Alison and I are “more than proud” to announce that at about 11:10 this morning local time, the presiding judge in room 220 of the Tyumen courthouse named us parents of Anastasiya Evans Becker and Alesya Evans Becker. The 10-day Appeal period was also waived. This was actually a triple-wonderful occasion as our girls’ friend Zhena was also adopted by our fellow Bridge of Hope travellers, Heather and Rick. It was an honor to share the special moments with them!
Court was an interesting experience in many ways, from the pre-session apprehension to the sensory effects of paying close eye contact with the judge and others while they spoke in Russian while the translator simulaniously streamed English into our minds. The judge was a very organized woman with a kind smile, who asked direct questions and expected direct answers. The procecutor, who is the advocate for both the children and the law, was equally direct and supportive. Both the representative from the orphanage and the official from the Ministry of Education and Science made clear recommendation that the adoption proceed. The “two Irinas” (facilitator & translator) did an incredible job preparing us all for the proceedings and clearly love what they do. Since she is 10, Anastasiya also had to appear briefly to answer some questions and agree to be adopted. Despite being nervous, she did a wonderful job and looked quite beautiful in her deep red, velvet dress and white tights.
After court, we drove to the local MOE office to do some additional paperwork and then returned to the hotel for photos and a group meal in one of the hotel eateries. As I type this (twice, since the Russian keyboard, umm...did something that made the computer “forgetful”), the girls are in the hotel pool with Alison. We have the remainder of today and tonight free as well as most of tomorrow. At about 4p local time tomorrow, we will drive to obtain the girls’ and Zhenia’s passports an get ready for our early flight to Moscow on Thursday morning. Once in Moscow, we have an appointment at the American Clinic for the girls’ brief medical checkup and an appointment at the US Embassy on Friday to obtain their visas so we can return to the US on Saturday. Once the plane lands in Philadelphia, Anastasiya and Alesya will automatically become US Citizens. (Although they retain Russian citizenship until at least age 18 when they can choose to keep it or abandon it)
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To backtrack just a little, we arrived in Tyumen on Sunday night and had a brief meal with Rick and Heather before retiring to our rooms to re-arrange the baggage. We had to be ready to travel with our donations to the Internat early on Monday. We also learned on our ride from the airport that we would be getting early custody of the children to make for easier logistics today relative to court...a true blessing getting physical custody prior to being officially named parents! Our younger girl had some insecurities about everything, both because she is hyper-sensitive to change and because the children had only learned we were coming for them that morning not long before we arrived. (There are a number of reasons for this, but due to the unpredictable nature of adoption, probably the wisest course)
After a two hour ride out to the boarding school, we spent three hours enjoying being reunited with the kids, meeting their friends, touring the facilties, enjoying a wonderful lunch prepared by the commissary staff and meeting their caretakers and the director. The caretakers, staff and teachers do a wonderful job with these kids...I can’t say enough how impressed we were with their efforts. We also had the opportunity to hand-deliver some letters to three other Bridge of Hope children who have familes waiting to travel as we have been doing. At the end of our visit, it was very sad saying goodbye to the close friends of the girls but wonderful to be on the road, united with “our kids” forever and moving forward to our court appearance today and beyond.
I have no doubt I’ve missed some details, but there will be plenty of time to write later. Until then...just smile. We are!
Speaking of smiles...see below. You can see a whole lot more at our photo site, now open for your viewing pleasure.