A Call with our Lawyer

We had been anxiously waiting to speak with Sadie Amin, our lawyer in Guyana since Friday, but hadn't been able to reach her via phone until tonight. She had sent a couple text messages in the meantime, so we weren't totally in the dark about what has been happening with our case in Guyana.

On Friday, Sadie presented our case to the Family Court to apply for temporary custody of Aria. While the appeal went well, she was asked to provide additional documentation before we would be granted temporary custody. We are no longer concerned with being awarded temporary guardianship as the US Embassy has basically told us we would not be granted a non-immigrant visa and the whole point of obtaining temporary guardianship was so we could apply for the non-immigrant visa. After speaking with our lawyer today, she recommended we not pursue temporary guardianship and instead put all our efforts into the adoption process.

Some good news to report! The Child Protection Agency was able to complete their required process in order to assign a case number to Aria's adoption file. Our lawyer needed this number in order to apply for the "First Order" (the first application with the court to start moving the adoption process forward.) Sadie picked up the letter with the case number today and said we could get a court date as soon as July 5th! The courts only hear adoption cases on Fridays and she needs several original documents from us (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc) before she can schedule our hearing. Now we are in a huge crunch to get her everything she needs by Monday! That's not much time considering it needs to be shipped all the way to Guyana. Worst case, our hearing would be postponed a week until July 12th. We were originally told one parent would need to attend the hearing, but Sadie asked around and it sounds as though we may not need to be present to have our case heard. The First Order is just the first of many steps that need to happen but it's a HUGE step in the right direction!! If we can get the First Order granted by mid-July, we may have a shot at making the Adoption Board Meeting at the end of the month. The Adoption Board only meets the last Wednesday of every month, so if we don't make this meeting, we will have to wait another entire month for the August meeting.

More good news to report! Aria appears to be doing quite well. I video chat with Jocelyn several times a week so I get to see Aria often. Aria is very alert, moving a bit more, and giggling. She seems very happy and comfortable. It's so comforting to see her big brown eyes looking back on video, watching her smile and hearing her laugh. We are so grateful she is on the mend.

Aria had appointments this week with the pediatrician Dr. Jabour and the neurologist Dr. Dukhi. Both were quite pleased with how well she was doing. Her limbs are less stiff. She is moving more and obviously feeling much better. She had her first tooth pop in and she has even gained some weight!

The next couple days will be a scramble trying to get Sadie all the documents she needs to get our 'First Order' granted quickly. We are hoping and praying to make the Adoption Board meeting on July 31st. If all goes as planned, Aria will be headed home by mid-August!!