[Momof2boysinOH]

I've seen many people switch countries and I just wondered how much money they have lost doing that. Since we are already DTC with an agency that only does Chinese adoptions, I guess switching countries is out. I saw a beautiful little girl on a waiting child list the other day. She was from Taiwan. I read that the wait for referral from Taiwan is short and so is the pickup trip. Does anyone know anything about the Taiwan program (costs, age of children, referral times)? If someone were to switch countries after being DTC, would they lose all the money they had spent thus far?

Thanks!

[kathlene]

Interesting questions, Mary. I don't have any answers, but I will be more than intrigued by any answers that are provided. Once we decided on China, we didn't even think that switching countries was an option, but I have found that it is, indeed an option for many.
Kat

[thundrrds]

Mary,
From the little I know /rememberTaiwan is a very different type of program/ process from China. If I remember correctly one works thru a lawyer and the identified agency in Taiwan.

I would imagine one would basically start at square 1 in having to obtain most documents all over again for the new dossier. the exceptions being the homestudy (I imagine it could be revised to reflect the other country) and I wonder how one changes their I171... and of course one would be 'out' the fees paid so far to the current agency.

I'm sure if you did some google searching you can read up fairly quickly on the Taiwain process.

Joanne

[Momof2boysinOH]

Joanne,

Thanks for your response. I found some info from an agency in Seattle that has a Taiwan program. I emailed the agency for more info on fees and how the dossier process works. This is what I read:

There are 3 programs available for Taiwan. Program I families will await being chosen by the birthmother in Taiwan. Birthmothers are particularly drawn to young couples who have no children or who have only one or two children. In programs II and III, infants are referred to and matched by the agency to waiting families. Married couples between 25 and 49 years of age who have been married a minimum of 2 -5 years (depending on the program option) may adopt from all three programs. Program III may be an option for single women between 25 and 45 years of age.

Infants will usually be one to four months at the time of referral. However, most infants will be six to ten months old at the time the family travels to complete the adoption and bring their child home. One or both parents may travel to Taiwan for a stay of approximately three to five days.

[sethsmommy]

You must have been reading the Holt board! lol....

I was on the exact track as you today, and even found New Hope in Seattle.

Let us know what you find out!

Gina

[TaraL]

Does anyone know about the costs of the Taiwan process? Has long does it take to get a referral? I know my 2nd child is out there. Now I just have to figure out where! LOL!

[cr653]

im not sure if this is the norm,
but whatever money was sent in with your dossier is pretty much...gone....
that was the case with our first country...GONE! YUCK!
and
if you switch agencies, again....gone...

then there is a fee for a 'change of county' for uscics (i cant remember what, but still...)

and,
i caution you, while money is a not always the deciding factor in switching countries, if you switch for a waiting child, and then the child is lost for one reason or another, it's awful!
and you might question and requestion yourself over and over.
NOT that this would happen or normally does, and no matter HOW or WHEN you lose a child it hurts, but still, i had to through that in there...

cris.
who DID switch countries (but the country was really loosing ground anyhow!) for a particular little child, and lost that little child. However the over all path of our adoption brought us our daughter! so it's all good now!

best wish in your decision!

(ps, my dh HATED me looking at those photo lists! )

[cungar]

We switched over to China from the Philippines program (actually we're still waiting on a complicated adoption there) and we were able to use our home study with a few changes. Some of the other paperwork we collected was able to be used as well.

[cr653]

i believe some agencies also take all the information on the interested families,
and then decide which family would be the best match for that little child.
sometimes those meetings only happen monthly.
that is something to consider too.

i would call the agency in the morning just to get info on how thier waiting child program works.
if its the agency im thinking of,
they are SUPER nice.
i once considered using them, and then changed my mind at the time we weren't ready...
BUT they even kept my forms on file for quite a while and called me before moving them into 'inactive' or whatever!

cris.

[wanttobe]

Hi

Most of the money given to your agency is gone. The dossier is about the same so you can use most of it. For a fee you can transfer your I171H to another country. Your SW will charge a small fee to redue the homestudy for your new country. The fees are about the same for both countries, depending on which agency you use.
I'd say choose a country, then a child. You need to be comfortable with where you are going.
dana

[cooperbabe]

Any idea just how expedited the wait is if you're adopting a SN child? Yes, your agency fees are pretty much gone, but if what's being said here is accurate, a lot of the other thigns can either be used for Taiwan or be updated for a small fee.

I guess you know your financial situation best...if you use the tradeoff of losing the money but reducing your waittime (which, seeing how China is going, who knows how long the waittime will be) it may not be such a horrible thing.

I'd just like to say one thing.....if you do decide to change from China to Taiwan, I hope you still stay onboard with us and keep us up to date! I would miss seeing your posts.

[Momof2boysinOH]

Thanks, everyone. I thought I would explore Taiwan but I think that we would stand to lose too much to switch. I have to have faith that my daughter is in China.

It's tough to be optimistic sometimes. I just heard this morning about more families from a different agency with a later DTC than me getting LID already. Those with DTC of March 3rd got logged in March 27th and those with DTC of March 10th were logged in March 29th. I was DTC March 1st, darnit!

[sethsmommy]

If I were as far along as you, I would stay put. I really believe things are going to turn around soon! Hang in there!

[Godsdghtr2006]

Hang in there. I feel assured that the wait just means that your child isn't ready yet. When your daughter is ready all will flow smoothly you will see. I know its hard, believe me I know, we are all going through that! But trust that when everything is right then you will see it happen.