A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Note: Some of the information presented here relies on the reader's understanding of recent events. I would encourage you to scan some of the recently archived entries to get a better sense of where are in the process.

After the past two weeks' highs and lows, we thought we were finally on track to finish up this adoption drama and spend a quiet Christmas back in California with our new daughter. We received news on Friday that threw everything back up into the air — no problems that are unresolvable, but another complication that affects where we go from here.

Renee received a call from our adoption agency Friday morning encouraging us to accept a Moscow court date the last week of October, despite the probability that our approval to bring her home would not yet be approved. What this would mean is that we would fly to Moscow, appear before a judge to state our case, hang out for a couple of days to make sure everything is proceeding, then fly back home ... again, without Syevinch. We do not fully understand why they are pushing us in this direction, especially given that our Department of Homeland Security document is currently on track to be approved around October 29 (while we're in Moscow). But we trust the agency and have decided to proceed on this course.

Because there is a mandatory 10-day waiting period between the time of this court appearance and the time that a child can be released to the adoptive parents' custody, the reality is that we would not be able to leave with her until at least November 15 or 16, anyway, so there is an up-side of not having to pay $300 per night in a Moscow hotel room while we sit and wait for the ten days to be up. Returning home between these two trips would allow us to not only wait for verification that the DHS approval had been granted in the free comfort of our own home, but also provide us an opportunity to finish baby-proofing the house, as well as to gather the toddler clothes, supplies, and distractions that would allow us to more reliably depart as a couple and return as a family.

The down side, as I mentioned in a message posted in late September, is if we do not remain in Moscow for the duration of the 10-day wait, then we lose any opportunity to return to the orphanage and work toward advancing that essential bond with Syevinch. I'm quite nervous about spending 20+ hours in airports and on airplanes with a 14-month-old who doesn't understand where her caregivers went and has little understanding of who we are. I suspect that we will try to time our final trip to allow several days of orphanage visits before prepping her (and us) for the flight home.

So I'm not thrilled that we're being pushed into a "hurry-up-and-wait" position. Perhaps we will achieve greater understanding of the need for an earlier court date once we get over there. The bottom line is that we can now see that light at the end of the tunnel — at times it still seems to be a fast-approaching train, but we're becoming more confident that it is, in fact, the butterfly nightlight illuminating the bedroom that awaits Syevinch's arrival.

Stay tuned for more daily updates as we prep for a quick return to Moscow later this week.

Larry & Renee