The judge said YES!

Great news everyone - this morning the judge approved Emma’s adoption!

Court went well for us. It lasted about twenty minutes. Neither one of us had to give a speech. The judge asked us questions and we answered. Our facilitator prepared us well for what would be asked, and also the “four points” we were to mention when asked why we were coming before the court:
1. To ask for a favorable decision regarding the adoption of our daughter,
2. To give her the name Emma Rose Petre,
3. To keep the place and date of birth on her birth certificate the same, and
4. To list us as her parents.

Some of the questions the judge asked were centered around our home, family, jobs, income, health, and marriage. We were asked why we wanted to adopt. We told her that nothing gives us more joy than being parents, and we wished to give a child already born a family. We had to prove to the judge that we visited Emma for two weeks with date-stamped photographs. The judge was concerned that Emma is Asian, and we are Caucasian. She asked us how did we think she would feel about looking different than other family members. This gave us the opportunity to show the judge pictures of our beautiful nieces Lea and Carlee who were adopted from China. We told the judge Emma looks like her cousins, and that they can’t wait to meet her. Lea and Carlee - if you are reading this you should know that because you are members of the Petre family, you have helped Emma to have a family too!

Someday we will tell Emma about the morning we went to court and asked the judge to let us be her parents. We’ve posted a picture of us outside the courthouse after the session was over. We’ll remember that when we came out, it was the sunniest morning we have ever seen here in Kazakhstan.