If you miss our first blog about our son click on the link to head on back to read it.
I had a lot of questions about this past week so I figured I would fill everybody in ...
I want to start out by saying a huge THANK YOU to our best friends, Bret and Heather for being so supportive and for being willing to go with the flow when we were thrown a curve ball!!!
Okay so the four of us jumped in the car Monday evening after we all got off work and headed for Louisiana. We got there at about 2 a.m. and Chris and I tried to get some sleep even though we were VERY anxious.
The trial was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning and our lawyers told us we would not need to be at the court house until 10:30 or 11 but we did not want to risk being late so we got there at about 9:15.
When we arrived our lawyer was waiting outside the courtroom and let us know that the trial had not started. It was about 10:30 by the time things actually got started because we were waiting on other parties to arrive.
All the witnesses were not allowed to stay in the courtroom so we had to wait outside and pray. The birth father's lawyer presented their case and questioned his witness and then rested.
It was at that point when the judge realized that he made a mistake and he did not have a court appointed attorney for Dallas. We were told the contested adoptions rarely happen (we were their 2nd contested adoption in 3 years) so this is not something they are used to doing.
Thankfully he was able to find an attorney in the court house that was able to step in so quickly. Our attorney then told us the trial would not be able to be completed that day and would resume at 12:30 on Friday. The court appointed attorney for Dallas met with Dallas' birth father and we were told she would most likely want to meet with us and Dallas' birth mom also.
Wednesday we never heard from Dallas' attorney so we took some time to explore New Orleans.
Thursday there was still no word from Dallas' attorney. That evening we went to dinner with Dallas' birth mom and her boyfriend. We were able to catch up and honestly get to know each other a little better. Since Dallas decided to show up 3 weeks early we didn't have a chance to do that before.
~ side note ~
Going into the adoption process Chris and I were not open to the idea of an open adoption, it frankly made us very nervous. It's honestly hard to imagine how they even work until you're actually in the situation. Our relationship with his birth mom is very open; she sees pictures of Dallas and we talk to her a few times a month. Because of our little boy we are now family and I can't imagine having it any other way.
~ Okay, back to the trial ~
Friday we got to the court house at about noon and waited for things to get started. Once again we couldn't be in the courtroom so we had to wait and pray. Thankfully Dallas' birth father's attorney rested on Tuesday so we didn't have to go back through that whole process and they were able to start where they left off. Our attorney moved that the birth father's rights be involuntarily terminated and the other two attorneys pleaded their case (along with some of their opinions). After only hearing the birth father’s testimony along with what sounded like a VERY heated conversation between the lawyers the Judge decided to take away his rights. We were cleared to proceed with the adoption. When they came out and told us I always thought that I would break down in tears but I think I was in shock. The tears did not come until we actually made it home and I was able to hold Dallas in my arms!
*We do have a 30 day waiting period in which the birth father could appeal (highly unlikely) but after that his rights will be officially taken away and we can move forward with finalizing the adoption. We do have a few more hoops to jump through: 3-5 more home visits and then we go back to court to officially adopt him.
I had a lot of questions about this past week so I figured I would fill everybody in ...
I want to start out by saying a huge THANK YOU to our best friends, Bret and Heather for being so supportive and for being willing to go with the flow when we were thrown a curve ball!!!
Okay so the four of us jumped in the car Monday evening after we all got off work and headed for Louisiana. We got there at about 2 a.m. and Chris and I tried to get some sleep even though we were VERY anxious.
The trial was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning and our lawyers told us we would not need to be at the court house until 10:30 or 11 but we did not want to risk being late so we got there at about 9:15.
When we arrived our lawyer was waiting outside the courtroom and let us know that the trial had not started. It was about 10:30 by the time things actually got started because we were waiting on other parties to arrive.
All the witnesses were not allowed to stay in the courtroom so we had to wait outside and pray. The birth father's lawyer presented their case and questioned his witness and then rested.
It was at that point when the judge realized that he made a mistake and he did not have a court appointed attorney for Dallas. We were told the contested adoptions rarely happen (we were their 2nd contested adoption in 3 years) so this is not something they are used to doing.
Thankfully he was able to find an attorney in the court house that was able to step in so quickly. Our attorney then told us the trial would not be able to be completed that day and would resume at 12:30 on Friday. The court appointed attorney for Dallas met with Dallas' birth father and we were told she would most likely want to meet with us and Dallas' birth mom also.
Wednesday we never heard from Dallas' attorney so we took some time to explore New Orleans.
Thursday there was still no word from Dallas' attorney. That evening we went to dinner with Dallas' birth mom and her boyfriend. We were able to catch up and honestly get to know each other a little better. Since Dallas decided to show up 3 weeks early we didn't have a chance to do that before.
~ side note ~
Going into the adoption process Chris and I were not open to the idea of an open adoption, it frankly made us very nervous. It's honestly hard to imagine how they even work until you're actually in the situation. Our relationship with his birth mom is very open; she sees pictures of Dallas and we talk to her a few times a month. Because of our little boy we are now family and I can't imagine having it any other way.
~ Okay, back to the trial ~
Friday we got to the court house at about noon and waited for things to get started. Once again we couldn't be in the courtroom so we had to wait and pray. Thankfully Dallas' birth father's attorney rested on Tuesday so we didn't have to go back through that whole process and they were able to start where they left off. Our attorney moved that the birth father's rights be involuntarily terminated and the other two attorneys pleaded their case (along with some of their opinions). After only hearing the birth father’s testimony along with what sounded like a VERY heated conversation between the lawyers the Judge decided to take away his rights. We were cleared to proceed with the adoption. When they came out and told us I always thought that I would break down in tears but I think I was in shock. The tears did not come until we actually made it home and I was able to hold Dallas in my arms!
*We do have a 30 day waiting period in which the birth father could appeal (highly unlikely) but after that his rights will be officially taken away and we can move forward with finalizing the adoption. We do have a few more hoops to jump through: 3-5 more home visits and then we go back to court to officially adopt him.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all those who have been praying for us! We have no doubt that God picked this little boy out just for us and he is worth everything it took and will take to make him ours!
Prayer Request:
I spoke with the agency today and they have another contested adoption case this Friday and they have asked that all our prayer warriors be in prayer for all those involved! I know first hand what the fear of the unknown and the possibility of the unthinkable can do so PLEASE pray for God's will to be done in this upcoming case.
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