Hope was discharged from the hospital today. We were able to take her to the hotel with us, but there is still some red tape to get through before we can bring her home to Utah.
The birth parents signed papers in the hospital reliquishing their parental rights. The adoption agency representative said beforehand that it would be up to the birth parents whether we could remain in the room while that was happening. Apparently, in some cases the birth parents can feel pressured or threatened by having the adoptive couple in the room. They agreed to let us stay in the room, and it was really hard to keep from falling appart emotionally while we watched these two brave, loving people make this difficult decision. The pain and grief behind it was shared by all in the room. This is a great couple who are trying to do what is best for their child. We will always love and respect them for that.
Somehow, the Florida version of DCFS got involved through a "report" being made of Susan having given birth to a child. This means that they had to send a representative to the hospital to check out the situation. He showed up and was a bit confused, since due to the adoption placement there really wasn't anything for him to do. However, since the report was made the DCFS agent has to give us a letter of "no interest" in the child's custody. The paperwork to transfer legal custody of Hope from the agency to us cannot begin until we get that letter. Being late in the week, we may not see that letter until early next week. We'll just have to sit tight and see what happens. We think we know who filed the report but it's probably best not to dwell on that, except to say that sometimes medical professionals are not always "professional."
We're sincerely hoping that we can bring Hope home within a few days. More pictures:
