Court Day

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My journey of a Lifetime
Court Day


I actually went to court two times, once on May 23 and again on the 24th. On the first day, we went in to the judge's office (a middle aged woman) and she ask questions about why I want to adopt Jaelynn. Did I know she needed surgery and maybe more than one? I said yes, that I had studied about clefts before I left and then I showed the pictures of Jaelynn (thank heavens for poloroids!) and some pictures of Breannen, my 5 year old at home, waiting for her new sister and Mommy to come back. My facilitator did most of the talking telling her of other families that had taken cleft babies and sent pictures of the kids after the repairs were done and how different they looked. We then signed some papers and left. In and out in 20 minutes. The next day, the appointment was even shorter. The judge ask if I wanted to adopt Jaelynn, ask what her new name would be and then ask if I wanted to be listed as her mother on the birth certificate. I said yes to all and then ask to have the 10 days waived. She said yes and it was over. (They handed us the typed adoption decree on our way out of the door!) Then we were off to the village for the birth certificate. (in fact, we had to start in Boyarka, to get a paper to go see the village office.) We just barely arrived at the village office before closing time (and I had thought of that and brought chocolate and wine for the evening) The lady stayed late and finished the papers for us! I found out later that we were within 30 km of Chernobyl at the time!! It seems that Jaelynn was born in a village that is now in the exclusion area and they have moved the records and all gov't offices to the new town where we were. (How much closer did you have to be to be in the exclusion area!!!) Here are some pictures that my translator took in Jaelynn's village

This is just a picture of the sign as you enter the village. The English version of the name is Maximovichi. Here you can see the village as it appears across the field. It is significant to note that there is no one out in the obviously green field tending a garden. This is the street view of the house where Jaelynn's mother lived before she left for west Ukraine. It is the house where Jaelynn's grandmother still lives, with 2 other adults and 5 children (in the one room house) A view of the yard of the house. My facilitator thought it would be impolite to get a picture of Jaelynn's grandmother so I don't have any pictures of her family, only the house.

Although the court day was on Thursday, I couldn't get Jaelynn on Fri, as I had planned. The orphanage director was going to be in Kiev all day. I could get her on Sat morning. It was a good thing that I didn't have her when we went to the passport office asd the weather turned wet and rainy and the emotional climate turned thunderous!
Friday started early with a trip to the notary, then to Boyarka's passport office to get the application started and get Jaelynn's pictures taken, then into Kiev to the main passport office to get the actual passport. I was working with a new facilitator in Kiev and he didn't have a car so we took the Metro and cabs alot. When we arrived at the Kiev Passport office, I had a funny feeling that things weren't happening the way the facilitator wanted. After a consultation with the director of the office, he announced that, although the judge had waived the 10 day wait for the finalization of the adoption, the passport office wouldn't give me the passport for 10 days. I kind of fell apart at that point. My daughter at home was missing me (and I was missing her) The sitter who was watching her was leaving on vacation on the 1st of June and my mother, my backup sitter in case things went longer than expected, had a small stroke after I left and couldn't watch my daughter!! I ran out into the rain and around the corner of the building and just cried and cried. Sobbed was more like it, because I didn't want to make noise, I just wanted to be home with my daughters. After a time, the guard came out and said that I should come back in please. I went in and the director asked to see my tickets (they were for travel to Warsaw on Tuesday, May 29. She said ok and my translator said we could go, the passport would be ready on Monday. I didn't know that I was crying under the window of the Director! (It didn't even cost me any expiditing fee there, just emotional exhaustion! My advice: pay the fee, it's easier.) My only complaint about the facilitators I worked with came on that day. The Kiev facilitator must not have known how to handle emotional Americans, or was embarassed or angry, because he left me there with my translator and we had to make our oun way home. When we returned to the apartment, my translator called my other facilitator and he came over with a half-dozen long-stemmed roses and apologies. He also said that he would be there Sat. morning to go get the baby and on Monday to go get the passport.

Jaelynn Day