Court Approval

Our appointment at court began promptly at 9 and after a ½ hour hearing the judge approved our petition to adopt Elizabeth Olga Henry. Бог Похвалы! Thank you to everyone who has prayed with us and for us during this journey.

The hearing was very routine. The judge presided with a court clerk, two jurors, and the prosecutor. In addition to us and our facilitator, the lawyer from the orphanage and the inspector, representing the Berdyansk city council, were present to provide testimony. The preceding began with the judge taking down the name, birthdate, address, & purpose for appearing before the court for each person testifying. She then read aloud our petition to adopt Elizabeth and asked if that is why we were before the court. She then questioned each of us about when we were married, existing children, & employment status. She asked how we knew Elizabeth and we described how she spent time with us in America and the communication we have had with her since that time. The lawyer from the orphanage was then asked to testify about Elizabeth. She read from Elizabeth’s file about the circumstances leading to her arrival at the orphanage. She testified that during Elizabeth’s 4 years there, she had not been visited by any family members. She then testified about Elizabeth meeting us in America and our frequent communications with Elizabeth. Finally, she testified that the orphanage supported the adoption in the best interest of Elizabeth. Next the inspector was asked to testify and she stated the city had received our petition, which was in order, and that Elizabeth’s paperwork was in order. Given that no Ukrainian citizen indicated a desire to adopt Elizabeth and all the necessary papers were correct, the city had no objection. Lastly, Taylor, Kate, & Elizabeth were individually asked to join the proceedings and each was asked if they knew each other, liked each other, wanted to be sisters, etc. Elizabeth was also asked about contact with her mother and she explained that her mother wrote her a couple of times in the first few months, but that she had stopped writing. Asked if she had ever been visited by family members, she stated no. She was asked if she wanted to be adopted by us (she said yes) and the judge admonished her that she would have to listen to us and obey us and she said she understood. Everyone was asked to leave and 5 minutes later the judge reopened court to read the decree. The court has approved our adoption of Elizabeth, pending a 10 day waiting period, during which time appeals to the decision can be filed at court. So, we will have an official decree in our hands on the morning of the 18th and will then rush through the remainder of the process.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. We returned to the hotel and met up with Lena. We shared our news with her and enjoyed a very nice 2nd breakfast prepared by all hands. We then proceeded to take her to the train station and said our farewells. It was very emotional and sad for her to leave, but we made promises about seeing her again – hopefully in America! Elizabeth and Lena really bonded well, and were sad to say goodbye. Lena made a gift of a her coat to Elizabeth, which was very touching. Kate and Lena hugged for a long time before Lena stepped on to the train.

We then proceeded to the notary and completed a petition to request a passport for Elizabeth. There was a lot of waiting time at the notary, but we enjoyed a nice conversation with the Stacks and the Sabbatinis, who were also having petitions prepared. Surprisingly, we have not seen the other families in Berdyansk very often. This is partly due to staying in different hotels, and also partly due to the relatively little time we have spent at the orphanage.

Our next item for the day was a trip to the orphanage to, finally, give gifts to the children we had been entrusted with. When we got there, the director was in a meeting and we passed the time by playing 3 very long hands of Uno. Eventually the meeting broke up and we were able to meet with the director and see the children and give them the gifts. All of them were very happy to receive the items and to hear news about the people who had sent them. We visited with Vika, Erin’s friend Natasha, Yana and Marina.

We briefly returned to our hotel in order to tidy up before going out for a celebratory dinner at a waterfront restaurant. It was a great restaurant for our dinner. It was very tastefully decorated with a live band playing a mixture of jazz and classic American tunes. It was a very pleasant change of pace from the techno-disco beat usually accompanying every activity. Elizabeth enjoyed a nice candlelite meal comprising a salad of quail’s eggs, boiled tongue, cucumber, and corn followed by a plate of shrimp and a chocolate dessert. Prior to dinner arriving, we presented her with a gift of a gold chain and cross to commemorate the day. (She was concerned about the shrimp however, as 6 large creatures arrived on the plate with heads attached and eyes staring at her…she said her dinner scared her a bit. Jim took care of that however, expertly peeling them, and she seemed to enjoy the treat.)

After a long and emotional day, we returned to the hotel and everyone was very happy to get to sleep!

Today - Tuesday has been a slow day for us thus far. All except Elizabeth, who unfortunately is still required to attend school at the orphanage. We are very thankful that she is allowed to stay with us except for school. But, we wonder how difficult this will be for her during the next 10 days as she is caught between her past and her future.