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ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were about 5 and 6 at the time. We were sitting in the judge’s chambers, and the judge asked my daughter, and then my son, if they wanted me to be their daddy. They said yes. There were smiles and hugs all around the room. We signed some papers and went home.

Adam and Jill Trower have been waiting more than four years for a similar moment. The couple lives on a farm in Pike County, Missouri, about halfway between Bowling Green and Vandalia. Adam is a banker. Jill is a teacher. When their daughter turned 7, they decided they wanted one more child to complete their family. They chose to adopt a young boy who had been abandoned near a trash heap in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

That was in 2018. The Trowers’ son, Luke, is 4 now, but he’s still not home with them. He’s stuck in Congo because of a bureaucratic nightmare that has two U.S. agencies — the Department of State and the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services — trading blame for the long delays and ultimate denial of a visa to bring Luke to the U.S.

I first wrote about the Trowers last year, when more than two years after a judge in Congo approved the adoption, the U.S. hadn’t given the Trowers an answer as to whether they would be able to unite with their son. Earlier this year, the Trowers filed a lawsuit against the two U.S. agencies to force an answer. They finally got one: Their application was denied.

In legal filings, the Department of State cites changing administrative rules in Congo that discourage foreign adoptions and an investigation that couldn’t determine the veracity of the adoption.

But that investigation, the Trowers’ attorneys say, was a sham.

“Despite having taken over one year to complete its ‘investigation,’ the Kinshasa Embassy failed to interview any of the relevant individuals involved in Luke’s adoption, including the woman who found Luke abandoned in the garbage heap, the orphanage personnel, or local authorities or court personnel involved in the handling the child since his finding or as part of the adoption process,� they wrote in a federal lawsuit. “In sum, the Department of State failed to interview anyone with first-hand knowledge of the child’s finding and abandonment, or adoption in DRC.�

The Trowers thought they were going into the adoption process well prepared for the difficulties ahead, knowing that foreign adoptions can be difficult, but what they didn’t expect was that they’d have to hold their own government accountable for standing in the way. While the pandemic surely contributed to the delays, their attorneys, David Gearhart and Lindsey Bruno of the , allege in court filings that officials from the Department of State withheld information from the immigration agency that the adoption was “legally binding and enforceable.�

“It is hard to put into words what it feels like to learn our own government hid evidence that would have supported approving our adoption,� Adam says.

The government’s position is that since the changes to the family code in Congolese law in 2016, the country’s official position is to discourage international adoptions, and the U.S. must honor that position. The Trowers argue that’s not accurate. Otherwise, why would their initial application to apply for adoption in Congo have been approved in 2018? There have been more than two dozen international adoptions from Congo to the U.S. since 2017, the Trowers argue in court filings.

At the core of the court battle is a fundamental question being asked in both countries: Is the judiciary — in Congo and the U.S. — an independent branch of government whose rulings stand on their own? A judge in Congo says his adoption ruling and the country’s constitution trump executive branch attempts to stand in the way of this family unification. Now a judge in the U.S. will get to make a similar determination.

Luke continues to live at an orphanage in Congo. Last year, he was hospitalized for several days with malaria and typhoid. The Trowers do their best to FaceTime with him and bond from thousands of miles away, and their court battle is waged in federal court.

Time is not on Luke’s side. Forces beyond his understanding are stopping his parents from taking him home.

“All we asked for is a fair chance,� Adam says, “and it seems clear we didn’t get that.�