Our Day in Court

Today we appeared before the Ethiopian courts to finalize our adoption.  We arrived to the courts around 9:00 am and finally were called in at about 10:30.  The judge asked us about Joseph, if we had completed any training on identity issues with international adoption, and if we were making the Ethiopian heritage a part of our life at home.  We were then asked if we understood that after today the adoption was final and of course we said yes.  And then. . . . the judge told us that our case could not be approved because there was a document missing.  Ughhhh!!

This story does have a happy ending, though.  Apparently there was one document that the court lost.  Our agency had a copy of it and the director was able to go to a nearby internet cafe, print it out, and then run it up to the judge before she left.  We were then granted approval!  We are now a family of FOUR!!  All praise to God!

The adoption is considered final at this time and now our agency will work on getting a new Ethiopian birth certificate and passport.  They will then submit this information to the US Embassy so our son can get a visa to come to the US.  We expect this to take 2-3 months.

We are excited to see our son tomorrow and tell him about our family!