Court- the whole story

I don't even know where to start.

Do I begin with the feeling of security about court that we had, that God had moved so many mountains for us already, and affirmed our path in so many different ways?  Or maybe about all the successful stories our fellow RR friends have had lately?  In and out.  Smiling judges.  No concerns.

Because certainly, as we were getting ourselves ready for court today, all of that was circling through our heads.  This was the the peak of our adoption journey for Danila.  We've climbed our way to the top, we've been chasing paper for 9 months, been away from our stateside boys for 3 weeks...we've eaten liver vareniki and navigated through the metro, we've gotten carsick almost every day for 2 1/2 weeks going to visit Danya at the orphanage down bumpy backroads.  This was supposed to be the day that we looked out at our journey from the pinnacle of the mountain...where we remembered from whence we came and looked out a future that was safe in the knowledge that our whole family would be together soon.

Not so much, today.

Before we even got in the court room, Tatyana told us about our "big problem."  Basically, the judge that has been assigned to us was new to the region and has not heard an international adoption case before.  He already asked for documentation that he shouldn't need, and sent her into a whirlwind gathering it up for him yesterday.

According to the way that the adoption laws in Ukra*ne read now, children under the age of 5 years old are ineligible for international adoption, UNLESS they have special needs.  There is an official list of special needs, and Down syndrome is indeed on that list.  CLEARLY, Danya fits that category.  I guess it also needs to be noted here that we are the first adoption case of a child under five with special needs since these new laws have taken effect.  Always the trailblazers.

BUT.  Danila is listed as having Mosaic Down syndrome.  Here's a science lesson for you:
Down syndrome occurs when there 3 copies of the 21st chromosome in a persons' genetic makeup.  There are three types- 1) Trisomy 21, where a fluke at the very first cell makes a third copy of the 21st chromosome, 2) Translocation, where a part of the 21st chromosome breaks off and attaches itself to another chromosome, and 3) Mosaicism, where somewhere in the initial cell divisions, a third copy is made and that results in not ALL the cells having the trisomy 21.

The judge decided that since the special needs list didn't specifically say "Mosaic Down Syndrome", that it means that Danya's Down syndrome doesn't count.  Even after we submitted documents clearly stating that MDs IS Down syndrome, he didn't agree.  Even when the representative from the SDA, the orphanage lawyer, and the prosecutor all agreed that Danya should be with us, he didn't agree.  Even after he took over an HOUR to reread all 200 pages of our documents aloud to the court, he didn't agree.  Even after we stated our case, and told him that we could fulfill his social, medical, and educational needs...he didn't agree.  Even after we waited for an hour and a half for him to deliberate, he.did.not.agree.

He had already made up his mind yesterday.

Danya doesn't have enough Down syndrome to deserve a home.


Is that not the most freaking nonsensical, ridiculous reason that you have ever heard of?  Yeah.


I promised Tatyana I wouldn't cry in the court room.  I concentrated on the flickering of the fluorescent light bulb overhead (if I had a ladder, I could screw that thing in just a little bit and stop the strobe light effect), the way my feet were falling asleep from sitting so long, the sounds of Bryan breathing and the way he sat so still next to me.  I focused on my grumbling stomach and the fact that I hadn't peed for 6 hours (who the hell LOCKS the bathroom doors in a government building!?).  I heard the judge reading his decision in a monotone, totally indecipherable way (WHY don't I know Russian yet!?).  It made me think of the way that the doctor walked into the neonatal intensive care nursery when we were waiting for Chase's chromosome testing results.  We were waiting for the answer, but we already knew what it was going to be.

So what now?  Tatyana, our wonderful Tatyana, is championing our cause.  She will be working with Serge in Kiev on Monday and Tuesday to gather more documents from the Ministry of Health (and other places that I can't remember) in order to pull together our appeal.  Everyone feels strongly that we ARE right; that Down syndrome is Down syndrome, no matter what type it is.

Our appeal should be submitted by Wednesday, and we hope to hear about a date by Thursday.  The silver lining is that after the appellate court's decision, there is not a ten day wait, like there is with the regional court we were at today.  When we get this judge's ignorant decision overturned (yes- WHEN we do), then we will immediately have parental rights to Danya, and will be able to get his Visas and whatnot and bring him home. Which means, quite possibly, we'll still be on relatively the same timeline we were on before.

So, if you are the praying type, or the thoughtful type, or the Jedi type, we are asking for a quick appeal date and a compassionate judge.

Honestly, at the end of the day, we KNOW that Danila is part of our family...we KNOW that we will overcome...we have COMPLETE faith in our facilitators...and we KNOW that this is just a stumble in the journey. We've seen God break down bigger barriers than this one.  We saw Kirill come home, and know that He conquers impossible deeds...It's just that it wasn't supposed to happen this way.  And we want to get home to Danya's brothers, who have been so patient in giving up their Mommy and Daddy so that we could rescue him.  We belong at home.  All of us.  And right now is when we should have been celebrating the view as we began our descent back down this mountain.