Adoption Court Date: Feb. 20, 2009

It’s about time for an adoption update around here. Not much has happened since we got our court date and referral. We do receive monthly updates, but they only consist of height and weight measurements. It’s kind of hard looking at the photo of my boy and the sheet of paper telling me how much he weighs. All I know is he’s growing, and that’s a good thing (duh).

Our court date is coming up on February 20. This happens in Ethiopia and we don’t have to be present. We’ve signed over power of attorney and someone else will be present for us as a judge reviews the case and, if everything goes smoothly, transfers guardianship of our boy to us. This paves the way for a birth certificate that lists us as parents. Once we get a correct copy of that birth certificate things start moving. We can start filing more paperwork to get a visa, we’re given a travel date and we’re given permission to book our tickets. It’s a flurry of activity. We’ve been told that travel dates generally come 5-6 weeks after a successful court date, which means late March or early April.

Having a successful day in court is what everything hinges on. Even though we’ve filed all our paperwork and our agency has double checked everything, things don’t always go smoothly in court. Unexpected things can happen. A vital piece of paperwork might be missing. A blackout might shut down court for the day. Someone could call in sick. Who knows? Any of those things could mean rescheduling, which could push the whole process back.

Recently about a dozen families had their day in court but were rescheduled because a necessary letter wasn’t there. They all got pushed back seven weeks and have to keep on waiting. It can be insanely frustrating, but there’s not much we can do about it. One thing we can do is pray that our case goes smoothly through court.

Aside from the obvious benefits of moving forward in the process and being one stop closer to holding our kid in our arms, another bonus of making it through court is that we’ll be officially guardians of our baby and that means we can post pictures online. We’re also supposed to get a detailed report with pictures around the time of our court date, which means knowing a lot more than his weight and height.

It is a long and tedious process, but we’re getting there. Thanks for coming along with us.

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