The Chinese government has established two different procedures for international adoption. The first is the China Traditional Program. This is for the adoption of children with no known medical conditions and can take up to 4 years. The second is the China Waiting Child program. A child is generally considered to be "waiting" or "hard to place" if they are older (6 years of age and older in the case of China), or if they have at least minor to moderate medical, physical, genetic, psychological, emotional, or developmental challenges or disabilities. This is often referred to as "special needs." This can cover a wide range of conditions. Many of them will be surgically correctable, or may be something that just takes a little extra understanding and some additional time. A minor special need could be a heart murmur that the child is likely to outgrow without the need for surgery, or a port wine birthmark on a part of the body normally covered by clothing. Examples of surgically correctable conditions would be things like a club foot, cleft lip and palate, or an operable heart defect.

Step 1
The Waiting Child adoption process from China is broken into four big parts. First you must gather and prepare all of the documents needed for your adoption. This includes obtaining criminal and child abuse clearances, spending time with a Social Worker as a part of your Home Study, obtaining reference letters, employment verification, birth certificates, approval from US Immigration, and so forth. In most cases it takes at least 4 to 6 months to get through this part of the paperwork. Many families take longer if they have busy lives. Busy families may also choose our Executive Assistant Service and let us assume much of the paperwork drudgery.

Step 2
Next, you select the child you want to adopt. You may choose a child from an Agency Specific List of children only available through our agency, from a Shared List of children available to all agencies, or have our Agency Select a child for you from a quickly changing list of children with less extensive medical conditions. You may also choose not to choose, applying for a China Traditional Program adoption, and then later requesting a Waiting Child if you find the right match for your family.

Detailed medical and care information is typically provided about each child, as well as where the child is located and whether they are in group care or foster care. The medical information from China is generally quite reliable and complete, although there are some cultural differences in how different medical conditions are understood. The medical exam typically includes a Complete Blood Count (CBC), Hepatitis and HIV tests, and some information about the child's development and daily life. You family will be given an opportunity to review this medical information at length, and with the assistance of your family physician and/or an international adoption medical specialist.

While more boys are available than girls (the reverse of the China Traditional Program), there are many girls of all ages available. As most adoptive parents prefer to adopt very young girls with very minor medical conditions, there can be a wait to find a child that matches a family’s preferences. Families who are more flexible about gender and medical conditions typically find the child who is right for them with no delays.

Step 3
For the third part of your adoption your documents are sent to the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA), a requirement of the Chinese government, to be processed and reviewed. As a part of this review they will read a letter from your family that requests the child you would like to adopt. It typically takes the CCAA a few months to review your documents and approve your application.

The CCAA is generally more flexible approving families who wish to adopt Waiting Children, and will often give waivers to families who don’t quite qualify to adopt a child under the rules for a China Traditional adoption. Families with one or both spouses up to 55 years of age may adopt a waiting child, as can families who already have 5 children in their home. Requirements for income, net worth, body weight, and other factors are not always rigidly enforced. Ethnically Chinese families may receive more flexibility. Sibling groups are generally not available, and twins only rarely available to very well qualified families.

Step 4
On to part four. You receive a formal referral from the CCAA matching your family with your child, sent through our agency. You sign a formal acceptance of that referral, and we send it back to China. The CCAA then sends notification to the orphanage responsible for your child that the child has been assigned to a family, and prepares your "Travel Approval" letter. This is a document that you present to officials in your baby's home town, and gives you permission from the central government to adopt the child. We normally receive this document 2 - 3 weeks after the CCAA has received the acceptance forms from our agency. Once we have this form in hand, we can then make appointments in China for the processing of the adoption. Families usually leave 3 - 4 weeks after we receive the Travel Approval letters from the CCAA. 

Your trip in China normally takes 10 - 14 days, and begins when you meet your English speaking guides in the large town nearest to your child’s orphanage. During the first week to 10 days you will take custody of your child, sign a contract with the orphanage promising to care for your child, and adopt your child in court. Once the adoption is complete you will be provided with appropriate adoption documents and your child’s Chinese passport. The remainder of your time in China will be spent working with a US Immigration office in Guangzhou China. They will review your documentation and issue your child a Visa to enter the United States as an immigrant. There will be plenty of time for shopping and cultural experiences. Whenever possible your guides will take you to visit your child’s orphanage and place where your child was abandoned. Our guide team in China is truly praiseworthy. We consider them to be the best in China.

 

Once you are home our agency will help you integrate your child into the United States, and to comply with post-adoption requirements. China asks for reports on the progress of adopted children at 6 and 12 months. Our agency asks for a report about a month after you are home.