Adoption Update

We had our official court date in Sumy yesterday. There was a judge, 2 jury members, a prosecutor, the inspector (social worker), representative (Elene) from the technical college Alexa attends, Janet, Alexa, me, and Natalie, our interpreter. I was the only male in the room :)

The judge went through our complete dossier and read several pages about our qualifications. She asked Janet and I to stand up and answer a series of questions such as "why do we want to adopt?", "what is our house like?", "what is your income?", "tell us about your existing family", "will you be paying for her schooling at home?", etc. They make sure all of the documentation is in order and make sure the jurors agree with the court that we are fit and eligible to adopt. It's about a 45 minute process. They also asked Alexa (Vika) to stand up and explain why she wanted to be adopted and asked if she picked out her own name and wanted to be sure she was not being forced into any of this. She handled it all very well.

The decision of the court was positive so it's now official, her name will be Alexa Victoria Heiner :) There is now a mandatory 10 day waiting period before we can obtain her birth certificate, visa, passport etc. They make sure one final time that nobody wants to step forward and make claim on Vika. It's basically a formality.

Janet and I are planning to fly home on Monday during the 10 day wait. There's nothing more we can do here. I will return the following week towards the first of October to complete the process and bring Alexa home for good.

We are VERY excited!!