To Bring Henry or Not To Bring Henry? (Advice welcome)

I’m so indecisive (if you haven’t guessed—it’s Ellen writing). We are beside ourselves about the whole not taking Henry with us/taking Henry with us thing. So we are welcoming your thoughts.

The No side of things: The adoption agency discourages it. They say it’s busy enough and difficult enough without an extra child along. There’s lots of waiting in lines at the U.S. Embassy in Delhi—for a couple of days. Our parents worry that he’ll get sick while he’s there. I worry about him not having anything to eat because I don’t know what to expect—he doesn’t eat meat and he doesn’t eat much that is unfamiliar to him. And it’s expensive to travel to India and we may not be able to afford it. We would also have some time just with Tess, probably the only time like that.

The Yes side of things: It would be a once-in-a-lifetime family bonding time. He would have a chance to be a part of it all which I think is important since his life is about to change quite a bit. I wouldn’t be worried out of my mind the two weeks we’re traveling—I’ve only been apart from him at the most for two nights when I went to Vermont and even then, he was with Luke. He wants to go, even if he doesn’t know what that means. And every day for a week he’s said to me, “Mommy, I love you. Don’t ever leave me.” Gee, how could I leave him?

Okay, bring it on—all of your sage advice, every one of you. Even if you are someone who stumbled onto this site and I don’t know you. And especially if you’ve traveled to India before (or live in India! Like Snigda’s niece—hint, hint).

We're Legal

It finally happened. And patience has paid off. The judge in India has approved our case and signed the papers. How wonderful is that? He actually approved the case on December 8 when it was scheduled to be heard. We received notification yesterday (December 18) that it was signed. There’s a delay because after the case was approved, papers had to be drawn up by the lawyers and then the judge has to revisit the case. But that hurdle is over!

Next, Ms. Roy, who is the head of the Indian Society for the Rehabilation of Children (ISRC) in Kolkata, will take the paper (called Legals) to the U.S. Consulate to attest and will file for her passport there. The papers are then shipped to the adoption agency in Tulsa and are used to file for our I-600 a or b. Once her passport is issued, we are able to travel. We’re looking at a month or so.

Yay!

p.s. Since I wrote this, her papers were attested by the U.S. Consulate and the passport has been filed for—and we expect her papers to arrive in the U.S. next week. Maybe we'll travel mid-January which is also the time our fingerprints with the INS expire but that's another story.

Save the Date!!

We receive the following email only moments ago...


Dear Luke and Ellen,

Your case’s court date is December 8th . As this judge has been quite unpredictable and undependable, please hold this date lightly as ISRC and the other children’s homes are going to the highcourt soon and that could change everything

Tami Davidson, MSW

IndiaProgram Director/ Waiting Child Coordinator

Dillon International, Inc.

We are very excited as you can imagine! We are hoping to push through this process as this is the only thing keeping our baby girl from coming home. Look at that picture below and tell me she isn't the most beautiful thing you have ever seen! We'll keep you 'posted'!!

Tess Amelia Starr at 9 months

Here's our greatly anticipated new photo which arrived on December 1st, her 9-month birthday. Isn't she sweet!