No Date Yet

Well, we are still waiting for a court date, but we should have one any day now. All of our documents and the petition for adoption have been filed with the court, and we need the judge to focus on our case and assign a hearing date. When we get that date, we can book our tickets and finish packing!

The date that the court will be setting is the beginning of the bonding process. Basically at that first hearing the judge will tell us that we need to spend X amount of days with Klaudia as a bonding period before a final placement hearing takes place. During the bonding period, we should be able to have Kladuia with us day and night. We will likely be in Krakow and rent an apartment there for the bonding period time. From what I understand, that is usually around 2-3 weeks.

At the end of the bonding period we will return to court and at that hearing the judge should order adoption placement with us. At that point we can leave Krakow if we want, but we won't be able to leave Poland until the order is considered final. An order in Poland is usually considered final (not appealable) after 21 days. The judge, in his or her discretion, can shorten this to 14 days. So, we will then have 2-3 weeks and may split the time between Krakow and Warsaw.

Once the order is final, then we can get the paperwork done (get her birth certificate with her new last name, passport, etc.) and embassy work done (issuance of visa) and then head home! It is quite a process!

Once we travel, we will plan to put a checklist on the Blog. Also, I will post pictures then. I have been hesitant to do that until we have appeared in court and have her with us. Bare with us though...pictures are coming!

For now we wait for the court date. If the judge is taking his or her time about scheduling it, then our contact in Poland generally starts to inquire and encourage the judge to schedule the date. I have heard that sometimes she even has the orphanage director call and encourage the judge to schedule court dates. I would love the Director at Klaudia's orphanage to do that...she is a pretty senior (in experience and rank, not age) sister there and she could inflict some Catholic guilt on the judge!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend all! We will be grillin', chillin', sleeping in (while we can), doing some things around the house and in Klaudia's room. I will be doing my best to avoid work for three days. Should be fun!

A Miami Couple Adopted a 4 and 7 Year Old from Poland

Here is a link to an article about a Miami family who adopted two children from Poland. Since there are so few adoptions to the United States from Poland, it is always interesting to learn of others' experiences. It is also wonderful to hear an adoption story on Mother's Day this year!

A Choice of the Heart

Have a good week all!