September 5, 1996--Final Court Hearing

We got word that the hearing had been scheduled for September 5. When we got ready to go to the hearing we walked over to the church offices and discovered that Saka Solomon had been called away to Sinende to handle a crisis at the Bible school. I walked into Daniel Gassary's office and asked if he might help us out. I explained how lost we were at the last hearing and would he please go with us. He did. As we got out of the car at the court, Daniel seemed to know exactly where to go.

As we walked in the door he began greeting people. One of the first persons was the Bariba consultant. He introduced us to him. It was his cousin! Someone asked where the birth father was. Wasn't he there? Were we supposed to bring him? I asked Daniel my question and he told me to be quiet to not volunteer anything. They probably did not need him since he had signed the papers. Where was the judge? Another judge had been appointed since the one who had held the first hearing of our case was out of town. All of a sudden we were all called into the court room. And then we the adoptive parents were asked to stand. Alicia Ruth Watt was now officially our daughter!

After we exited the court room we asked Daniel about getting the adoption decree typed up quickly. For an extra amount we were able to get it expedited. We were so grateful for the ladies who spent the extra hours typing up the final decree. From the court house we asked Daniel about getting her birth certificat. He took us to the government office that handled them and within an hour or so we had that taken care of. The next day we started the process of her Benin identity card and finally the process for her Benin passport.

When we got down to the last days before we were to fly out of Benin, we were requesting prayer because they had lost Alicia's passport. Our business manager in Cotonou was required to go down and get that straightened out and literally sort through passports until he found hers and got it processed.

We still did not have a visa for her and we needed to translate her adoption decree into English.There was a missionary from France who helped Milton with the translation and he had this man's signature notarized. We later learned that it was not a good idea to translate your own adoption decree, but back then there were not many options.

We had a heck of a time figuring out what kind of visa Alicia could come to the States on. She was our legally adopted daughter, but we had not jumped through enough hoops to get that coveted immigrant visa. They gave her a tourist visa but did not bother to explain to us what they were doing. We did not know until we got to Atlanta, that we would have to have the home study, and all the checks done in the States. We were just happy to be going home with our daughter.

The plane ride was cramped. It was full from Brussels to New York! We hardly had any room and my daughter was heavy to carry on one's lap the entire plane ride. But we did. Once I laid her on the floor on a blanket and she slept and so did I.