Calli's Readoption

One final thing we had left to do pertaining to Calli's adoption was to complete what is called a readoption, now that she is home. We have been putting it off a little - for several reasons. One reason is because it isn't something that is required. Her adoption was final in China, and she was an American citizen as soon as she set her feet on US soil. The purpose of the readoption is to get her a US birth certificate (or certificate of foreign birth) that will make official things easier for her down the road (things like school registration, applying for a drivers license, etc). Also, we were told that she can't get a US passport without this (she traveled home with her Chinese passport), and we definitely want to travel internationally with her someday and will need this. The other reason we've been putting it off was just because of cost - court fees, lawyer fees, etc. But we haven't had any post-adoption reports or visits to pay for in the past year, and with medical expenses being less this year, we finally made it a priority to do this.
When we started the process though, we were pretty confused as to what the process actually is. I had people to talk to in other states or with our agency (also out of state) but the process is different from state to state, so I needed help specifically for how to complete this in Texas. I spoke with a lawyer out of San Antonio, and she helped me a little, but we were going to have to travel to San Antonio to complete the hearing, and her costs were just really high. So, Randy had the idea to contact a friend of ours from church who is a district judge in Brazoria County. Judge Mills helped us learn what we needed to do and really just went above and beyond in helping us get to where we could have the hearing. She was wonderful. She set the date for the hearing for us, completed the order, and all we did was show up, pay court fees and we had the hearing ordering the state to issue the certificate! It all felt so official and we were excited to get a picture with her in the courtroom. :)
Next, we still have to somehow have Austin issue us that certificate, and we have a friend who is a lawyer in town who has also adopted internationally that is helping us navigate that part of the process. We are just so thankful for friends who are connected and know what they are doing! We couldn't have done this without them. Hopefully soon we will receive that certificate in the mail and Calli will just be further protected and things will be smooth for her as she ages!