Anastasia

It has become so difficult to talk about her. It just saddens me so much, yet I want to keep her name and her spirit alive in our house. How else will we keep fighting for her?

Our latest information is that the whole parental termination process halted in January. Unbeknownst to us, the father was arrested again -- for murder this time and thrown into jail. The government won't allow the state to terminate his rights while he is in prison. That is about all the information we have and that was recently supplied by the every vigilant Alex - thank goodness for him.

We have no idea how we will proceed from here. Do we have the right to keep asking for Miracles? We need another one though. We have spoken with some agencies but no one wants to help us - it is just too messy and complicated. We recently got the name of a high powered adoption lawyer who has helped people in similar situations. I have emailed her but haven't heard back yet. If she doesn't help us, we don't know where we will go from here.

The most positive outcome would be that somehow, through a Miracle, the father's rights get terminated. Still, even with this scenario, that would mean at least a year before we can get her: six months waiting for the termination to be contested and six months waiting for her on the Russian database allowing Russian families a fair shot at adopting her.

We are praying and praying and we thank all of you who continue to remember Anastasia and think about her or pray for her. You keep us going...