What happened in court

After a week or so to digest it, let me tell you what exactly happened in the courtroom last Friday.  Remember this was the formal decision on whether or not we could adopt Elena, so even though the judge and other participants tend to be relatively kindly disposed toward us, it's still pretty momentous and nervewracking.

Luckily, we were able to meet with a representative from the Russian Department of Education (who oversees the orphanages in the area) a few days before the court hearing.  He was surprisingly jolly (surprising only because we had the preconceived notion that Russian government officials were going to be pretty dour).  During this meeting, he went over the court procedure, what we were expected to say, and gave some example questions the judge might ask.  He also gave us a written "crib sheet" that suggested what we might say in court.  Invaluable.

Our court appearance was 11:30 on Friday, and the whole thing lasted until nearly 1:00.  The courtroom was relatively small, with the judge seated in front and the petitioners (that's us) seated facing him.  Our interpreter was seated next to us, and the other people involved (represetatives from the Dept of Education, the orphanage, and a "prosecutor" representing the state) seated to one side or behind us.

More after the jump:


Once the judge appeared (everybody stand!) everyone introduced themselves.  For us, it was name, address, profession, and education, and the fact that we were married.  Stand up, look at the judge, no interrupting, wait of trhe interpreter.  The judge questioned Teresa closely on the fact that some of her paperwork was made out using the name "Teresa L. Petersen" and some of her paperwork was made out using the name "Teresa L Petersen" (without the dot).

After the introduction, we made our petition.  Andy went first, outlining where we live, our medical and criminal record (clean, thank you very much), insurance and financial information, and other background.  We promised to follow Russian and US law in registering and naturalizing Elena, and also described our visits with her and verified that we were familiar with *her* medical history.  Lastly, we formally asked to have Elena's name changed and to be named as her parents.

The judge asked a few questions, mostly about how we would adjust to our new lifestyle, and how we would help Elena adjust to same.

Then Teresa spoke. Teresa promised to take care of Elena and bring her in for regular medical checkups (remember, these are all the things the Russian system, and by extension the judge, cares about).

The judge also asked a few questions about doctor visits and the like, then asked, "how will be able to communicate with the child?  If she needs to go to the bathroom, how will you know?"  Teresa's answer was "ХОЧЕШЬ ПИСАТЬ?" (roughly pronounced "HO-chesh PEE-sit?"). which means "do you need to go pee-pee?" in Russian.  The rest of the courtroom cracked up, and even the judge, who up till then had been the textbook example of dour, flashed a brief grin.

After we were done, the other people in the courtroom testified, giving some of Elena's history and a description of our interactions with her, as well as some general facts that I assume are required to be in the court record.  The judge left the room for about two minutes, then returned to read his decision.  It was more detailed than I had expected, with instructions for various people, but in the end, we were found "satisfactory."

And that was that.  There's a ten-business-day waiting period, whcih is why we're in the US right now and not still in Russia, but the decision is legally recorded.