Adoption Day!

Robin here. First of all, my apologies for not getting this posted earlier, but after court on Monday we went to the orphanage where we were the guests of honor at a superb dinner with many, many, vodka toasts. Let’s just say that neither Greg nor I were in a position to write a post when we returned home last night at 10pm. And, since we slept in later this Tuesday morning than usual, it was not possible to get this posted by your day’s end.

Without a doubt, the Russian and Kazakh people certainly know how to celebrate! I believe we had at least ten – possibly twelve vodka toasts between the hours of 5:30 and 8:30pm. I sipped on my shot glass with each toast and ultimately imbibed two and a half shots of vodka. Greg however, experienced the full Monty, which is why the celebration impacted him more so than it did me. We celebrated with the orphanage director (Yuri) his female assistant (whose name is just too long and complicated to spell) our attorney (Sholpan) our translator/new friend (Igor) and our designated driver (Dennis.)

The food was absolutely delicious and the hospitality unparalleled. Over the course of three hours we were served cheese, meat, fish and bread as appetizers -- three different salads -- a main course casserole of beef and potatoes au gratin -- and stuffed peppers as a side dish. We were then offered a variety of cookies and sweet breads, chocolate candies and tea. We each made several toasts, one of mine being that the great food and drink provided by our hosts would surely send us home fatter and feeling no pain!

And now, to the beginning of court day; we arrived for our 3pm hearing with our translator, Igor and met up with the orphanage director and our attorney. We all waited in a small office for over an hour before we were finally invited into the judge’s chambers. The wait would have been more taxing if not for the assorted jokes (some of them a bit off-color) that we all shared. Greg told a great one about a camel, which when translated, was even funnier! Igor got to laugh twice for each joke as he translated his and Yuri’s jokes to English for us and ours to Russian for Yuri, Sholpan and the office assistants.

Katya, the Ministry of Education representative joined us only briefly in the waiting room before leaving. We later found out that she was representing two children in another hearing. These two young children had just been taken from their mother for neglect and their sister, who is in seventh grade, was at the hearing with her father crying and begging the court to release her siblings to her custody. This girl’s father was not the father of the other two children, but it appeared as though he was willing to take the children under his care. We don’t know how the case will be decided, but it certainly brought clearly into view the other side of the process. We were there happily and excitedly asking the court’s blessing to become Kristina’s parents, while a twelve year old girl tearfully begged another judge a few doors down to not place her siblings in the orphanage.

Once inside the judge’s office, we were asked to speak about our desire to adopt Kristina. Greg spoke about our first adoption of Yulia in 2004 and of our love and respect for the orphans, their caregivers and the country of Kazakhstan. The prosecutor then asked why, if we wanted two children, did we not adopt another one at the same time as Yulia? I answered this time, telling him that, at the time, we thought that Yulia would be our one and only adopted daughter. But, that after experiencing the process and resulting joy in having Yulia in our family, that we could not stop thinking about the faces of the many orphans we knew were still in need of families. I said that it was easy to make the decision to return for another child in order to give Yulia the younger sister she desired and to complete our family with another daughter who will share Yulia’s heritage. With that, Greg presented the prosecutor with an album of photos representing Yulia’s journey from the orphanage to almost two years as a part of our family. The prosecutor stood and announced that he supported the adoption of Kristina to Gregory and Robin St. George.

The judge and prosecutor then questioned Yuri and Katya as to the validity and completeness of all documents relating to Kristina’s status as an adoptable orphan and we were asked to step out while the decision was made. About fifteen minutes later we were invited back inside where the judge read his official declaration that we were granted the adoption and that Kristina’s birth certificate will identify Greg and I as the true and legal parents of Kristina Alexis St. George.

The mandatory 15 day waiting period is no longer waived, so we will have to wait until Wednesday, October 11th to officially take Kristina into our custody. Since the orphanage is so far away, we will start visiting her Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week until our waiting period is finished. This means six more visits at the orphanage and on the seventh visit we will take her back to our apartment. We will stay here in Petro with her while all of her paperwork, passport and visa processing is complete and then we will fly to Almaty for her medical check-up at the SOS clinic and our appointment with the US Embassy to receive permission for her to enter the United States as our daughter. We should be in Almaty for three nights – during which time we hope to enjoy the creature comforts of the Hyatt Hotel.

A Day Without A Buzz Is A Day That Never Was

Well, let's just say that Adoption Day definitely lands in the "Was" category.

I'm still recovering from at least 8 shots of vodka and all I can say is that the theory that liquor makes you feel no pain is complete bunk. I'm feeling lots of it and, while I love these people to death, if I have to drink that much again then it will be the end of me.

I knew it was probably going to happen too. In fact, right after the judge pronounced us to be Kristina's parents and we were celebrating and shaking off the tension and nervousness, I looked right at Robin and said "Well, the easy part is over." She knew exactly what I meant. All that remained was surviving the celebration back at the orphanage.

No small task. Igor and Sholpan disappeared into a store before we even left the couthouse and came out with a large bag containing 4 bottles of vodka, 1 bottle of cognac (Sholpan prefers cognac) and a half dozen beers. This was for a gathering attended by only 6 drinking adults (we can't count Dennis since he was the designated driver). Sigh.

I won't cover any more of the proceeding, not just because Robin wrote about it, but also because there are some "gaps" in my memory, if you know what I mean. I will mention that Robin told everyone last night that she's only seen me in this condition twice in the 7-1/2 years she's known me, and coincidentally both times have been on this adoption trip.