4 + 2 = 1: Court

Tuesday morning Al and I got up early and dressed in our very best, drove the 2.5hrs to Vilnius. We met with our lawyer, a lovely lady, for about an hour. We then had about 2hrs left to explore Vilnius before we needed to report back to the Family Law Center. The lawyer recommended The Acropolis, a large very Western shopping mall. If it had not been raining, we would have explored Old Town.

It was nice to be able to mindlessly walk around the mall and enjoy some quiet one-on-one time as a couple- who knows when the next time for that will be?!?

At 1pm, we reported back to Family Law Center, jumped in a taxi with the lawyer. The Court is a beautiful building, and ironically, was an old KGB Office building. We had to wait a little bit for our judge to arrive- she arrived in the court room at 2:15.

The process, which had been explained to us by our lawyer, was very similar to the American system. The judge walked in, we all stood. She stated what the case was about- to discuss the international adoption of our twins. The Directress of the Baby House was not there- she was very ill- but she had called the judge and explained her opinion and encouraged the judge to waive the waiting period. The judge asked us if it was ok if we proceeded without the Directress- we said "yes." She introduced the court reporter, the interpreter (who sat between Al and myself), our lawyer, and the representative from Child Protective Services. Al was then asked to testify (if you lie or mislead under oath in Lithuania, the fine is 1,000 Litas- approx $300- hmmmmm). He then gave his speech as to why we want the twins- and it made me tear up. I was then asked to swear and testify- I started out ok but ended up crying in the end. The judge had kind eyes and seemed to understand our hearts and the urgency of the twins arriving in America. The hearing ended with the judge announcing that she would give her decree at 3:30pm the next day. While we are disappointed that she did not make an instant decision, we are thankful for such a quick decision- she could take up to 2 weeks to make her decision!

After this, we met with our in country contact, Elona, and discussed how to proceed. We set-up a tentative schedule assuming the Judge waives the waiting period. We did discover that the actual Decree would arrive in the twins town by bus- they have no courier services here! Al and I talked and decided that he would drive back to Vilnius in the afternoon- collect the actual decree (which we may have in order to take the twins from the Baby House). He will probably stay the night in Vilnius- in the apartment we had already secured. He will leave there early in the morning, stop at town where the twins were born, and get their new birth certificates (Al and I will be listed as their birth parents). Once he has started that paperwork, he will continue on to us, collect Rebecca, Adeline, Alden and myself. We will head to the Baby House, have a Going Away Party for the twins, change them into their very first "own" outfit, and leave! On our way to Vilnius, we will stop and pick-up the new birth certificates.

Once in Vilnius, we will start the process of getting them home- a TB test and applying for their passports. All this takes time, but there is a distinct possibility that we will be coming home Friday, January 17th. Stay tuned for those details....

For now, we will keep busy playing with the twins at the Baby House, enjoying our last moments with just Adeline and Alden, and being thankful for all that we have!