Today is Jack’s Adoption Day. He’s been looking forward to it since his last birthday. We make a big deal of the fact that he has a Birthday and an Adoption Day. He’s bringing Rice Krispie treats, because he doesn’t want to share his cake with his friends, and the book Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born.
Jack was born in Missouri, and if you adopt in Missouri, you must finalize in Missouri. We traveled from California back to Missouri. Missouri is much nicer in August than it is in January.
We arrived at the courthouse at 9:00 am. Jack was hungry, so my husband began giving him a bottle. Of course, that was when we were called in to the courtroom. We went in, sat down and got situated, and then we had to stand to be sworn in. My husband was still feeding Jack, holding him in his left arm. I grabbed the bottle with my left hand, so there we were – Jack in Daddy’s arm, Daddy’s right hand held up to be sworn in, my left hand on Jack’s bottle, and my right hand up to be sworn in. Everybody laughed.
There were many people in the courtroom that day including our attorney, the judge, the Deputy Juvenile Officer, and Jack’s Guardian Ad Litem (GAL).
When we went to court for the termination of parental rights in January, our attorney asked my husband all the questions. They were basically very long sentences with “Is that correct?” tacked on at the end. Such as, “You live at (address). Is that correct?”. There were dozens of those. Then, the attorney asked three measly little questions: my name, if I was present in the courtroom while my husband answered the questions, and would I answer in substantially the same way?
This time, I got all the long questions with “Is that correct?” tacked on. I recorded two of my favorites in Jack’s baby book:
- You realize that Jackson will have all the rights and privileges of a biological child, is that correct?
- You realize that you will have all of the responsibilities towards Jackson as towards a biological child, is that correct?
After about 20 minutes, we were declared Jack’s parents, forever.
It is therefore ordered, adjuged, and decreed by the court that from the date of this Judgment and Decree of Adoption, the subject minor child, shall, to and for all legal intents and purposes, become and be the child of the petitioners.
After court, we went to visit S, Jack’s birthmother. Before we left the state again, S told us that she was glad we had come to visit. She said that seeing Jack – how happy he was and how much we loved him – made her know that she had made the right choice.
Photo Credit: Robyn C. August 2006. All rights reserved.
