It’s been an incredibly emotional and overwhelming day for
Nick and I. After four long years, the
adoption journey is over. The court ruling
was very straight forward. The judge
asked formality questions, followed by several questions about our siblings and
if we were prepared to take care of Mara.
He couldn’t have been any nicer – actually asked us if we would like to
adopt another child from Georgia since we could legally adopt two. After
the questions, he turned off the microphone and said he needed about 5 minutes
to think about it (our translator turned to us and said “don’t worry”). Before we knew it and in less than a half
hour, he came back to say we were the parents of Mara Christina Szluk . We both found ourselves sobbing with tears of
joy.
Earlier today we visited Mara at the foster mother’s
house. Amid very frugal conditions, Mara
was as happy as could be: always
smiling, laughing and engaging with us.
She clearly loves and is loved by her foster Mother.
Next steps? Luckily
the judge waived the 30 day waiting period and we can bring Mara home whenever
our paperwork is final.
Our plane leaves on July 3rd so we plan to
finalize all of the paperwork as soon as possible, along with spending the next
10 days or so getting to know Mara and having her adjust to us. Tomorrow we take her to visit the doctor to
get her shots and physical, which is required for her to enter the US. The court paperwork will be final on Monday. We then need to visit the US embassy so they
can grant her visa.
We will move from our gorgeous hotel room at the Radisson
(stock with panoramic views of the city from our picture glass windows) to a
flat where Mara will move in with us.
We also want to say thank you to all of our friends &
family and in particular, our agency and team here in Tbilisi who have
supported us through this incredible journey.
We couldn’t have done it without you all and will be forever grateful
for everything you have done to help us start our family and give this precious
little girl a loving home.
Follow us at twitter @thingnext
Follow us at twitter @thingnext
