In early November Arkansas voters approved a ban on adoption by unmarried couples. I wrote briefly about this on the Chicago Examiner stating that in 1999 Arkansas’s Child Welfare Agency Review Board established a policy that banned gay men and women from serving as foster parents but the Supreme Court ruled against it after a seven-year battle with the ACLU.
Although the title of the measure is “unmarried couples” the agenda clearly is aimed at keeping gay men and women “from becoming foster or adoptive parents”.
 
 
My husband with AJ at the orphanage in Russia.
On November 25 a Florida court pointed out …read more

July 25, 2005
Though not on the date we anticipated, as of 10:20 am. July 25, 2005 AJP is now officially our son.

The judge was very happy with the documents we provided (thanks to
K, our social worker, and our doctors back at home) and he
happily waived the 10 day appeal period. So…we pick up Sasha (AJ)
this afternoon and fly to Moscow tomorrow at 5!
This will be the last email until we arrive home to “hibernate” and
after this trip…WE NEED IT!

July 24, 2005
We have court tomorrow at 9:30. All of our papers seem in order and T and H are hopeful that things will go well.
We got passport pictures yesterday and are our plane tickets so it seems like we are on schedule to fly out Tuesday evening.
Thank you to everyone for your support and prayers. It has meant the WORLD to us to know that you all care and are looking out for us. Going into this process was hard enough, but knowing that we have friends, most whom we have never met, is worth its weight in …read more

July 23, 2005
Things are looking slightly better now that we have underwear…or should I say smelling???
For those of you who have not caught the Curse Part 1, 2, and 3…we just got our luggage today, were denied our adoption yesterday, and have pretty much had a miserable trip…except that we have had a wonderful time visiting with our beautiful son.
The update on the court proceedings: We were able to get a hold of our doctors back at home and within twenty minutes they faxed a handwritten document detailing that they were able to provide medical judgments regarding our health …read more

Remember that this series of posts is from 2005…(July 22, 2005)
Well, it looks like we are officially the first family to EVER be
DENIED in the region of Arkhangelsk, if only temporarily. We did
not get our adoption granted today as we had hoped.
The judge was very specific about our medical records and wanted verification on our physicians licenses’ as well as their ability to evaluate medical conditions such as psychological conditions and drug or alcohol additions as general practitioners. Additionally, he
was very concerned that my doctor had a medical license for “controlled substances”, which by our understanding is that she can …read more

It is hard to imagine that three years ago this morning I boarded a plane and left to go bring my son home from Russia.
The summer of 2005 was very trying in regards to Russian adoptions, as Peggy Hilt had just murdered her youngest daughter (and I mean just).  We packed our bags knowing that we NEEDED extra prayers to get through customs as potential adoptive parents and knowing we would be scrutinized every step of the way.
To put it bluntly, our second adoption trip was absolute hell and I would never, in any lifetime, wish it upon

I’ll give it to you…

Over the next two weeks I’m goin’ back in time…
to 2005.
Because, get this?
It’s been THREE years (and we’re done with our post placements).
And WE are all still kickin’.
Some, more than others.
I pulled emails from our trip to Russia.
It’s the real thing, baby!
ALL the drama…court, lost luggage (and stinky undies), and some uberfab pictures (like AJ eating his first McDonalds in Moscow?).
So, look for the posts with dates in bold and italized entries.

July 12, 2005
Our judge has requested additional paperwork: a home study update on two specific lines on our faults. He wants them clarified and explained in detail to make sure he knows that we are psychologically sound. I do think that this is a step in the right direction with all that is going on in Russia…extra screening by the judges.
But…kind of stinks that it has to start with us.

July 6, 2005 from Yahoo Groups
“Good news is that court is on the 22nd!!!!! Bad news is that we have the tough Judge!”
All smiles today!
Marcie

I was going through old Yahoo group emails and found this one…for June 28, 2005.
Eric and I will probably have to cancel on the picnic this year…but for a VERY happy reason!
We got word from B today that T will be presenting our papers to court on Friday or Tuesday and that we expect a mid-July court date (B said probably the 19th!). They are trying to get everyone through before the summer slowdown in the region so it does look like it WILL happen! I will keep everyone posted.
As far as the red, white, and blue colors, we plan …read more