Back from Court

All went well as the Judge granted our request to adopt Yan! The mandatory 10-day waiting period begins tomorrow (Saturday) and will go through the end of the day Monday (9/24). Then it's official. In addition to our facilitator and translator, the Director of the Children's Home and the local Inspector responsible for verifying all of the paperwork "testified"on our behalf. They were very supportive of the three of us being together. There were two attorneys and what appeared to be two jury members representing the interests of Yan and the local jurisdiction. Prior to our case, we were told that adoption hearings generally do not go longer than 15 - 20 minutes depending on the region. Our case started at 9:30 am and ended shortly after 11:00 am. There were no problems or issues. The Judge and DA were very thorough and complete. They asked many questions about us, our backgrounds, family life and ability to care for Yan. Karen probably fielded 80% of the questions and was great. After you get past the nervousness and magnitude of the actual meeting, it was assurring to know that everyone in that room wanted what was best for Yan and wanted to make sure he got exactly that. We couldn't be happier with the way things went.

We will continue with our daily visits through next Monday (9/24). After that, the tentative plan as it stands today is to travel to the town where Yan was born on Tuesday (9/25), get some additional paperwork completed, head to the Children's Home to pick up Yan and then head to Kiev on Tuesday evening or first thing Wednesday morning. I believe we will go to the US Embassy in Kiev to complete final paperwork and get Yan's passport completed. Passports apparently can take a while, we are hoping to get his in hand by the end of the week (9/28) and then head for home.

It is a cold, rainy, windy day in Luhans'k, but Karen and I are going out to dinner in town to celebrate. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. K&M