When last I left you, I explained that today would be the pre-trial termination hearing (again). If you don't remember what the pre-trial hearing entails, that's ok. Here's the post that explains it.
The caseworker called this afternoon to give us an update on how the hearing went: Birth mom and birth dad signed consent. They terminated their own parental rights! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now what? The state of PA has a 30 day revocation period in which birth parents can change their mind. Caseworker thinks the chances of this are unlikely based on her interaction this morning with birth mom and dad and their lawyers. But we are still holding our breath a bit until January 14th. Is is over on Jan 15? Not quite. Their rights won't officially be terminated until a judge signs off on the decree and the first available date is February 1st. Their rights are technically in tact until then, but once the revocation period is over, there is no going back for the birth parents. What about visits? We will still be doing visits until February 1st. After that, no more visits. Can you adopt her right away? No. We are currently being approved by a third party to be adoptive parents in general. We will likely be approved before February 1st, but the process of applying for and adopting Baby Girl is not instantaneous. We will be a whole lot closer, but will still have a process to go through. A lot less stressful, but a process nonetheless. When will you share her name, show her face, etc? As soon as she is legally our daughter (!!), we can share as much as we want. I will certainly be sharing a LOT here post adoption :) How are you feeling? Conflicted, to be honest. This is the outcome for which we have been praying. We have always wanted to officially adopt her, but our prayer was that birth mom and dad make the decision for their daughter instead of her being "taken" from them. When Baby Girl grows up, she will hear about her birth parents choosing the best place for her to grow up. That is a huge answer to prayer, not just for Baby Girl, but for her parents to be able to say they gave that gift to their daughter. On the other hand, these two young people will not have the privilege of watching Baby Girl grow up. I've had the chance to get to know them a little more in the past year and a half. To say that they have had a difficult life is an understatement. Some due to their own choices, but many due to circumstances beyond their control. It does not change the fact that they are not able to care for and raise baby girl, but it is something that as a mother and a Christian I will mourn for them my whole life. What now? Nothing! It's basically just riding it out until we hit the deadline of February 1st and then it's over. I imagine at that time the county will switch gears and work on the adoption, but they cannot do anything until the 30 day revocation period ends. We are SO grateful for each one of you that has kept us in your prayers, continued to read the blog, ask for updates, and just been on this journey with us. We are humbled that God has chosen US as the family for this precious child and look forward to raising her with Ben and Jacob. As I said, the blog is not over. I plan to continue to document the adoption journey for those interested and when I can, I will (FINALLY) reveal all on the blog about BABY GIRL. :)
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