Still chugging along in Addis
Still another night in Addis after new surprises with the court process. We sent an email to our parents earlier this afternoon with the update. Here is that email:
Well today’s news came out of left field… When Ryan et al. went to court today the boyfriend of the birthmother spoke up and said he was
the father. It was a very long story and a very long morning for Ryan, but in the end they testified in the federal court that they are relinquishing their rights as parents.
However, the paperwork that was written and stamped last week in Awassa needs to be updated to include him as birthfather. They are working on that today and a representative from the orphanage will have it in Addis Ababa by the time court opens tomorrow morning. There is no need to repeat the entire process that they went through with the birthmother since they aren’t married.
So, we try again tomorrow. Legally, they are done and will return to Awassa today, but we need this history to be accurate before the judge will give her final stamp.
After court, Ryan and Mikkonen came to pick up Julia and me to have a meeting with the birth parents. I was very nervous since we don’t have that last stamp from the judge, but Mikkonen reassured us that they weren’t interested in pursuing any challenge to the adoption and
that they were just interested in saying goodbye to Julia. We spent a few hours with them, both at the Bethany office and at a restaurant
where we were able to video them and take several pictures. We think that will be good for Julia someday when she is able to understand
about her adoption.
We believe that we will be coming home tomorrow and probably arrive in Denver late in the afternoon on Thursday. We’ll confirm and let you know where we stand as the day progresses.
Hope all is well on the home front! Girls, Mom and Dad love you and we hope we will see you on Thursday!
Ryan and Gina / Mom and Dad
P.S. I (Ryan) took over writing this email during the part about the birth parents. Gina is in the kitchen teaching Birtukan how to use
muffin cake pans for some muffins she is going to try making tonight. Gina and Birtukan made some banana bread over the weekend and got into a big conversation about baking. Birtukan asked about what the difference was between cake and muffins and so Gina was able to
communicate with a family early in the weekend who left on Sunday to travel after just three days notice. They brought the muffin pans so now they’re working on using them for dinner tonight!
