So sorry that I have not posted an update: Here is the very shortened version:
We woke up June 6th excited and nervous about court at 9am. We were all packed and ready to go by 8am, when we got the call that our translator would be late and that court would be delayed till 10am. Matt and I were obviously frustrated, but not a thing we could do.
We arrived to court and the courtroom is more like an office than an actual court room. There were 2 jurors, a prosecutor, court reporter, our translator, the boys, the boys "lawyer" and us. There was a lot of paperwork reading. The judge asked us a few time if we were sure that we wanted these two boys with their health problems - the only health problem is mild night time bed wetting by one child - the other child is totally healthy. So we answered yes each time. He asked Ivan to stand and explain how he met us, that we had not convinced him to be adopted, etc. Then their lawyer stands up and explains how their mother never visited in the last 5 years, no other family member wants them, no other Ukrainian family wants them and we are the first international family to show any interest in these two boys. How many ways can you tell a child that they are not wanted - it was really upsetting to me to have the boys hear so many times that they were never wanted by anyone. I really wanted to just reach over and hold their hand to say, "ignore all of these bad things, focus on the positive," but they made us sit on separate benches. Court lasted about 40 minutes. The orphanage worker said that he needed to take the boys back to the school instead of waiting on the decision, so we had to say our good byes there and were not able to get a picture on this important day in their lives! The judge came back in about 25 minutes to say that he approved our adoption. We had a picture book that we had brought with us and the judge asked to take it back into his chambers to see it. Well I think really the reason he wanted us in his chambers is b/c he asked when we come back to pick up the paperwork if we will please bring him back some American Whiskey! Absolutely, I will bring some back:)
Anyway, we were in a true rush thinking that we had a train to catch at 4pm and a 4 hour taxi ride - it was now 12noon. Needless to say, we found out that the wrong train tickets had been purchased for us and that our train was actually leaving at 5pm and the car ride was only 3 hours, not 4. So all of the stress of the morning was for nothing! We did catch our train and it was very nice to have the train cabin to ourselves and enjoy a beer on our ride back to Kiev. We got into Kiev about 11pm and headed to a hotel very close to the airport for about 4 hours of sleep. Woke up at 4am and headed to the airport for our 6am flight.
In the airport we met a father taking his son, Vova, back to the US with him. They live in Roanoke and had our exact same flights, so we were able to talk with them most of the day and share our experiences with them as well as hear their experiences. It was an enjoyable day of flying:)
We are back home this week. I am flying out on Sunday, June 17th back to Ukraine to finish up all of the paperwork and bring our boys home for good. Our son Ryan is going to go back with me. He is very excited and I think it will be a great experience for him and I to be together to pick up his new brothers.
We woke up June 6th excited and nervous about court at 9am. We were all packed and ready to go by 8am, when we got the call that our translator would be late and that court would be delayed till 10am. Matt and I were obviously frustrated, but not a thing we could do.
We arrived to court and the courtroom is more like an office than an actual court room. There were 2 jurors, a prosecutor, court reporter, our translator, the boys, the boys "lawyer" and us. There was a lot of paperwork reading. The judge asked us a few time if we were sure that we wanted these two boys with their health problems - the only health problem is mild night time bed wetting by one child - the other child is totally healthy. So we answered yes each time. He asked Ivan to stand and explain how he met us, that we had not convinced him to be adopted, etc. Then their lawyer stands up and explains how their mother never visited in the last 5 years, no other family member wants them, no other Ukrainian family wants them and we are the first international family to show any interest in these two boys. How many ways can you tell a child that they are not wanted - it was really upsetting to me to have the boys hear so many times that they were never wanted by anyone. I really wanted to just reach over and hold their hand to say, "ignore all of these bad things, focus on the positive," but they made us sit on separate benches. Court lasted about 40 minutes. The orphanage worker said that he needed to take the boys back to the school instead of waiting on the decision, so we had to say our good byes there and were not able to get a picture on this important day in their lives! The judge came back in about 25 minutes to say that he approved our adoption. We had a picture book that we had brought with us and the judge asked to take it back into his chambers to see it. Well I think really the reason he wanted us in his chambers is b/c he asked when we come back to pick up the paperwork if we will please bring him back some American Whiskey! Absolutely, I will bring some back:)
Anyway, we were in a true rush thinking that we had a train to catch at 4pm and a 4 hour taxi ride - it was now 12noon. Needless to say, we found out that the wrong train tickets had been purchased for us and that our train was actually leaving at 5pm and the car ride was only 3 hours, not 4. So all of the stress of the morning was for nothing! We did catch our train and it was very nice to have the train cabin to ourselves and enjoy a beer on our ride back to Kiev. We got into Kiev about 11pm and headed to a hotel very close to the airport for about 4 hours of sleep. Woke up at 4am and headed to the airport for our 6am flight.
In the airport we met a father taking his son, Vova, back to the US with him. They live in Roanoke and had our exact same flights, so we were able to talk with them most of the day and share our experiences with them as well as hear their experiences. It was an enjoyable day of flying:)
We are back home this week. I am flying out on Sunday, June 17th back to Ukraine to finish up all of the paperwork and bring our boys home for good. Our son Ryan is going to go back with me. He is very excited and I think it will be a great experience for him and I to be together to pick up his new brothers.
Closer and closer. I am so excited for you and the boys and your family.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I think it is terribly cruel to have subjected the boys to so many reminders that no one wanted them.
Travel safely - looking forward to more updates.