Adoption Story - This is our truth

When I left off my story (see February's posts), we had just finished our first trip to Saint Petersburg. We had met with Ben twice and had accepted him and asked for a adoption hearing court date.

We knew when we left Russia that the courts were going to try and squeeze us in before the holidays because everything shuts down for a good three weeks due to New Years and Russian Christmas. A few days after we returned home we found out that our court date would be December 21st. So we made our plans.

The second trip started off much like the first one - an overnight flight to Frankfurt, a bleary two hour layover and a nice nap-filled flight to SP. We changed hotels this time and stayed at the Petro Palace. It's a Russian hotel that is very nice, convenient, cheaper than the Radisson where we stayed on our first trip, and our travel partners (G&K) were staying there as well. We also found a really good Azari (Azerbaijani) restaurant just down the block. Grilled meats, veggies and rice - YUM. They also had hookas, but I passed on trying them.

We arrived Tuesday, December 19th, one day after Ben's first birthday. We were able to visit with him the following day and he was laughing and playing with us this time. He and Kurt made faces at each other and roared with laughter. Ben was also pulling up and trying to take a few steps. I should have paid attention to this.

Thursday at 3:00 was our court date. Kurt had a background speech prepared. Our judge was a woman, early 30's probably. She was very formal and we were nervous. We had a lot going for us and Ben had not been contacted or visited by any bio-family members, so we thought we had a good shot at finalizing our adoption. But we were halfway around the world, working in another country's jurisdiction and legal system. Nerve-wracking. The prosecutor asked us questions - primarily about our ages and how we knew we'd be good parents. We are both very close to our nieces and nephews and Kurt used to be a camp director. We brought lots of "kid experience" to the table. Then the Orphanage Director and the Social Worker stood and gave Ben's background and their reviews on our interactions with Ben.

The judge left the courtroom then for about 10 minutes. When she came back she started reading the adoption decree in English. That's when it really hit us. This child was ours forever. Kurt took my hand and we were both shaking. She read the entire document and then explained that his birth certificate in Russia would be changed to show us as his parents. His adoption record would be sealed for confidentiality and that we would need to wait the 10 day waiting period until we could leave the country. The whole proceeding took about an hour. In December in SP, the sun goes down at 4:00, so it was dark as night by the time we were back at the hotel.

The 10 day wait is not without its perils. If a family member requests it, the adoption can be cancelled. So, we were still not quite breathing easy.

We stayed a few more days and flew home on Christmas Eve. We were able to visit Ben on Friday and spent several hours with him. He was such a trooper. I know we played through a nap and a meal, but he was having fun, too. Saturday,after sleeping past noon, we visited St. Isaac's Cathedral and then went to Olive (a Greek restaurant) for dinner. I think that the trip had finally caught up to us. We were thrilled, exhausted, still anxious and had one more trip to make. We flew home through Charlotte and arrived around 8 pm Christmas Eve. Hearing the judge say that Ben was ours was the very best Christmas present I have ever received.