Trip 2, Day 6: Court Day

Monday, July 26th

We awoke early that morning, well before the alarm went off. We were both nervous and excited; today we would be going to court. We got dressed in our fancy clothes, and re-packed most of our stuff. Today we would be leaving Kirov.

As we walked outside, we were very happy to discover that it was 15-20 degrees cooler than the day before. What a relief! It took at least 40 minutes to break a sweat (instead of the 2 minutes it took the day before). All of the parents loaded into the little white van, and our driver Sasha drove us to the courthouse. Nervously, we went inside the building. We had to stifle our giggles as we went through the Russian metal detectors. They would chirp like a bird, chirping faster if there was more metal. Very odd.

Once we were through security, we all settled into an unused courtroom. It took a few minutes to realize that we would be taken from this room one family at a time, to the official courtroom. First up was the German couple. Apparently, the judges will usually pick German couples to go first, if there are different nationalities. Not sure why. A German interpreter (whom we had not previously met) went to the courtroom with them.

While they were gone, our interpreter Lena explained some of the peculiarities of the Russian court system. Each session could last anywhere between 20-60 minutes, depending on how many questions the judge wanted to ask. Generally the husband would answer most questions, with only a few questions directed to the wife. If we didn’t know how to answer a question, we were supposed to start making something up quickly. Lena would “interpret” what we said so that it was what the judge wanted and expected to hear. She also explained that normally the judge will ask fewer questions as lunchtime gets closer.

Next up was the Irish couple. We would be the last ones to go. While the Irish couple were gone, the Germans returned. Success! We congratulated them on their adoption, and nervously awaited our turn. They had been in court for 40 minutes, with a lot of questions about their ability to stay home with the child.

Finally, it was our turn. We went up a flight of stairs, into a very small courtroom. There was a judge in front of us, three other court officials, and our interpreter Lena. We answered each of the questions in turn, with very few follow ups. The only topic where the judge seemed to have any concerns was the amount of time we would stay at home. After assuring him that we would be able to take additional time off (if needed), he seemed satisfied.

The next speaker was a representative from the Ministry of Education. She testified that we had met our Aleksander, and that we had bonded with him. She stated that the ministry had no objections to this adoption being completed. There was also a prosecutor for the state, who spoke for (maybe) 10 seconds. She had no objections, and appeared to really want to go to lunch. Kathy saw her checking for cell phone for text messages multiple times during the proceedings. The judge left the courtroom and went to his chambers. About 2 minutes later, he came back out.

“On July 26th, 2010, at 11:40am, this court decrees that Carda Alanrichard, and Carda Kathyann, have met all qualifications from the state of Kirov, Russian Federation. A new birth certificate shall be given to ‘A’, granting him the name Carda, Aleksander Joseph. His birthplace shall remain the same, as shall his birthdate. Congratulations.”

Our relief and joy was so great that we both began crying. We had made it through the Russian legal system, and were now (in the eyes of the court) parents. As we collected our stuff and left the courtroom, it felt like the best day in the world. In a few hours, when we would return to the orphanage, we could officially call Aleks our son!


Here is a picture of the two other couples that adopted with us, along with our coordinator Andre (2nd from left).