[stayjay]

If I had known the wait was going to be this long, I think I would have asked for an older child. I feel that each day we are getting older and by the time we bring our children home, we will be too old for an infant. We were supposed to have had our referral by now, and from the latest rumors, it seems we may not travel until the fall (I know it's just rumors, not fact). I wish I had requested 12-24 months. Oh well, its out of our hands.

Anyway thanks for listening.

[CoatAnnHat]

I think the only way you would have gotten an expedited referral would have been for a waiting child. China considers any baby up to the age of 24 months an infant.

[mkinzie]

I know it's frustrating. We were supposed to get a referral by May but now are hoping for July. I think that may be wishful thinking though. I just keep telling myself that there is a reason for all of this and when it happens I'll understand why I had to wait. Hang in there!

[stephdpenn]

Originally Posted by stayjay

If I had known the wait was going to be this long, I think I would have asked for an older child. I feel that each day we are getting older and by the time we bring our children home, we will be too old for an infant. We were supposed to have had our referral by now, and from the latest rumors, it seems we may not travel until the fall (I know it's just rumors, not fact). I wish I had requested 12-24 months. Oh well, its out of our hands.

Anyway thanks for listening.

Since you still don't have a referral you could petition for a waiting/special needs child.
We are waiting for our agency's next list of sn children to come out this month and have a look to see if our daughter is there. We were DTC 1-20-06 but were told if we were matched with a sn child then we could be traveling even before summer.

[Hopefully a Dad]

We got caught up in the whole Russia thing, and ended up switching countries from Russia to China. We have a LID of last summer, and still don't have a referral. All in all, we've been in the adoption process for well over two years, and in the infertility process for about 5 years.

The reality of it is, though, that that doesn't matter. Sure, we want a baby so badly we can almost feel it. Sure it seems like it's taking forever. But it's not totally about us. It's about that one wonderfully special little girl (or boy) who needs us.

If the perfect child for us was in another place at another time, I truly believe that we'd have gone a different route. But, we were led this way, and, I honestly believe that God has that one child who can complete our lives and whose life we can complete just waiting for us, when the time is right.

So, we can wait as long as we need to in order to be matched up with the perfect forever family.

It's easier for me to say that because our referral should hopefully be right around the corner, but I can't anticipate what the CCAA might or might not do in the next several weeks or months. And even if I could, it's out of my control.

I know it's tough, but, for your child's sake, hang in there!

[sak9645]

I'm not sure what you mean by "too old for an infant." People have received infants and young toddlers when in their 50s, and have been perfectly good parents to them. A few months extra of waiting will not make you too old.

Sharon

[michelle01]

We asked for a child from 18-36 months old. This does not change the referral wait time

[drmalcolm]

I believe what stayjay means is not that their referral time for a child would have been any less, but that they would be farther away from the infant months and not "so old" themselves with an older child.

Keep in mind, though, stayjay, you may get a child of the older age anyway, as it seems many of the children at referral are at least 12 months.

Good luck--I know it's hard to wait!

Christina