At approximately 3:30PM our time, we became a family of four! Of course, we always felt Michael was a part of our family, but now it's official! We were in court for approximately 40 minutes. Sean said his speech (he had to make it brief; I didn't even get to say mine). The judge seemed very nice. We got tossed several questions by the prosecutor, one of which he kept asking because we weren't understanding the question - something kept getting lost in translation - but we made it through! As I was listening to Juliya softly translating back to us in English, first Michael's doctor and then the social worker's testimony, I started to become very emotional. They were so supportive of us in their speeches and you could tell that all they wanted was the best for Michael, and I know they feel just as strongly for all the babies. I couldn't help but start tearing up - and we hadn't even gotten the verdict yet! After everyone said their piece the judge gave a 15 minute recess before coming back with the positive decision. We definitely now feel like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.
So, now we just have to go through the 15-day waiting period, after which is when the court's decision goes into effect. We will come back home to Houston to wait that period out, then wait for addtional paperwork will be done afterwards, including getting Michael's passport. After all that is completed then Sean and I will return to Karaganda, KZ to pick up Michael and bring him home. At first we thought it would only be 3 to 4 weeks before we return, but we are now finding out that it may be later. Apparently, there is a new law that all citizens of Kazakhstan are to get new official ID cards made, and the deadline is sometime in August. Not everyone has been complying with this, and the deadline is looming. Once the deadline comes and goes then supposedly no official business can be conducted without the new ID cards, including bank transactions, etc. The kicker is that the issuing government agency for these ID cards is the same agency that handles passports, so there is probably going to be a backlog. This is why our in-country facilitators are anticipating delay in getting Michael's passport, and it's very possible we may not get to come back to pick up Michael for 6 weeks, possibly in September. Gotta love it - we're here in the midst of yet another change. Not to worry, though. The 3 or 4 or even 6 weeks that we will not be with Michael is a small amount of time compared to him being in our family for the rest of his life!
We will end this post now, as we are changing back into our regular clothes and are preparing to meet with other families for a celebratory dinner at Uratu, the Armenian restaurant. The Canadian couple in Group 4, Jeremy and Deb, went to court ths morning and were given the positive decision to become Lucas' parents, too! We were the first family out of our travel partners to go in front of the judge this afternoon, and we had to leave before everyone else went in for their hearing so we weren't there to hear everyone else's verdicts. However, I am sure they all got positive decisions, and we will all have something to celebrate tonight! Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers!
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