We have our OFFICIAL Log-In-Date (LID)!

We received word from our adoption agency, Adoptions Together, that the date our dossier/application was officially logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs was June 19, 2006.

It's very exciting to finally have this offical date!

Ack! The rumors!

There's a website for China adoptions that is unofficially known as "Rumor Queen." I love it because there's a lot of number crunching and, for the most part, I feel like I don't get too swept up in the rumors.

The latest rumors include that the CCAA told some agencies the wait wouldn't get much longer than it already is; however, some agencies say that the CCAA told them the wait could go to 3 years. Also, rumor is that all orphanages are now allowed to send paperwork for eligible children (not just the orphanages that have gone through the process of being approved to submit babies for international adoption). That could provide more babies!

Hopefully by the end of this month there will be an update on how far the CCAA got in the matching/referral process this month. Rumors on that front are that they may have processed half of November. Processing half of November would be a great accomplishment because apparently there were A LOT of dossiers submitted that month.

"I cannot tell how the truth may be; I say the tale as 'twas said to me. "

-- Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel

Why is the wait getting longer?

Here's a little history on our adoption process regarding the wait: When we first started looking into adoption in November 2005, the wait for the China program was 9-12 months. In February 2006, the social worker who was conducting our homestudy told us the wait would probably increase to 14 months; it was so hard to hear that news. The wait has steadily increased since then and is currently at about 19 months and expected to increase to 24 to 36 months. Our paperwork will have been at the CCAA for 1 year this July.

Why is the wait getting longer? There are several reasons, including the following:

• Thousands of adoption applications have been sent to the CCAA over the past couple of years. Some estimate there are about 20,000 adoption applications in the CCAA queue.
• China's economics are on the upswing meaning more parents are able to afford keeping more than child. Contrary to belief, not all cities and provinces in China have a strict one-child policy.
• There are more domestic adoptions occurring within China; they take precedent over international adoptions. And that's a wonderful thing for those parents in China who wish to start their family.
• The last two bullet points mean there are less children in China's orphanages to meet the demand listed in bullet point #1.

Last month Chris and I considered switching international adoption programs. Specifically, we considered switching to Vietnam; our adoption agency just started working with the recently reopened Vietnam program. So we collected information on the Vietnam program, and we quite quickly came to decide that switching programs wasn't worth the risk. Vietnam is only recently reopened and the process is not as smooth or sure as the China program, even though we possibly could have a baby sooner than with the China program. How would we feel if we had switched to Vietnam and that program suddenly closed down? And having applications at two countries isn't allowed and isn't fair to all of those who are waiting.

What are our hopes? We hope the wait will not go far beyond 24 months. We hope we're halfway through the wait to at least seeing a picture of our child.

We thank everyone for being so supportive despite all the disheartening updates we've forwarded on to you. As we wait to become parents, we haven't lost sight of the important things to celebrate, and that's why we now say...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Adoption Status Update

Although the CCAA has not updated their web site, there is strong evidence suggesting they've finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before November 1, 2005. That indicates they matched 5 days worth of dossiers this past month.

Again, our adoption application documents were registered with their office sometime in late June/early July 2006. There's a lot of applications ahead of ours.

Chris and I are trying to come to terms with the prediction that we may not get our referral for another year and therefore may not travel until fall of 2008 to bring home our child. As you can imagine, this is heartbreaking for us, but we are prepared to hang in there for our baby.

In my next post I'll talk more about what we've learned about the increasing wait.