[Ellen011]

My husband and I are going to start this process in the spring and are looking at agencies presently, so my first question is,

does size matter? I am looking at one agency that according to its own numbers sends about 10 families a month and another that sends 3-4x that per month. Any advantage to one over the other?

next question -- is there some advantage to doing everything through 1 agency, as opposed to doing homsestudy with one agency and placement through a second? I live in MA and we have some good agencies here that do China placement

Third question -- can I start to get the birth certificates, etc. now or do they expire? Is there anything special I need to request with respect to them? And how many copies should I get?

Thanks.

Ellen

[dangerlucy]

You sound about as impatient as I was to get started! Here's some advice...

There are many wonderful agencies out there and choosing one is a purely personal matter. I know many aparents who have gone with bigger agencies and love them! However, I am going with a small agency that is local. I like having them nearby and they help a lot with the paperchase. They send only a few couples a year to China, but I like the personal attention I get from them. The homestudy and placement are all done through them, so I don't have to worry about finding a separate SW, but this is not the case with some of the bigger or out-of-state agencies.

I would recommend NOT getting any documents until you have signed with an agency. Many documents DO expire and it's better to wait to find out your agency requirements before you have to end up redoing documents or paying more money for something that may have expired. Your agency will give you ALL of the information you'll need to order documents.

Spend this time researching agencies and reading a lot of books on China and adoption. You could apply for your passport, if you don't already have one. Start a journal about your journey.

Hope this helps!

[stvbrumley7537]

Dear Ellen,
Congratulations on your exciting adventure! My husband and I are in the process of adopting from China and we can't wait. We began the process in June with an agency out of Texas (We are from SC), and have never regreted using them to expedite our adoption. The agency we used had nothing to do with the homestudy social worker we used. She is a local social worker who folloeds our agency reqirements to complete our homestudy.
When I say we began our journey in June, I mean Steve and I began the paperchasing. We began collecting birth certificates, marriage licence, etc. on our own and then in August, we started the "Official" process. I would encourage you to go ahead and choose an agency. I would be happy to share more with you about our agency. The people have been most helpful, and when you're new at this, they become your family. God Bless you as you begin your journey. My email is stvbrumley@bellsouth.net

You are more than welcome to email. Merry Christmas! Lisa

[jennyfields]

I see no issue about size of the agency, unless you are single. (Since singles can only be a percentage of the agency's referrals, you have a chance of DTC sooner with a larger agency.) I'd go with an agency that has a proven track record & a good set of references.

If you use an out-of-state agency, you would have to use another agency to do the home study, since the home study needs to be done by an agency licensed in the state. I see no problems with that, as long as you use an agency that is familiar with Chinese adoptions & knows how to tailor its home study accordingly.

I also would advise you not to start collecting documents until you sign with an agency.