Court Process Continued

I just wanted to provide more details on our day in court.

We finalized Nathan's adoption in Sacramento on March 15th. The court day went smoothly. Our appt was for 8:30. At exactly that time, the bailiff called us into the courtroom. We sat a few minutes and
then were taken to the Judge's chamber for the proceedings. The Judge was so nice. He offered Nathan some m&m's and therefore Nathan was happy as could be.

The judge reviewed the India documents and asked for Form 210 and 215. Never asked for Form 230. Then he signed the forms and made his declaration that it was in the best interest of Nathan to be adopted by us. Nathan clapped and shook the Judges hand.

Amazing what a 2 year old can comprehend. I think my son knew what an important day it was because on the plane ride back to Kansas, he hugged and said "I love you mommy."

After the proceedings were over, we took pictures with the Judge and then waited for the copies of the order. By 9:00 we were all done.

What a relief it was to finally be done. It took several days for it to sink in. Since June 2007 this has been my whole life. Adoption is long expensive journey filled with thousands of pages of paperwork and so much government bureaucracy.  It however is so worth it. For all those days I thought the process would never end, on March 15th it finally ended for us. Nathan is legally our child.

Afterwards, my mom sent Nathan the cutest card. It said, Congratulations Nathan on becoming a US Citizen, you can now be president someday. I have the card posted to the refrigerator so I can read it everyday.

I know finalizing the adoption is just a formality, but it is such an important one. Because until that was done, we were only known by the government as his legal guardians. Now we are known as his legal parents.

Since it's tax time, I have to add, there is an adoption credit but you can't claim it until you finalize the adoption. So we miss out on it in 2009 but we will be able to claim it in 2010.

Once I find the cord that connects the camera to the computer, I will be able to post some pictures of the ceremony. It's somewhere in the 70 plus moving boxes in our storage area.

If I haven't said so already, Thank you to all those who shared this long journey with us. We couldn't have traveled this road without your support. I hope you always remain a part of our lives, especially Nathan's life.

Rajal