I was sick all night from 10pm until 4am....it felt kind of like food poisoning but not as severe and was pretty much over by daybreak. I thought of this as a bad sign....nothing has come easy for us with this adoption and we continued to have hinderences and frustrations even on our court trip. By 745 am we were picked up and taken to the Holt offices to review our children's binder. John and I knew to look for the police statement and the birthcertificate- the two main documents that were requested in March for court. We were very excited to see an actual birthdate, or a better approximation as it were. April 8th! This is my step-dad's birthday, so that was pretty cool. We went to court with one other family and began our wait. We were there pretty early, and watched as other families and birth-families came in. The other Holt family was called pretty early and passed! Yay! We went in about half an hour after they did and were pretty dumbfounded as the judge went through her regualr questioning routine and then explained that a new court date was set because our "childs history has not been documented". What?? We have waited and waited in a pool of red-tape paperwork to insure all documents were brought up from Jima. The judge was kinda of surprised we were not told this already by our lawyer and she even questioned him. After speaking with the Holt legal counsel he basically told us that the Mission of Charity was in charge of getting this statement, not him. This confuses me because it is basically a letter from the regional police stating that no one has been looking for S in the last 2 years. I do not beleive that it is only the MOC who can go and request this letter. I beleive that since Jima is 6 hours away and Holt is no longer working with the MOC that they are washing their hands of our case and not putting forth any leg work. This is a new requirement as of this January yet for some reason the document was not obtained for our family.....MOC says Holt should seek it, Holt says MOC should seek it. In the end it is a person from MOC who is helping us the most and keeping us in the loop. They have phoned the MOC for the Jima region and have had thier sisters requesting the document from the police. However, i am not certain that this has been done many times or to the correct person....Sister Jennifer explained that the woman who is supposed to issue the letter has been hard to contact. Johna nd I feel that the MOC representative should drive down there in person at this point. This letter is needed for several other children as well, and it is holding up many court cases. We have another court date for 6/3/11- but we aren't expecting both items to get there in time.
What an emotional, physical and mental roller coaster the last week has been. We were able to spend so much time with our little boy who is in Addis at the Missions of Charity center (not a HOLT center)- he is special needs, and we needed to have his legs evaluated. We have had some serious concerns about his medical progress or lack there of. There seems to be quite a regression with his club feet :( But being that he is at a special center we got to see him a few hours every day and take him to two doctors and for xrays. Unfortunatley we did not pass court and it is not just because of the MOWA letter. We were half expecting to hear the judge say we did not have the MOWA letter but whe she asked us if we were aware our sons history documents were not recieved she stated that "his history is not documented". And we just kinda stared blankley like deer in headlights, not knowing what she was talking about....we have an abandonement decree, they required us to obtain a birth certificate and we did that too....and now this. All this red tape and my son is in an institution in need of surgery ASAP. Needless to say our hearts are breaking. Please send us good thoughts, positive vibes and prayers. Another court date is set for next week- Friday. We specifically need the police letter and the MOWYA letter. The main thing being the police letter, once that is issued we know MOWA will reissue a positive letter. We really aren't aware of the MOWA letter was there nor not...b/c the other letter just sent us reeling, and thats all we have focused on
After court we went back to the hotel and changed and then requested the driver to take us back to HOLT so that we can further discuss this issue and also have new xrays taken of S's legs. Miruk met us in the drive way and we went to pick up S at MOC- he was so excited to see us. We were given permission to take him to see the dr and get xrays. We spent some time in a beautiful little garden/yard at the xray clinic and S had so much fun sitting and playinjg in the grass. He seemed thrilled to actually be in the grass and not on concrete. We got his xrays and dropped him back off...it was time for lunch and nap. He was not happy to be taken from us. He loved riding in the van and trying to stick his head out of the window. What a funny baby! We then were able to meet up with several new families arriving for embassy and visit AHOPE and the Leprosy hospital. Everyone else then went to eat Italian food but John and I just wanted to decompress and stay in.....we just felt so hurt and confused. We felt as though significant issues were kept from us until we got in country. Miruk said it best, though, that this first trip is for us to spend time with our child and appear in court as part of the requirement.....but it felt as though we are just mired down with another long wait....after we are already 6 months behind a normal schedule....its really hurting our hearts.
What an emotional, physical and mental roller coaster the last week has been. We were able to spend so much time with our little boy who is in Addis at the Missions of Charity center (not a HOLT center)- he is special needs, and we needed to have his legs evaluated. We have had some serious concerns about his medical progress or lack there of. There seems to be quite a regression with his club feet :( But being that he is at a special center we got to see him a few hours every day and take him to two doctors and for xrays. Unfortunatley we did not pass court and it is not just because of the MOWA letter. We were half expecting to hear the judge say we did not have the MOWA letter but whe she asked us if we were aware our sons history documents were not recieved she stated that "his history is not documented". And we just kinda stared blankley like deer in headlights, not knowing what she was talking about....we have an abandonement decree, they required us to obtain a birth certificate and we did that too....and now this. All this red tape and my son is in an institution in need of surgery ASAP. Needless to say our hearts are breaking. Please send us good thoughts, positive vibes and prayers. Another court date is set for next week- Friday. We specifically need the police letter and the MOWYA letter. The main thing being the police letter, once that is issued we know MOWA will reissue a positive letter. We really aren't aware of the MOWA letter was there nor not...b/c the other letter just sent us reeling, and thats all we have focused on
After court we went back to the hotel and changed and then requested the driver to take us back to HOLT so that we can further discuss this issue and also have new xrays taken of S's legs. Miruk met us in the drive way and we went to pick up S at MOC- he was so excited to see us. We were given permission to take him to see the dr and get xrays. We spent some time in a beautiful little garden/yard at the xray clinic and S had so much fun sitting and playinjg in the grass. He seemed thrilled to actually be in the grass and not on concrete. We got his xrays and dropped him back off...it was time for lunch and nap. He was not happy to be taken from us. He loved riding in the van and trying to stick his head out of the window. What a funny baby! We then were able to meet up with several new families arriving for embassy and visit AHOPE and the Leprosy hospital. Everyone else then went to eat Italian food but John and I just wanted to decompress and stay in.....we just felt so hurt and confused. We felt as though significant issues were kept from us until we got in country. Miruk said it best, though, that this first trip is for us to spend time with our child and appear in court as part of the requirement.....but it felt as though we are just mired down with another long wait....after we are already 6 months behind a normal schedule....its really hurting our hearts.
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