It's nice to know it happens for some families

My friend L, after 38 months of waiting, has been matched to a daughter. (No, that isn't her baby in the photo.)

I'm so happy for the creation of this new family! Best wishes go out to baby, mommy, and extended family!

A link to her blog can be found further down this page on the left.

Let's all believe that this miracle is the start of a speed up in the process!

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H1N1 Flu Epidemic

There have been conflicting reports that the CCAA has stopped matching, sending referrals, and sending travel authorizations due to the flu epidemic.

Nothing confirmed, but referrals are very overdue.

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Adoption processing in China - Part 1

I realized that while I gave you information on my adoption timeline, I haven’t explained what happens on the other side of the fence; what is the process and timeline in China?
So here is the condensed (!) version in three posts:
The trip of Le (La?) Dossier:

Once a dossier (all of that lovely paperwork) arrives in China the adoption agency brings it to the CCAA offices. The CCAA logged in the dossier and assigns it an official Log-In-Date (LID).

A dossier is then translated into Chinese so that it can be reviewed. The CCAA has different rooms, or departments, that are responsible for each phase of the process (Translation room, Review room, Matching room, Travel room).

A translated dossier goes to the Review room where it is thoroughly evaluated. Sometimes, the assigned reviewer has questions about the dossier information and asks for further detail from the adoption agency. The agency acts as the go between for the questions and information; prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) are never in direct contact with the CCAA, or any other Chinese officials.

Once a dossier is reviewed it is moved to the Matching room. All matching is done by log in date, so all the dossiers with the same LID are matched at the same time. Right now my dossier is in the Matching room waiting for my LID to come up for match.

Abandoned or relinquished children who can be placed through international adoption are in the care of social welfare institutes (SWIs). The SWI cares for the children, documents their medical information, and provides all of the children’s information to the CCAA.

How the children are brought to the care of the SWI, where they are raised, the domestic adoption process in China, etc. is all a story for another day.

Adoption processing in China - Part 2

Putting together a new family:

In the Matching room at the CCAA, officials compare the dossiers of PAPs with the information on each child. I have heard many stories of how they match parent to child and nothing has been verified so that part of the process is a mystery. I know that the CCAA wants to place a child with the right parent and their primary concern is the well being of China’s orphaned children.

When all of the matches are complete for each LID’s families, the information on the match and the child is sent to the adoption agency. The agency sends as much possible information about the health and care of the child to the parents. The adoption agency puts the child’s information, along with instructions on the rest of the process into a packet and sends it to the parents. The agency calls the lucky moms and dads to tell them they have been matched to a child and their packet has been overnighted. Some agencies will email photos immediately, others will only provide information over the phone until the packet arrives.

Once the package arrives with the child’s information the parents have a short window of time to return confirmation of their desire to continue with the adoption. After that the focus moves to travel arrangements. The adoption agency informs the CCAA of the confirmation and while the agency is working on your travel, the CCAA is arranging the legal side of the trip; appointments with provincial governments and working with the agency and the US Consulate to formalize the adoption.

Adoption processing in China - Part 3

Travel/ Final Adoption/ Home:

It takes approximately 30-60 days to complete the travel arrangements, confirm government appointments, travel visas, etc. before the families actually travel to China. Once there, families typically stay for two weeks; this time is necessary for the Chinese government to finalize the adoption locally in the province and for the US Consulate to finalize the adoption and citizenship of the child.

The parents, and whomever they bring with them, travel to the child’s location first. There they meet and take custody of the child and the province legalizes the adoption for China. This takes a few days and can involve long travel. China is a very big country!

Once the adoption is approved by the province the new family travels to Guangzhou, China. This is where the US Consulate is located and where the family processes the paperwork finalizing the adoption in the eyes of the United States. The child will have a medical exam to verify there are no health issues that would keep her/ him from entering the US. Finally, the child is sworn in as a US citizen and is legally part of the family in the eyes of both countries.

Then comes the long flight home, with a child who has only known you for two weeks, is in a strange place and dressed/ fed/ cared for differently, and can be in one of many, many moods as you leave China. Once the child steps on US soil, meaning where ever in the US the plane lands first, she/ he is legally a US citizen. BeachBaby stands a good chance of becoming a US citizen at the Newark, New Jersey airport. Either way, when we all step off that last plane, everyone will be glad to be home, but not necessarily happy and cheery.

When I am matched with BeachBaby, I will let you in on the details of the trip and happenings scheduled in China. Until then, here’s keeping all our fingers and toes crossed for the speedy completion of this long process. And please keep good thoughts in your heart for the parents ahead of me in this process; may everyone’s dreams of a new family come true as fast as Heaven will allow.


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