News on Anastasia

We have received another report from Alex. He is the journalist in Moscow who is helping us. He has made lots of phone calls to Vlad and has spoken several times with the social worker in charge of Anastasia's case. He has also spoken to the judge who decided the case for Max and Dima. He reports the following:

• The mental hospital and the court commision have determined Anastasia's father (Oleg) to be mentally competent. They can therefore, not move forward with an attempt to terminate his parental rights as they have no grounds for it. This doesn't make sense to us since he has never, in 5 years, made any attempt to visit his children in the orphanage.
• He was put in the mental hospital for a minor crime he commited. He had a one year sentence and was supposed to get out last spring but the hospital extended it 6 months and now he should get out in September.
• The social services office will observe him after he gets released. They will watch to see if he makes any attempt to visit his daughter. If not, this may be grounds to try to get his parental rights terminated.
• The ss office will also check to see if he has ever been registered as a drug or alocohol abuser. If so, this may also be grounds to request his parental rights be terminated.
• Happily, Alex reports that the judge who decided Max's adoption case is on our side. She said she will try to help us. Unfortunately, she is in a different jurisdiction and can't try the case, but maybe she will use her influence to help us?? Also, the social worker appears to genuinely want to help us. That is a huge relief.

Please pray for us and for those small people scattered across Russia who are using whatever means they have to help bring our daughter home. And, please pray for Anastasia. She must be so confused. We continue to hope and pray that we will be able to bring her home sooner rather then later. We have no right to ask for more miracles for our family, but we need this one and so does Anastasia.