I haven't written about where we are in the actual adoption process for quite a while. I've thought about writing about the process of working with the Probation Officer to get the Care Order, but it has just felt too frustrating to think about when I didn't have to. Since then, we've had a lot of baby steps that never seem to amount to much, so I haven't bothered to say much. Besides, I've had three kids to deal with. That has taken up most of my energy!
We got the Care Orders about a month ago, when my husband was visiting. A Care Order is a document that is needed when filing for guardianship, but in our case we filed for a Foster Care Order -- and received not one but two versions -- which is a great deal more. We have full guardianship of the girls for three years. They don't have passports, but I don't actually think there is a specific limitation on taking them out of the country.
In Uganda, there are actually two paths to adoption. The original (and complete) method of adoption is to foster the child for three years, and then apply for adoption, which can be granted by a judge free and clear. Many missionaries and foreign aid workers have used that through the years, fostering children while they are working in the country. (Which is another reason why seeing white parents with black children doesn't need to be a TOTAL shock. Almost all of the white families I've met who are living here, have black children attached in some way.)
The legal path for guardianship was opened more recently, because the adoption process was so limited. Prospective parents can apply to be guardians of children who have a care order placing them in a Babies' Home (orphanage). They receive a guardianship order, which is not actual adoption. Once they are back in their home country and have been living together for a certain amount of time, they can apply to their own country (in our case, the US) to adopt the children.
At this point, since the care order names us as foster parents, we could actually go either way. We are continuing down the path towards guardianship, because the official adoption technically requires three years, so we would have to ask to have that waived. Or stay here for three years, which does NOT sound appealing!!!
We got the care order, which took so long that the lawyer had been able to gather all the other documents in the meanwhile. We needed another letter from the same office. That took a couple more weeks. We finally had everything together, yay!
I brought that final document to the lawyer just over two weeks ago. But were we actually done? No. As I think I have mentioned, all the judges had a month-long recess this summer and were re-assigned to new positions, so almost all the judges in Family Court have not been hearing Family Court cases before. A new judge started hearing cases (the others have not yet begun accepting cases), and provided a list of all the documents she wanted to see in her hearings. It included all the major things that we assembled in the US and have been working on here, and also quite a bit more. Luckily, most of these we had already procured for the Probation Office, who wanted millions of back-up paperwork, so didn't require any extra time and effort at this point. However, there were a bunch of little things, like passport photos of the girls, and copies of some other things we had on hand.
I spent the weekend getting those together. All done now?
It turned out, the judge also wants all the living parents and relatives to sign a consent form saying that they understand what adoption is and agree to it. Now, our Babies' Home talks with the parents and has them sign a consent form when they bring the children in. Then the agency in America has another, longer consent form that they want to make sure that the parents and other relatives have all signed before they actually match the child. Then the lawyer has a consent form she has specially made up to fit the local law, and she wanted to find even more relatives for that one. Then there are their actual affadavits, which include a description of their understanding and their consent. All of this in both languages. But the judge has yet another one.
And they can't find the mother. She doesn't really live at home (which is part of the problem for the children) and is apparently in her not-really-there state. So for the last week, the people at the Babies' Home have been trying to find her so she can sign yet another paper.
And then the lawyer can file in court. She will be assigned a judge, who will then assign us a date. She said that we should know what our judge and date is within one to two weeks of filing, and our actual court date should be within a couple weeks after that, depending on which judge and how full their schedule is.
Then we have the court date and will hopefully be granted guardianship. From what I can tell, guardianship is kind of like fostering, except it doesn't expire. Sometimes it sounds like the lawyer is asked to gather a couple more documents or the parents are asked to do something else, and there is a follow-up hearing 2 or 3 days later.
Then we apply to the US for a visa. We already have our provisional orphan visa, but the embassy has to review the case and make sure everything looks correct and legal, and that the children are legally orphans. It sounds like there are various steps, followed by a court date at the embassy, which should take another 2-3 weeks after the guardianship hearing.
If the US Embassy doesn't find the case "clearly approvable," because they are a smaller outpost, they can't do the investigation themselves, and they send the case to Nairobi, Kenya. Then THAT embassy (or whatever the official title is there) will do a more thorough investigation of the situation, but that could take months. We are really praying that the local Embassy finds the situation "clearly approvable."
Then we will have to pack up the apartment and figure out all the details and get airplane tickets and go home. And yes, Emerson and I have been here for so long that our return tickets have expired, so we all will need new airplane tickets. (And if you are thinking, "my goodness! we wouldn't have the money to deal with all of that!", then I have got to tell you.... neither do we!) The girls will have Ugandan passports with US relative visas.
Then, a month later, we can file for adoption with a US lawyer in a US court. Then, we will have to send progress reports back to Uganda at several different point, depending on what the Ugandan judge orders.
So, hopefully the case will get filed in September, we have the court date in mid-October, get US visas in November, and be home by the end of November. I have had so many people compliment me for my patience in this process, but really, what else is there for me to do? As my children re-learn every day, throwing a fit doesn't get you anywhere.
But if we're not home in November, I really am going to lose it.
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