Day 33 - FINAL COURT DAY

Day 33 (Wednesday, March 7th)

Today was our final court day and…OUR ADOPTION OF POLLY IF FINAL!!! At least on paper. Here in Kostanai, there is a 15 day waiting period before a child can leave the city. For health reasons (and the safety of both the child and the newly adopted parents) the Delfin Baby Home does not permit the children to leave the baby home until you are ready to board a flight to leave Kostanai. This is approximately four to five weeks following the final court date. The next few weeks will flow as follows:

• 15 day waiting period – nothing else happens
• child’s new birth certificate is ordered (+/- day 16 to 21)
• child’s passport and visa is processed (additional couple of weeks)

Tomorrow morning Brett and I will visit Polly one last time before saying goodbye for approximately one month. I will then return, alone. I’ll spend three to four days re-bonding with Polly in the baby home and then board us both on an airplane for Almaty, Kazakhstan where we will complete the processes required by our American Embassy located there (another three to five days). I’ll post more when we get to this stage.

Brett and I will begin our 36+ hour journey home to Virginia tomorrow afternoon at 2pm (3am Eastern Standard Time). Three flight legs, two 7+ hour layovers and a 3/12 hour drive.

If you’ve been following along, we thank you and hope you’ll check back in with us mid April sometime when I return to Kostanai Kazakhstan to bring Polly home, once and for all.

When our travels are complete we will add a final post which will include suggested items to bring you might not otherwise have considered. If you are traveling before then, please do not hesitate to ask questions by email. We would love to hear from you.