Exciting news!

I had been waiting to share some awesome news, but I'm getting too impatient to wait any longer....We were matched with a little girl!  We were actually matched May 8th with our little girl. 
We were planning to wait to make our public announcement till after court because there is a chance you can "lose" a referral.  During the court process there is a period where they find all known family and make sure they know about the adoption.  There is a 30 day period where any family can come forward and claim her.  Obviously we would love for her to be reunited with her family, but we would also love for her to join our family especially now that we have grown so attached to her over the past 3 1/2 months.  We originally thought we'd be through court in August, but the Congo courts have had some delays - I won't go into that right now.  All that to say, we would love to cautiously announce we do have a little girl.  We would appreciate prayers on her behalf.  She is so beautiful, and I can't wait to say more once she is officially a Bray!  :)

We still have a long way to go.  There have been some MAJOR changes at the US Embassy in Congo and on the Congo side of things that have added many more months to the process than when we had officially signed on.  We had hoped to have her home by January, but it's looking more like spring now.  We are disappointed, but not crushed.  Everyone told us to expect setbacks when it comes to international adoption...we just didn't really think it would happen to us.  :)  It is good to know that our little girls is being well cared for by a foster mama until we are able to get her.

For those interested in how the court process works...

The lawyer gives all our documents to the court to schedule our first hearing to present the case to the judge.  (What happened this week).

 

At the first hearing the lawyer presents judge with all the info know about our little girl.  This is when the CONA period starts (where family is given 30 days to come forward and reclaim her).  The court will do their own investigation to locate any know family members to ensure they are aware of the adoption.

 

Once the investigation is complete the attorney will have a second court appearance where the judge will either ask more questions or issue the adoption judgement. 

 

It can take several weeks for the judgement to be printed - it is the document that will state she is now a Bray!

After that we will go through all the paperwork and hoops for the US side of things where they will also do an investigation.