[sak9645]

Amy,

You can pursue China adoption in one of three ways.

First, you can go the usual route. You can make sure that your homestudy approves you for an infant or toddler who has no known special needs, other than normal orphanage delays and medical issues. You can also mention that you want an infant or toddler with no known special needs in the letter to China that is included in your dossier. Once you have your completed dossier, your agency will send it to China. When your group comes up for matching, you will be assigned a child who is considered NSN and who is in the 6 mo. to 2 yr. age range. You should have the referral reviewed by a pediatrician and/or an adoption medicine specialist to make sure that nothing in the medical report suggests that China made a mistake and referred you a child with a special need, such as Hep. B chronic carrier status. If there is a mistake, China will refer you a different child, but this is a pretty rare situation.

Second, you can decide that there are certain special needs you will accept -- for example, a child with an extra finger or toe, a child with a club foot, a child with a prominent birthmark, a child with a cleft palate, etc. You can have your homestudy approve you for these conditions. You can also mention these conditions in your letter to China. When your dossier is completed, it will be sent to China, just as it would be for the NSN people. China will then match you with a child that meets your requirements, if one is available. It such a child isn't available, you may be matched with a child with no special need. As always, you should have the referral reviewed by doctors, and you may reject it if the problems clearly go beyond the special needs you requested. But some families find that, by going this route, they actually get a child who is as healthy as or healthier than any NSN child, and whose needs are very mild.

Third, you can go through the Waiting Child program. China has designated some children as hard to place. These children may be infants and toddlers with special needs, or they may be older children (up to 13) with no medical issues at all (though there may be some significant issues involved with a long stay in an orphanage). When the children have special needs, they may be very minor or clearly significant.

With the Waiting Child program, China gives lists of children to agencies chosen to participate. Each agency gets a different list. The agency is then given three months or so to find suitable families for the children. If they find a suitable family, they first ask the CCAA to indicate preapproval. Then, if preapproval is given, they have the family submit a dossier, which gets expedited review. If all is well, the family waits for travel approval and goes to get the child. The process can be considerably shorter than either of the previous two routes to China adoption.

If you want to participate in the Waiting Child program, you should get a list of the agencies that participate -- I think there's one on APC -- and request their latest Waiting Child lists. You can then look at the information on each child, which will include a photo, some medical facts, and some other information, to see if there are any children you think you can parent.

If you find a child on a list, whom you think you could parent, you should let the agency representing him/her know. If there are several families interested in the child, which is likely in the case of infants and toddlers with fairly minor needs, the agency will select the one it deems best equipped to parent the child.

If you are selected, the agency will request preapproval from China, based on some general information. If you get preapproved, you will submit a dossier. If there are no new facts in the dossier, which cause the CCAA to view you more negatively, you will officially be referred the child. You will then wait for travel approval, and then travel to adopt the child.

Many people really love the Waiting Child program, because they feel more in control of the process. They can actually select a child. Many people also like the program because some of the Waiting Children have surprisingly minor needs, such as a large birthmark that can be lightened with a laser, or an already corrected heart problem.

I hope this helps.


Sharon