Monday, January 4, 2010

The Current Status of International Adoption

I haven't mentioned our adoption in a while because there just hasn't been anything news worthy to say about it. China has chosen to adopt out fewer of its children internationally and that has had a major impact on many things, the least of which is our wait. The greatest and most tragic impact is on the children who will never have a family of their own.

When we made the decision to adopt in 2005 the waiting period was only six months. As you can see in the chart below that was around the peak time for international adoption and in particular for adoption from China. We submitted our paperwork as soon as we were eligible and were logged into the China adoption system on July 22, 2006. At that time the wait was creeping up, but it still looked like our daughter would be home within a year. Now 3 1/2 years since our log in date and 5 years since we made the decision to adopt, we still have a minimum of a year to go and a likely maximum of two. The wait is not easy, but I am sure when we hold Natalie in our arms the pain of waiting will be forgotten - as women who give birth usually forget just how bad those labor pains were.

Many people don't understand how we can wait so long. My response is that part of my heart is in China and I have faith that this journey will lead us to our precious daughter.

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6 comments:

JacksDad said...

Will you still adopt the same child? Or will they find another match for you?

Charity, Katie, Louie & Natalie said...

We are in line for a referral. We won't be assigned a specific child until we get our referral. When we do we will travel 6-8 weeks later. Our daughter will likely be around 1 year old, but could be up to 3 years old.

Nando - "Oh Look A Squirrel" said...

Your blog brought me back to our own wait for our two sons. We adopted through foster care so the wait wasn't nearly as long but those days were full of frustration and anxiety and a longing that never quite seemed to go away. One day you will hold your baby girl and the sky will seem bluer (is that a word?) and everything will fall into place. You are doing it the right way! Your patience will be rewarded.

Anonymous said...

Wow, it is amazing to see how much Russian adoption has changed. We adopted in 2002. Took five months, from the day we sent off the first piece of paperwork to court date. Now they are down to just over 1,000. Crazy.

I hope your adoption dreams come true soon. I can not imagine waiting as long as you have.

Don't you have to keep renewing paperwork? It has been so long, I have forgotten everything....

Cindy
www.bernernewf.wordpress.com

Charity, Katie, Louie & Natalie said...

Cindy, yes we have to keep renewing paperwork. We will have to be fingerprinted by the Dept of Homeland Security for the third time later this year and will have lots of paperwork to fill out to get an updated home study. Our government definitely doesn't try to make this process simple.

Charlotte said...

China is a good place for your heart to be ! My heart will always love China ! She will come home, and when you look at her it will be the child you have dreamed of all your life ! Wishing they would speed it up ! We want a baby to come visit !