I have been a little hesitant to write publicly about the recent developments with the adoption, but we can now safely share that, after an excruciating 8.5 hour long trial, biological parental rights have successfully been terminated!!!  That is HUGE. More than huge, it is everything.

As I sat in that court room and listened to hour after hour of testimony, I have never been more terrified. The logical part of my brain knew that there was no other option but termination, but the other part kept asking- “What if!?”  Our witnesses were not allowed to share anything that RJ has disclosed to us.  They had to only rely on their expert opinions. What if the judge did not or could not hear what they weren’t directly saying?  What if she gave those people yet ANOTHER chance?!  We all prayed, held hands, and tried to have faith in our system. In humanity.

Toward the end of the trial, our attorney warned that after closing statements were made, the judge would take the information and deliberate- and we would be emailed her order when she makes her decision.  It could be a few more weeks.  Oh my god.

But she didn’t deliberate.  She didn’t need any extra time.  She looked him right in the eye and said “My decision has been made with the best interest of the child in mind.  It is unfortunate, sir, that you were not able to care for this child.  He is to remain in his current home.  Custody is awarded to the State of Georgia.”   She went on to advise him to make a profile for himself on the adoption registry, in case one day his son wants to find him.  She told him that he should start making something of himself, so, if and when his son comes to him, he’ll have a story that his son will want to hear.

WOW. There were no words. Just tears.

He looked at me, told me he knows that his son is very loved and well taken care of, and asked me to always take care of him.

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The rest is paperwork. We will still be on pins and needles until we have that paperwork signed and in our hand, but it should be (in the words of RJ himself) “easy peasy, lemon squeezey” from here on out.

We were told it will all be finalized between early fall and Christmas.

We are all on cloud nine.

And we are SO THANKFUL for all the thoughts and prayers you have sent our way.