Lawyers, Senators, and Polish Ministry
Strange title, huh? I've made the rounds with all of these people over the course of the last 24 hours. You know, it just gets old feeling helpless...like there's nothing you can do and no one else seems to be doing anything. So, I figured I could at least get on the horn and figure out if there was anyone "out there" that might be able to help us out.
I talked to two senators' offices, several offices from the State Department, a few U.S. lawyer's office, and finally to a guy with an organization that I can't quite figure out -- I think there's some political connection with it but I'm not sure. The finally conversation, with the "Joint Council" organization was, seemingly, the most fruitful. The guy there said he saw two good options for us: (1) talk with someone from the Polish parliament -- the Sejm and (2) possibly work with a high power Manhattan attorney that specializes in overly complicated adoption cases. Now thinking about it I'm not sure why I felt encouraged hearing those recommendations...don't have any money for some hot shot lawyer and who in the world am I to go find someone from the Sejm to talk to??
Today started out ok but somehow quickly began spiraling downward. I think that sometimes the stress is just too much and we feel like we're caving underneath the pressure. We felt a cave in to be imminent this morning and began talking about what we could do...who we might try to call on this side of the Atlantic. And I remembered something from yesterday.
After googling "Hague Convention experts" I came across a site representing a group of lawyers that specialize in that area. So, I gave them a ring and talked with a very nice woman from their office. I told her I was just trying to find an expert to run our judge's dilemma past him/her and get some advice. Unfortunately their office doesn't work with adoptions...BUT...she directed me (and personally guided me) to the official website for the Hague, leading me to the contact information for the convention's rep here in Poland (in Warsaw). I didn't think much of it then because at that point they would have already gone home for the day.
So, this morning I remember about that telephone number and decided to give it a shot...what do we have to lose! I was extremely surprised to talk to a very nice Polish woman about our case...and she spoke English which was a plus. I explained our entire case to her, just looking for info about the judge's options (I still wonder why he couldn't figure these things out for himself). First issue/answer: He can make any decision he likes without any opinion, good or bad, from the adoption agencies in Warsaw - period. So, officially per Polish law and Hague Convention regulations he is able to finish this.
As we spoke further, she began asking about our situation and the specifics about the kids. She seemed surprised at how things have been going. I explained that we are just looking for someone to shoot straight with us, to tell us at what point this is going to end and the kids return to the children's home. She said "That is not going to happen." Yes, that's a direct quote. She said that the bonds we have with the kids...and the length of time we've known them...necessitate a positive outcome. How incredible is that?!
Our new best friend, Aleksandra Kowalczyk for those who would like to pray for her specifically, told me that she would like for us to send her all of the documents involved in our case so that she could in a sense mediate everything out. She said she would be calling to Ms. Passini to see what is going on but that she would ultimately be looking for what the ultimate good is for the children...and getting a decision made from that perspective.
I know that you're sitting there, reading this and thinking "what does all of this mean?". Well get this...I immediately called our lawyer to give him her contact info...and as I looked at her name on my computer screen I realized that she works for the Polish Ministry that is over Ms. Passini's organization! This is the ministry that everyone has been afraid to contact, both our lawyer and the judge! And I had just called her out of the blue, unaware who she really was. And she seemingly made statement after statement saying that if the story I'm telling is true, if the evidence is really there that the kids should be with us, she is just the person to give the judge the green light, completely taking Passini out of the picture!!! [How many exclamation points can I use?]
This is incredible news for us. Now we wait for them to get our documents and take a look at everything. We have no timeline...have no clue how long any of this will take. But as she's the first one in this entire process to genuinely seem interested in the kids' best interest I think that she is not likely to take her time. So, who knows how quick this could be resolved!
Tonight we will still have the meeting with the committee for the rights of children and will hopefully be talking with them about this new possibility. After we know more, I will definitely share it.
I was driving home today from a meeting and began crying as I thought about how excited so many of you will be...thinking about the global celebration and praise that will be lifted up to the Father for the grace and mercy He has shown us throughout this past year...how amazing that will look when we finally got the official decree in hand!! Hopefully we're not far from that!!
I talked to two senators' offices, several offices from the State Department, a few U.S. lawyer's office, and finally to a guy with an organization that I can't quite figure out -- I think there's some political connection with it but I'm not sure. The finally conversation, with the "Joint Council" organization was, seemingly, the most fruitful. The guy there said he saw two good options for us: (1) talk with someone from the Polish parliament -- the Sejm and (2) possibly work with a high power Manhattan attorney that specializes in overly complicated adoption cases. Now thinking about it I'm not sure why I felt encouraged hearing those recommendations...don't have any money for some hot shot lawyer and who in the world am I to go find someone from the Sejm to talk to??
Today started out ok but somehow quickly began spiraling downward. I think that sometimes the stress is just too much and we feel like we're caving underneath the pressure. We felt a cave in to be imminent this morning and began talking about what we could do...who we might try to call on this side of the Atlantic. And I remembered something from yesterday.
After googling "Hague Convention experts" I came across a site representing a group of lawyers that specialize in that area. So, I gave them a ring and talked with a very nice woman from their office. I told her I was just trying to find an expert to run our judge's dilemma past him/her and get some advice. Unfortunately their office doesn't work with adoptions...BUT...she directed me (and personally guided me) to the official website for the Hague, leading me to the contact information for the convention's rep here in Poland (in Warsaw). I didn't think much of it then because at that point they would have already gone home for the day.
So, this morning I remember about that telephone number and decided to give it a shot...what do we have to lose! I was extremely surprised to talk to a very nice Polish woman about our case...and she spoke English which was a plus. I explained our entire case to her, just looking for info about the judge's options (I still wonder why he couldn't figure these things out for himself). First issue/answer: He can make any decision he likes without any opinion, good or bad, from the adoption agencies in Warsaw - period. So, officially per Polish law and Hague Convention regulations he is able to finish this.
As we spoke further, she began asking about our situation and the specifics about the kids. She seemed surprised at how things have been going. I explained that we are just looking for someone to shoot straight with us, to tell us at what point this is going to end and the kids return to the children's home. She said "That is not going to happen." Yes, that's a direct quote. She said that the bonds we have with the kids...and the length of time we've known them...necessitate a positive outcome. How incredible is that?!
Our new best friend, Aleksandra Kowalczyk for those who would like to pray for her specifically, told me that she would like for us to send her all of the documents involved in our case so that she could in a sense mediate everything out. She said she would be calling to Ms. Passini to see what is going on but that she would ultimately be looking for what the ultimate good is for the children...and getting a decision made from that perspective.
I know that you're sitting there, reading this and thinking "what does all of this mean?". Well get this...I immediately called our lawyer to give him her contact info...and as I looked at her name on my computer screen I realized that she works for the Polish Ministry that is over Ms. Passini's organization! This is the ministry that everyone has been afraid to contact, both our lawyer and the judge! And I had just called her out of the blue, unaware who she really was. And she seemingly made statement after statement saying that if the story I'm telling is true, if the evidence is really there that the kids should be with us, she is just the person to give the judge the green light, completely taking Passini out of the picture!!! [How many exclamation points can I use?]
This is incredible news for us. Now we wait for them to get our documents and take a look at everything. We have no timeline...have no clue how long any of this will take. But as she's the first one in this entire process to genuinely seem interested in the kids' best interest I think that she is not likely to take her time. So, who knows how quick this could be resolved!
Tonight we will still have the meeting with the committee for the rights of children and will hopefully be talking with them about this new possibility. After we know more, I will definitely share it.
I was driving home today from a meeting and began crying as I thought about how excited so many of you will be...thinking about the global celebration and praise that will be lifted up to the Father for the grace and mercy He has shown us throughout this past year...how amazing that will look when we finally got the official decree in hand!! Hopefully we're not far from that!!
posted by Michael Shattuck at
7:13 AM
2 Comments:
We are praying for Aleksandra by name, and we dare to expect something good from this!
Great news and hope under a cloud of doubt and wait. God is working miracles, sometimes we can't always see them
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