The Court Process

I have had several people ask me about the long adoption court process in Taiwan. To sum it up, there are four steps/parts and it is VERY unpredictable time wise. Here are a few details: After your dossier (legal paper work) is submitted to the court system you will go though... 1. Civil Hearing- A judge looks over the paper work from both parties and either rules that it is in order or will ask for more. For example: More counseling for the birth mother. The hearing typically happens 2-4 months after you receive a referral. 2. Civil Ruling- A judge will rule in favor of the adoption (or not). The birth family will have 10 days after this to change their minds. The ruling typically happens 2-4 months after your Civil Hearing. 3. Final Ruling- A judge will make the adoption official! A paper work frenzy will happen afterward to get all the documents translated into English and sent over to the AIT (American Institute of Taiwan). This has to be done so that we can leave the country with Chieh Chieh. The Final Ruling typically happens 10 days to 9 weeks after the Civil Ruling. 4. AIT Appintment- We fly over to Taiwan, become a family!, meet Chieh Chieh's family and caretakers, and go to the AIT to finalize our travel documents. This appointment typically happens 2 weeks after the Final Ruling. For a grand total of 6 to 8 months of waiting. Most people are shocked when I tell them how long it takes. However, the step wise process protects all the parties involved...most of all Chieh Chieh and her birth mother (as it should). Our Civil Hearing was assigned about 6 weeks after our dossier was submitted to the courts. VERY fast considering it could have taken 4 months! Thank you judge! Essentially, the times vary due to the judge you are working with and the court calendar. Our Civil Hearing is this Wednesday, April 25th. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that we make it to the Civil Ruling sooner rather than later. Kyle, Max, and I are INCREDIBLY anxious to meet, hold, and love on our girl. THANK YOU!