Court Decision on Dad

On December 5, 2006, the Orphancourt made a decision to deny rights to Gertrude's father. This is what we were hoping for! Not to say of course, that we are happy to keep a father from his daughter, but from what we have heard about the dad, life with him would be a bad and possibly dangerous place for Gertrude to be. Now we have to wait for the rest of the legal process, which we believe is to have another court date to officially terminate his rights, check out his side of the family to see if anyone wants to care for Gertrude, then if nothing comes of that, clear her again for adoption. We are not sure how long this will take, but we are learning patience through this whole ordeal! We just hope Gertrude is ok. She is probably very confused, as her dad has filled her head with fantasies of her coming to live with him, sharing the family name, and now that isn't going to happen. This has to be hard on Gertrude, even if he is not someone that is healthy for her. He is still her dad and I'm sure she loves him no matter what has happened in the past. Now, I say that, not really knowing what has happened in the past! We just have to guess based on bits and pieces of information we get. This information seems to add up to an unhealthy and potentially dangerous situation for Gertrude so this decision is probably for the best.

As I said in an e-mail to many of our supporters, we have received information that Gertrude and her half-sister have been visiting her parents regularly and there is an emotional attachment there. We hope that Gertrude will be with us one day but are not sure what is best for her. Possibly being adopted in country would be best, so she could more easily maintain a relationship with her family. However, an adoption within her country is unlikely. So, we just continue to pray that whatever is best for her is what will eventually be the outcome. Gertrude is a precious little girl that deserves a happy life and however that can be attained is how it needs to be. I would like to share a response I got to this e-mail from a friend who led a Bible study I was in recently. I just met her at the Bible study and we don't know each other that well, but she has been such an encouragement to us. Here is what she wrote:


Your prayer for the outcome that is best for Gertrude reminds me of the story in 1King 3:16-27, where the king had to decide which of two women was the "real" mother. When the king commanded that the child be cut in two, the true mother "was filled with compassion for her son" and she pleaded with the king to give her son to the other woman. I believe God will do what is best for Gertrude. I pray that the eventual ruling will be the same as this story... 27 Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first woman. ....she is his mother." I know how much you love Gertrude and I believe God will honor your love for her. I'm praying!

This last statement is reminiscent of another comment I received just before we got Gertrude for the hosting. Another hosting parent, that now has their adopted daughter with them, told me she "knows I am Gertrude's mother." She didn't know exactly why but she felt very strongly about this before any of us had even met Gertrude. This gives us hope that one day this will be true in the full sense of the word. However, if we are not her parents legally for some reason, in our hearts she is ours. We will continue to pray for her, call her, write and send gifts to her, and be her "American family" for as long as she will have us!