News from today
I'm going to give you an overview of today's "festivities". To just let you know up front, no decision has been made. Our hope lies in a phone call that is going to be made tomorrow. It's been a tough day...yet we are optimistic about tomorrow. Now for the meat...
Paulina did awesome! She was petrified but had a good hour or so on the way to the hearing to prepare herself with our lawyer. He's a pretty funny guy...so he helped her understand the types of questions she would be asked and joked around with her a lot to lighten things up.
When we arrived at the court, she became increasingly more nervous...so much that when called on to stand up and speak she said, quite loudly, that she didn't want to! Quite nicely, the judge told her she could remain seated next to us and answer the questions from there. The questions were quite brief and to the point. She answered well and made us all extremely proud! Thank you...and she thanks you...for praying for her!
Following Paulina's testimony we were asked to leave the courtroom so the judicial panel (a judge and two other "judgey-type women" - no idea who they really are) could speak with our lawyer. It turned out that they decided that they would really like to solidify the case by having Piotrek come and speak. But the problem was that if we didn't go get him and bring him back within 3 hours then we would have to wait about another 3 weeks for another hearing. Obviously the decision was made to go get him.
At this point the judge comments that as long as Piotrek speaks positively about his experience with us and his desire to remain with us then he would give his decision to complete the adoption. As you can imagine we were ecstatic. I called my mom (5am her time, I think)...there was much rejoicing and thanking God.
One hour later, on the road back to Poznan to pickup Piotrek, the lawyer's phone rings. It's the judge. He informs our lawyer that he had taken some time to think about our case and decided that he would not be making the decision today. This detail that I mentioned at the top concerns some convention that many countries have been signing off on since 1994 which sets forth some fairly strict parameters/rules for inter-country adoptions. The question that was holding him back from making the decision is whether or not the U.S. is party to the rules of the convention.
As you can imagine that felt like getting nailed in the gut. I later told Vicki I just wanted to go home and crawl in bed. It's just so hard to keep fighting when it feels like you continue to get knocked down. And he had just told us an hour ago that the decision was going to be made!
So, I got back and picked up Piotrek and we headed back to the courthouse. He wasn't really too nervous and really did a stellar job as well. Funny how we had to make that 2.5 hour round trip for him to answer about 5 questions. The conversation that ensued, following Piotrek's testimony was grueling.
For about 20 we sat there (me, the judicial group, another lawyer - not ours, and the kids' case worker...our lawyer wasn't able to be there) discussing what to do next. These are the two options.
It seems like this is going to happen. But we've been so sure about other things in the past and they haven't been realized. So, even though the evidence seems to be there it's still hard to be positive.
That's the scoop. Sorry for the long post but in actuality that's somewhat of a nutshell version! You all are incredible the way you lift us up. It was such an incredible encouragement to picture your faces while sitting there this morning, knowing how you have wrestled alongside us in this battle! We love you all!
Paulina did awesome! She was petrified but had a good hour or so on the way to the hearing to prepare herself with our lawyer. He's a pretty funny guy...so he helped her understand the types of questions she would be asked and joked around with her a lot to lighten things up.
When we arrived at the court, she became increasingly more nervous...so much that when called on to stand up and speak she said, quite loudly, that she didn't want to! Quite nicely, the judge told her she could remain seated next to us and answer the questions from there. The questions were quite brief and to the point. She answered well and made us all extremely proud! Thank you...and she thanks you...for praying for her!
Following Paulina's testimony we were asked to leave the courtroom so the judicial panel (a judge and two other "judgey-type women" - no idea who they really are) could speak with our lawyer. It turned out that they decided that they would really like to solidify the case by having Piotrek come and speak. But the problem was that if we didn't go get him and bring him back within 3 hours then we would have to wait about another 3 weeks for another hearing. Obviously the decision was made to go get him.
At this point the judge comments that as long as Piotrek speaks positively about his experience with us and his desire to remain with us then he would give his decision to complete the adoption. As you can imagine we were ecstatic. I called my mom (5am her time, I think)...there was much rejoicing and thanking God.
One hour later, on the road back to Poznan to pickup Piotrek, the lawyer's phone rings. It's the judge. He informs our lawyer that he had taken some time to think about our case and decided that he would not be making the decision today. This detail that I mentioned at the top concerns some convention that many countries have been signing off on since 1994 which sets forth some fairly strict parameters/rules for inter-country adoptions. The question that was holding him back from making the decision is whether or not the U.S. is party to the rules of the convention.
As you can imagine that felt like getting nailed in the gut. I later told Vicki I just wanted to go home and crawl in bed. It's just so hard to keep fighting when it feels like you continue to get knocked down. And he had just told us an hour ago that the decision was going to be made!
So, I got back and picked up Piotrek and we headed back to the courthouse. He wasn't really too nervous and really did a stellar job as well. Funny how we had to make that 2.5 hour round trip for him to answer about 5 questions. The conversation that ensued, following Piotrek's testimony was grueling.
For about 20 we sat there (me, the judicial group, another lawyer - not ours, and the kids' case worker...our lawyer wasn't able to be there) discussing what to do next. These are the two options.
- U.S. is not party to the rules set forth in the Hague Convention of 1994. If this is the case...and we will find out tomorrow morning for sure...then the judge said he could give the decision tomorrow! And get this...at travel.state.gov (some part of that site anyway) I found info that showed that the U.S. has not yet ratified that convention and that it does not get enforced until 3 months after it is ratified. That web page was updated March 19, 2007...so we should be good to go!!!!!!
- U.S. is party to the convention rules. This is an ugly scenario and the one that has really got us stirring. If this occurs, the judge has decided he must send us back through Ms. Passini in Warsaw. I cannot imagine a worse option, an opinion supported by everyone to tell the truth. It will mean great expense...financial, emotional, time...and it is difficult to be positive thinking of the end result when the ball would be thrust back into her court. It was mentioned that if she "acts up" again then the court would go over her head. The judge also said that he was afraid that wouldn't end well either.
It seems like this is going to happen. But we've been so sure about other things in the past and they haven't been realized. So, even though the evidence seems to be there it's still hard to be positive.
That's the scoop. Sorry for the long post but in actuality that's somewhat of a nutshell version! You all are incredible the way you lift us up. It was such an incredible encouragement to picture your faces while sitting there this morning, knowing how you have wrestled alongside us in this battle! We love you all!
posted by Michael Shattuck at
12:51 PM
1 Comments:
That's right - it has to be option 1. The government hopes to ratify at the end of this year. We pray that the letter will express the right thing in the right way and that this will be over!
Y'all have done GREAT through all of this. Incredibly! We are proud of y'all and proud of the kids!
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