Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Today's Court Date!

So today was the big court date. Elena, the translator and I got to the court at nine in the morning. We sat on the benches and waited forMr. Mocanu to arrive. He got there at 10. When he got there he asked me what number we were in the courts. I had no idea. How would I know that? Where is the court room we are suppose to be in? Heck, Elena and I are just sitting here waiting for YOU.
Anyway, he then raced around for a bit and found out we were number 4. When we all walked into the courtroom they were on case number 8. I was thinking "great, I am doomed."

However, everything was fine. The DPC lawyer was sitting right in front of us. Her name is Adina. She explained that we would be seen after the judge dealt with most of the cases because the judge would see us by ourselves. So finally about 11:15 they cleared the court room and began seeing cases on an individual basis.

We were the second case to be seen. It went by very fast. Maybe 10 minutes. Adina from the DPC told the judge I was here in order to adopt the boys. Then Adina handed the judge my file. The judge then skimmed through the file. The only thing the judge questioned was my residency status. I guess the document in the file still stated I had temporary status. Thankfully Mr. Mocanu was there. He jumped in and shared that I did indeed have permanent residency and provided the two documents the judge needed. He even gave her a third document from the Romanian Office of Adoption that also stated I had permanent residency. Mr. Mocanu later told me that he wanted the judge to know that we were prepared and that we had every document she would ask for and then some. Sort of like putting a staple over tape.

During this whole time Elena was translating for me...whispering just to me. Mr. Mocanu shared that Elena was my translator because I was an American. The judge didn't seemed concerned. She just asked Elena if she had her official certificate for translating and Elena presented it to the court reporter.

After this the judge asked me if I was willing to take responsibility for the boys. I said "Da" and that is all I said. She didn't ask me anything else.

The judge looked through the file again and then asked the DPC lawyer and the court prosecutor if they approved the documents. They both said yes...and that was it.

I mean THAT WAS IT. No, hey congratulations. No...yes, we approve you to adopt ...nothing.
The simply stated that the court summary will be ready tomorrow....Next.

I will get the official answer tomorrow. I am assuming since the DPC lawyer and the prosecutor both approved the file and the judge didn't reschedule for another court date....the answer is yes.
Radu said not to worry and the DPC lawyer also said it will be fine.
So for now I am going with the idea that I got a favorable response.
However, I will feel better once I know for sure and actually have the document that places the boys with me.

Afterward, I met up with Karen at the mall and had lunch to "celebrate". It wasn't "woo hoo they said yes" type celebration. It was more of a "I am going with it is a yes, but I we will know for sure tomorrow" type celebration.

Anyway...It was a long morning and a sleepless night last night. I am tired.
Thanks again for all of you who have been so diligent in praying. Thanks too for those who have taken time to email. It means more than you know.
Love,
Debbie
p.s. The picture was taken today after we got out of court. Mr. Mocanu is wearing the official lawyer robe that all lawyers wear when they are in court.

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