travel before adoption is final

I have a rather urgent matter and I am hoping someone here has some insight. My husband and I have booked a flight to Germany over Christmas to visit my family with our newly adopted son (adoption not final). It occurred to me that I need some sort of documentation for our son (born July this year) to travel with me. So I called the German Consulate General in Chicago (I am a German citizen). They informed me that he will receive German citizenship upon issuance of a birth certificate upon which time he will also receive a passport. The Consulate suggested obtaining a US passport in the meantime.... for which I need a birth certificate. That of course won't be issued until the adoption is final in *January*. So I emailed our lawyer and she told me that without a court order we aren't even allowed to take him out of the State of IL (which is odd because as per the agency we are allowed if we notify them via fax which we have done). She further said that if the agency report is complete, she can ask the court for a slightly early finalization. But that is a total shot in the dark. She will also file a motion requesting authorization to travel (reminding me that we can't go out of state without a court order yet) and an order directing passport issuance. Unfortunately, in this brave new world of "homeland security," success is far from guaranteed. So. Having said all that, I was thinking that we do have some sort of documentation that our son has been in our custody pending the finalization of the adoption (or some such language) already. I was told that I cannot obtain his original birth certificate and get a passport that way. :( But, I do know that there are lots of people coming to this country from Germany to adopt infants. They don't wait 6 months before they go back to Germany.... what do they do that allows them travel? Does anyone know? Of course they don't return to the US as I will..... Is there anything I can do to facilitate this? I'm sorry I've been so verbose... I am almost besides myself because my father in Germany is in failing health and has only seen pictures of his grand son. I feel it rather urgent to visit him. Any and all ideas are welcome.