Today we completed our ten day wait period and was able to pick up the court decree, which was big step in finalizing the adoption. We were hoping to get the children's birth certificates changed today as well; however, the orphanage director was not in town and we will have to spend one more night in Balta and hopefully pick them up tomorrow.
From there, we are off to Odessa to apply for their new passports. We still have not made up our minds if we are going to stay in Odessa while the passports are developed. It could take up to ten days and the hotels are much more expensive their than in Balta. We should know tomorrow exactly how long the passports will take and will make the decision then.
Either way, the children will need to travel to Odessa to get their photos taken for the passports. They (Odessa Region) have re-organized how they give out passports and the children from the Odessa Region now have to be in Odessa to have their pictures taken, rather than have their photos brought into the agency. The good news is that if all goes well tomorrow morning, the children should be able to leave the orphanage for the last time tomorrow. Which will make tonight their last night.
Even though we were not as productive today as we wanted to be, we still feel very fortunate to be in the position we are in and have high hopes that we will be back home within two weeks.
Several lessons learned over the past week have been;
If only one spouse is going to remain in country to finalize the adoption after the court hearing, ensure that a Power of Attorney is left with the remaining spouse.
Confirm with orphanage officials that the paper work (birth certs, etc...) needed to complete the adoption process is available on the day after the ten day wait and that an official will be able to access and give you that paper work on that day.
Bring plenty of medicine. If you thought you brought enough, take some more. I ran out and it made for a very uncomfortable week unnecessarily. The majority of the children and people we have come in contact with have colds, respiratory infections, etc... and the chance of catching multiple colds, etc.. is high. If at all possible get with your doctors and see if they can prescribe some antibiotics in case you need them.
Fingers crossed, tomorrow will be a productive day and we will be one step closer to coming home.
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7 comments:
If you have the chance I would highly suggest staying in Odessa. We stayed at the Odessa Executive Suites (check my 'Finding Maddie' blog for pictures.) There is so much to do and see while you're there and the change of scenery may be nice. Of course we went to the wharf, but there are tons of shops to visit, restaurants to try and amazing buildings with lots of rich history. The OES is only a few blocks away from the passport office, it's a western style apartment with tons of amenities and they do have adoption rates, which cut about $20 off a night. (Sorry for the advertisement, but I just loved the place.)
Your making progress! You'll be home before you know it!
Great news! I know you must be so excited to be 'busting the kids out' soon! :)
Congrats on getting the court decree! You are nearing the end of your journey in Ukraine.
We'll be praying for all the remaining paperwork to go smoothly and efficiently for you!
Congratulations! Sounds like good news. I hope that things continue to go well and that you are home soon enjoying your new family members.
:) Krista
I just found your blog and was excited to read through the progress you have made. I was also wondering if you would share with me who your agency is. We are using one that has an office in CO and I'm wondering if it's the same. Feel free to email me privately at scox1016 (at) hotmail (dot) com. Thanks!
Hi Scott and Micheleen (sp?),
This is Bob & Svetlana from Mississippi. I see you were successful. Congratulations! I'm not sure if you're aware that Anastasia (our girl) says that Dmitri and Daria are her cousins. Anway, we are doing fine. She is in school and starting to put English words into sentences. If you want, we'll be glad to email you some pics-just send us your email. Hope all is well with you. We're very happy for you.
Bob & Svetlana Brooker
svetlana1@bellsouth.net
PS - did you hear the news from Kiev that the adoption center is closed and there are rumors that international adoptions might be stopped completely!
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