[Megi]

I was wondering what "age" - at time of gotcha was - for those who have children already? What is in range you requested?

Also, I notice some mentioning if older parents you get older child - is that correct?

We are 35 and 36 - does this mean we have no chance of infant (under 12-mo.)?

Thanks for the inupt!

Megi

[KSWMickey]

I can only share our experience as it relates to your last question. My wife and I are 37 and have received our referral. We don't have our travel dates yet, but it looks like our daughter will be just under one year when we travel.

I don't have any numbers to give you, but my impression is that 35/36 is actually on the younger side of most parents who are adopting internationally.

[MagpieDreamer]

(I think) China only takes people with at least one parent over the age of thirty. That means that anyone under forty is pretty much in the optimum age range for a younger kid. Those who I know who've adopted usually picked up their child while the baby was under two - Most seem to be somewhere between eight and eighteen months.

[Chinagirl2007]

Hi, i hope you get more responses because i am curious as well.

since you fall into the 30-44 age range, my agency would tell you to expect a child 8-14 months at gotcha. though China sometimes throws a curveball with a child a bit older even for young people like you. Most likely though, 8-14 months.

Again, i hope you get more responses because i am never sure how old people (parents) are when they announce their referrals.

My husband and I are 42 and 46 so, according to China's rules, we must accept a child in the 8-24 month range, though its likely we will fall into the 8-14 month range as well since the majority of babies are in that age group.

[richard p.]

we were in our early 40's for the first and got the high end of our requested range (12 to 18 months). My understanding is that the youngest age is 6 or 7 months.

[janet_blue33]

I'm 39, my husband is 65. Our daughter was 11 months old at referral....

[bethnil]

I too have been looking into this question. I have a friend that adopted from China 7 years ago. Their daughter was only 5 months old at Gotcha Day. They were EXTREMELY surprised, as they were expecting a 1 yr old. I know that that is pretty unusual situation. She did mention that they were the youngest couple in their travel group-being in their mid thirties. It seems to be that most children are between 8-14 months at Gotcha Day from what I have noticed lately.

[Lissa]

My understanding of the age of parent/age of baby question is as follows (and may be wrong):

When you go to the matching room whatever orphange is up next in the pile is from where your child will be assigned. They will pick a child specifically for you from that pile, but ages etc. are dependant upon what children are available at that time.

In my travel group of 13 we were as varied as they come. At 33 (hubby) and 39 (me) we were among the younger parents adopting. The oldest were in thier 50s, and the majority of us were in our mid forties. We all (except one single lady whose baby was 4 months older than the rest) received babies within 3 weeks of age of one another. Those 12 babies were all 9 months at referral and 12 months at pick up. (We had a huge delay due to our American Consulate...we should have received her at 11 months!)

I have had friends who are a little bit older than me recieve babies younger, I've had ones who are younger receive babies older than mine. I really do think a lot of it is circumstance. Where is your dossier in the stack as compared to where is her dossier in the stack.

[MissyAmomChina]

Hi,

We were 32 and 36 when our paperwork was submitted. Our daughter was 11.5 months at referral and 13.5 months the day we met her. Our request was 0-12 months, as young as possible. Our homestudy was approved for a child up to 18 months (Something I recommend so that you won't need an update after referral).

I think requests and age ranges are simply ballpark figures. You will see older parents with younger referrals and younger parents with older referrals. A lot of it depends on the orphanage you get matched with. Some orphanages submit children at younger ages some older. The matching to an orphanage is something completely controlled by the employees of CCAA.

While there is no set pattern, you can see sometimes in a referral group a lot of babies in one certain age. It appeared in the past few months that a lot of referrals were on the slightly younger age of 8 or so months. Our agency is currently preparing parents for children closer to the age of 12-14 months now since the delay in referrals.

Hope that helps. Take care,

[crg]

hi
i also am interested in this.
when we started the process i was interested in ayap , and requested 0-12 months but i think up to 18 months on the homestudy.
but now i am sort of hoping for 20mo. to 24 mo.
our boys just turned 2yo, and i think it would be nice to do everything 'together'
i am 46 and dh 47.
carolyn

[Chinagirl2007]

Missy brings up an interesting point, re: her agency preparing parents for slightly older babies in the coming months--i had wondered how the recent delays and the temporary closure of one province to international adoption could effect the ages of the children coming out of orphanages.


It makes sense that all the delays could 'age' the babies somewhat. maybe just by 3-4 months until it all evens out again ( which I hope it does for the sake of everyone waiting)

i also agree with lissa and missy that no matter what the age of the parents, if the orphanage your travel group is matched with has mostly 11 month olds, that's what most people are going to get, regardless of whether you are 30 or 50.

[Momof2boysinOH]

Originally Posted by janet_blue33

I'm 39, my husband is 65. Our daughter was 11 months old at referral....

Wow! I find it really surprising that a 65-year-old would get an 11 month old but my husband and I need to be prepared for 12-14 months (he'll be 30 or 31 and I'll be 31 at the time of referral). I would really like for my younger son and our daughter from China to have a difference in their ages. He'll be around 24-26 months at the time of his sister's referral, and I would LIKE for her to be under a year old (or just about a year old) so that they're not too close together. Would CCAA take my son's age into account at all?

I know whatever her age, she'll be perfect for our family. I'm just wondering about this because of my son's age and wanting that sibling spacing.

[angelaskids]

I haven't adopted yet, but went to a recent seminar on China adoptions and was told age 30-44 qualifies for under 12 months old. Age 45-49 qualify for up to 24 months. Ages 50-55 qualify for child 36 months to 10 years old. Anyone can choose an older or special needs child.

[littlewigglebut]

I'm 30 and my DH is 51. We've been told that we need to be prepared for a child 0-36mon. However, we've also been told by several agencies, that the mother's age is more closely looked at when matching child's age. Also we've been told that having 3yo twins is likely to be an influence because China does try to keep kids from being spaced that closely together. Still in the end we have to be prepared for a child up to 36months, because a lot of it has to do with what children need homes when you're up to be matched.

[andrea]

I'm curious about this too. We are both 45 now, 44 at LID. Our youngest, a daughter just turned 3 and we have a bio son that is 20. Sarah came home from Korea at 5 months in 2003. I am prepared for an older baby not so much that she is really close in age to Sarah though. I would like a little bit of a span in ages between them so Sarah feels like she is helping me with a baby. I just checked my dossier to see what age we requested because I honestly couldn't remember and I checked to see what age we qualified for. We wrote down 8 to 12 months or as young as possible. When checking to see what age we qualified for I see ages 30 to 45 may be assigned a child from 10-12 months, 46 to 50 1 to 3, 50 to 55 over 3. I've always understood that these are just a guideline and that China considers babies up to 24 months infants and it depends on the ages of the babies the orphanage have available at the time of your match.

Andrea LID 5/24