Friday, December 4, 2009

The Judge said, "Yes!"


The courtroom was humble, two bare lights hanging down from chains, a judge sitting up on an elevated wooden desk, flanked with two court witnesses. Their was a court recorder on our left and a prosecuting attorney in front of us. The girls sat to our left and Zhenya to our right, the Inspector to his right, the orphanage lawyer sat behind us. The judge started by asking Pat his name, address, profession and salary and the same questions of Debbie. He wanted to know about how we'd handle the language barrier, how does it work having grandparents living in the same home? The prosecuting attorney asked Debbie how would 4 boys relate to 2 sisters? Debbie explained that we raised our boys to be gentlemen, that they are kind and are looking forward to having sisters. The attorney wanted to know why 4 boys were not enough? Debbie explained that we had extra room in our home and hearts and that we wanted to give two sisters another chance in life. Zhenya encouraged Debbie to share how she wanted a daughter. So she explained that we've always joked that we don't have the "recipe" for having a girl (muffled laughter throughout the courtroom, even the judge chuckled.) Debbie explained that she was looking forward to being a mama to these two sisters. The Inspector testified to the lack of contact the girls had with their brother and the troubled track record the brother had and that it was his opinion that it was in the best interest of the girls to be adopted into our home. Pat ended by making a final promise to the judge that we'd do everything in our power to provide for, love and protect these two precious girls. The judge then took a break to deliberate with the two witnesses. We reconvened in 5 minutes and the judge awarded us custody of the girls and granted permission to change their names to... Alexandra Faith Work & Olya Isabella Work!

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