On March 19,we stood before a judge in Gyumri to ask if one 11-month-old baby girl could join our family. The selfie we took in our hotel room, all gussied up right before court, gives you a good idea of how we were feeling. We look a tad anxious don’t we?
If you’ve never been in our spot, try to imagine being in front of an authority figure, who doesn’t speak your language–in fact almost no one in the court speaks your language–and you are asking permission to do one of the most important things you’ll ever do in your life. Daunting, isn’t it?
I know I was nervous and Big Papa had some seriously sweaty palms as we held hands and waited to be ushered into the courtroom. Inside there was a judge, a representative from Little Bird’s home province, a representative from our adoption agency (who sat on the sidelines), and our translator.
We had a prepared statement describing why we wanted to adopt this particular Armenian child, and how we planned to care for her. Our agency’s representative had also forewarned us the judge or the representative from our daughter-to-be’s province could also ask us questions off the cuff. Gulp. After we took our oaths, my brave husband stood and presented our case before the judge.
Three [nerve-wracking] days later, on March 22, we went back to the courtroom to get the news. We found out the judge was sick that day. Oh no, we worried, how many more days would we need to wait before we heard her decision? A few minutes later, our representative returned and told us the judge had already signed our paperwork and acted favorably on our request.
“Congratulations,” he said to us. “You’re parents.”
I started crying.
“Why are you crying? The answer was yes.”
It’s hard to explain all the feelings swirling inside me at that moment. Here we were–finally. The culmination, legally anyway, of more than three years spent the throes of the adoption process–the “crazy train,” as Big Papa often refers to it. Five trips to Armenia, referrals found and lost, mountains of paperwork.
This is a picture of us shortly after we left the courthouse–legally parents. We certainly look more relieved than we did three days ago!
After a celebratory lunch and a walk through Gyumri’s open-air market, we returned to the orphanage to share the good news with Baby Bird. Here we are, our first photo as a legal family. She doesn’t look all that pleased. Not that I blame her. Who are these people? Why are they hugging me so tightly? Did they bring any snacks?
Take the road less traveled, Beth
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