PART 2: How It All Works... sort of

(So sorry, been feeling icky.  Better now!)  So after we receive our referral with info about little Ana, here's what comes next.  I know, it's long, but you guys have been asking! :)  The process really is this complicated.

• First Trip to meet Ana.  This is a bit hard to say because different regions in Russia handle this part differently, but we will assume for now it will be similar to Mikhail's process.  We were required (by the Russian gov't) to meet Mikhail in person before continuing on with perusing his adoption.  We expect this will be the same for Ana.  This was a quick trip for us with Mikhail's adoption and we only got to see him for an hour or so on two days.  We were able to speak to the orphanage director (also an MD) and find out a bit more info about his general health and any during this time, for instance this is when we found out he would need hernia surgery as soon as we got him home.  We will be so excited to get to see Ana for the first time on this trip and learn more about her, but it will no doubt be one of the most difficult parts of this process- meeting her and then leaving her there for however long is necessary until we can return for our court date.  A torturous 7 weeks with Mikhail.
• Second trip to bring her home!  Again, this is sketchy because of differences in regions, and there is even the possibility we could only make 1 trip, or it could turn into3!  After the first trip, we will be notified of when the Russian court for that region has set our court date.  At that point we will head back ASAP in order to be there in whatever region Ana is in for that date.  We will likely have to speak to a judge (through an interpreter, of course) and answer his or her questions about why we want to adopt and some personal info about whether we can afford the child, how we will parent her, etc.  This was very nerve racking for us with Mikhail, but by the end of the time with the judge we ended up standing next to her behind her desk so we could show her a little PowerPoint slide show on Ken's laptop of pictures of us with Mikhail at our visits with him in the orphanage.  I will never forget that mental picture and watching the judge's face turn from stern and serious to all smiles as she saw us interacting in the pictures with our boy. :)  Of course when she said we were approved to adopt Mikhail I cried like a baby.  I'm pretty sure she was a bit misty eyed, too.
• 10 Day Waiting Period.  Russian courts require there to be a waiting period after the adoption has been approved just in case the birth parents or other relative speaks up and has changed their mind about wanting to relinquish rights.  After the 10 days, the adoption is finally considered FINAL for the Russian courts.  We will most likely not have Ana with us during this time.  We will not get custody of her until the wait period is over.  We may get to visit her at the orphanage during this period, though.  We visited Mikhail 3 times in our waiting period before we actually left the orphanage with him.
• Get our baby girl!  Oh, the blessed day when we walk out the orphanage doors with little Ana Fortner, never, EVER to be called an orphan again!
• Citizenship stuff in Moscow.  We will likely leave whatever region Ana is in shortly after we have been given custody of her, then will need to stay in Moscow while her passport, visa & citizenship papers are being processed.  This took a full week with Mikhail.  But we won't care!  We will be having too much fun getting to know our girl, spending all day playing and playing and playing in a hotel room somewhere in expensive Moscow. :)  Even the ridiculous hotel rates couldn't dampen our spirits of having that time with Mikhail.  So many memories and so many firsts will happen during our time together in Moscow!
• Home!  An exhausting 14 hour+ airplane flight with 2 cranky kids, multiple layovers and 2 of the happiest (yet exhausted) parents on earth. :)