Tony and I took Moriah to see the genetics specialist just days after even realizing she may be dealing with a lifelong diagnosis and the challenges that go with it. The doctor noted some of the common features Moriah displayed with the syndrome characteristic traits, but immediately stated that he did not believe she had that named syndrome. He was thorough and kind, passionate about the children he sees and very knowledgeable, THE expert in that syndrome. Before we left, he sent us off with two orders for genetic tests. One would rule out the syndrome with the happy name with 85% reliability and the other would look for other known syndromes and genetic reasons for developmental delays.

I don’t know exactly why, but I sat on those tests for a while. Just knowing she didn’t have the one syndrome felt like enough for me. And I don’t remember what finally spurred me to take her to get more blood drawn. She had been through so much in such a short time.

Oh yes, I remember now. The new adoption agency was helping us set up the next adoption after the first fell through, and they were asking for so many details about her health and the delays. Their prompting and timeline is what propelled us to keep pushing for a diagnosis.

We waited a month for the results of the tests, all the while, keeping busy with therapies and adoption legalities. It was during this time that we found out that the same family member that had opposed our adoption would oppose this adoption effort again, even though there had been no word from this person for almost a year. Our recent efforts to have dialog with this person went unacknowledged again. It was heart breaking and yet not a huge surprise. We had prayed for peace for this person and a healthy relationship, but we were coming to grips that this would not be the case.

A new hearing was set and all of a sudden our esteemed attorney, the best, was telling us she would not attend herself; she was going to send the next qualified attorney. I was not happy. All of a sudden we were getting emails that things were not expected to go well in court and we should anticipate a longer, drawn out process filled with depositions and evidence hearings and … I was sick. I didn’t know how to deal with this news. I took this news to my prayer warriors, the same ladies that had been with me the moment I heard “adoption” and had prayed numerous times before. It was in my venting to these prayer warriors, that one of these ladies spoke up. She asked me to repeat the attorney’s name. She smiled. “That is my college roommate and good friend. I will make a call,” she said.