We were picked up at the VMI at 8:15 AM by a minivan with a different driver...it wasn't Irina. That was okay because the day before Irina took us to lunch at the Del Mar (an upscale Russian restaurant, which by the way Ron adored because he was served wonderful cream of crab soup) and told us exactly what was going to happen as far as court was concerned and she also told us to expect the minivan and a different driver at 8:15 AM. It was funny because this Russian guy goes past us and says something in Russian looking right at us...at this point you would think we would've learned more Russian than our 4 words but nope we haven't :/ We stated we are Americanos, he just walked past us, then he came back and pointed to the minivan...we guessed he was our driver?!? We were successfully transported to court, however there was a bus on the way to court and we thought we were goners...I think even our driver thought the same thing :)
The driver of the minivan actually saved a space for Irina, Irina worked it out this way because at court is so horrible. Literally I think you have to get there at the crack of dawn to get a good parking spot. Our court was for 9:30 AM. We were told that it would last about 30 to 45 minutes. The court was beautiful, it was much like ours back in the states, just on a smaller scale. The court room we were lead into had pergo flooring, wood-like desks of course with chairs. It was set up like our court system too, where in the states they have the judge come in a separate way and she sits in a different area than everyone else. We were told to stand when the judge entered the room, which we did. Irina was there to translate for us. This seemed like an impossible feat because everyone in the court room was talking a mile a minute and Irina kept up! She is just an amazing woman!!! Our judge was a red-haired woman, Ron told me that she scared him. She was extremely stern looking but we were told by Irina that she was an extremely good woman. The judge was hard to read and didn't crack a smile...again that scared Ron. We also had in court with us the social worker, who was another good woman and extremely caring. The social worker represented Luke in court on his behalf and us. Also, in court was a woman mid-thirties, dressed in what looked like a policeman's uniform but it was her prosecutors uniform. There was the secretary, who was sweet and had killer heels on, absolutely beautiful. Ron asked me if I had a chance to check out her heels, I answered him with a YES...women always check out other women's shoes, no matter what. Her heels were beautiful! Ron stated you could seriously poke an eye out with those heels...LOL! We were extremely nervous!
The court proceedings start with the reading of our names and the purpose of court. Ron was told to stand and he had to answer questions, such as his full name, address, date of birth. The reason Ron was asked to stand first was because it is a male dominated society. However, it appears as if the country itself is run by women. Then he was asked questions such as what medical conditions does this child have? Are you able to cope with this child's medical conditions? Do you have health insurance? How much time did you spend with this child? Quite honestly most of these questions were straight forward. Then the prosecutor took her turn but didn't have a question for Ron. After Ron's turn in the hot seat it was mine, I was told to stand and answered similar questions, such as full name, etc. We answered with short but precise answers, we didn't babble...actually I'm proud of Ron because when he gets nervous he tends to babble a lot :) The only thing that threw me was the prosecutor, she didn't have any questions for Ron but had several for me. The prosecutor asked me "you will have two adopted children from two different countries, how will you raise them"? I wanted to scream "I DON'T KNOW", but I didn't :) I answered it honestly and straight forward. We were both asked if there was anything else we wanted to say to the court, we said NO. We were told to put together of our time spent with Luke on our first visit to Russia. The judge and the prosecutor looked through the photos, we hoped that it was what they were looking for. We were told by Irina that it was good the day before. Irina said to add some photos of our first child Ryan and our backyard. We made up an album for Luke on the first trip to tell him who our family, friends and places at home were. Well, Irina saw this and liked the idea and this is what she told us to add to our album we made up for our court date, she told us the judge will enjoy them. We automatically added the photos! Then it was the social workers turn to talk on Luke's behalf.
We were asked to leave the court, so the judge could make her decision. It didn't take her long to make this decision, which we were thrilled with!!! Once, Ron and I knew we were Luke's parents we hugged and I cried. I even saw tears in Ron's eye. It was surreal because here is the court telling you that you are the best choice for this little wonderful creature that you will call your son from this day forward...just amazing!!!
The driver of the minivan actually saved a space for Irina, Irina worked it out this way because at court is so horrible. Literally I think you have to get there at the crack of dawn to get a good parking spot. Our court was for 9:30 AM. We were told that it would last about 30 to 45 minutes. The court was beautiful, it was much like ours back in the states, just on a smaller scale. The court room we were lead into had pergo flooring, wood-like desks of course with chairs. It was set up like our court system too, where in the states they have the judge come in a separate way and she sits in a different area than everyone else. We were told to stand when the judge entered the room, which we did. Irina was there to translate for us. This seemed like an impossible feat because everyone in the court room was talking a mile a minute and Irina kept up! She is just an amazing woman!!! Our judge was a red-haired woman, Ron told me that she scared him. She was extremely stern looking but we were told by Irina that she was an extremely good woman. The judge was hard to read and didn't crack a smile...again that scared Ron. We also had in court with us the social worker, who was another good woman and extremely caring. The social worker represented Luke in court on his behalf and us. Also, in court was a woman mid-thirties, dressed in what looked like a policeman's uniform but it was her prosecutors uniform. There was the secretary, who was sweet and had killer heels on, absolutely beautiful. Ron asked me if I had a chance to check out her heels, I answered him with a YES...women always check out other women's shoes, no matter what. Her heels were beautiful! Ron stated you could seriously poke an eye out with those heels...LOL! We were extremely nervous!
The court proceedings start with the reading of our names and the purpose of court. Ron was told to stand and he had to answer questions, such as his full name, address, date of birth. The reason Ron was asked to stand first was because it is a male dominated society. However, it appears as if the country itself is run by women. Then he was asked questions such as what medical conditions does this child have? Are you able to cope with this child's medical conditions? Do you have health insurance? How much time did you spend with this child? Quite honestly most of these questions were straight forward. Then the prosecutor took her turn but didn't have a question for Ron. After Ron's turn in the hot seat it was mine, I was told to stand and answered similar questions, such as full name, etc. We answered with short but precise answers, we didn't babble...actually I'm proud of Ron because when he gets nervous he tends to babble a lot :) The only thing that threw me was the prosecutor, she didn't have any questions for Ron but had several for me. The prosecutor asked me "you will have two adopted children from two different countries, how will you raise them"? I wanted to scream "I DON'T KNOW", but I didn't :) I answered it honestly and straight forward. We were both asked if there was anything else we wanted to say to the court, we said NO. We were told to put together of our time spent with Luke on our first visit to Russia. The judge and the prosecutor looked through the photos, we hoped that it was what they were looking for. We were told by Irina that it was good the day before. Irina said to add some photos of our first child Ryan and our backyard. We made up an album for Luke on the first trip to tell him who our family, friends and places at home were. Well, Irina saw this and liked the idea and this is what she told us to add to our album we made up for our court date, she told us the judge will enjoy them. We automatically added the photos! Then it was the social workers turn to talk on Luke's behalf.
We were asked to leave the court, so the judge could make her decision. It didn't take her long to make this decision, which we were thrilled with!!! Once, Ron and I knew we were Luke's parents we hugged and I cried. I even saw tears in Ron's eye. It was surreal because here is the court telling you that you are the best choice for this little wonderful creature that you will call your son from this day forward...just amazing!!!
We will now wait the 10 day period, as this region does not waive the 10 day waiting period. In 10 days the adoption decree will be final. The Russian Supreme Court has these 10 days to overturn the verdict of the judge. Again, we ask you to PLEASE pray this doesn't happen. We are hoping that this is just a another formality. Irina told us that the courier will fly to Moscow on May 30th and then Ron and Luke will wait a few days for the courier to return. In the meantime Ron will take Luke to the physican for the US Embassy, who needs to see Luke before they can leave for the USA on June 4th :)
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