one of those Star Trek mind melds with everyone so they could see into my heart and mind and know what this feels like. I love my kids. And I love my wife for leading the way to make all this happen. Without her I would have never experienced all of this joy. As I keep pinching myself, I wonder how I ended up with the beautiful wife that keeps bringing me lots of children. Sorry, she is taken. :)

....My kids are going to be reading that last bit from home in the states and cringe with all the mushiness going on over here.