[cbw]

Hi,
I'm new to this whole thing...the forum, talking to others about adoption, asking questions and looking for support, etc. I haven't yet started the adoption process so I'm unsure how long from filling out paperwork to bringing home our child will take.
I'm estimating two years. Does this seem realistic?

We have two biological kids (both very young, close in age and boys) that are running me ragged. So, I'm trying to determine when we should start the process.

Thank you in advance for your feedback,
cbw

[Trace7]

I think from this point, a realistic timeline from paperwork to bringing child home is 3-4 years for China. The one constant in international adoption is CHANGE, so things could change - but the wait is currently about 20 months from the time your paperwork is logged in over in China to referral, and the wait is growing. The paperchase itself can take about 6 months, so that would be 26 months right there - but like I said - the wait time for referral is growing, and looks to be about 24 months by the end of 2007 from log-in date to referral, and will probably grow longer after that.

[MichelePA]

I have to agree. I think it is going to be longer than 2 years. It took us less than 4 months to finish our paperchase and home study, but I know many people who took much longer. We are LID as of 4/07 and I am expecting at least 3 years.

Michele

[monami7]

I would agree. Including our paperwork it took 27 months from start to refferal. She was totally worth it though! But that being said the refferals are only averaging a week or less at a time, so it could be 3 to 5 years from LID to refferal.
Sorry I know t is really long. As Tracy said it could change, but I would rather people be prepared than to go into it thinking a year and it be 2 and a half (just an example )

[cbw]

Wow! I'm glad I asked. This brought up two (probably stupid) questions though.

1. Is it taking so long because not enough people (at American agencies and in China) are working on the process or are there more prosective parents than adoptive kids?

2. Can someone explain the abreviations that you are using (i.e., DOR, LID, DTC, LOI, TA, etc.)?

Thanks,
cbw

[copper653]

Originally Posted by cbw

Wow! I'm glad I asked. This brought up two (probably stupid) questions though.

1. Is it taking so long because not enough people (at American agencies and in China) are working on the process or are there more prosective parents than adoptive kids?

2. Can someone explain the abreviations that you are using (i.e., DOR, LID, DTC, LOI, TA, etc.)?

Thanks,
cbw

No question is stupid, esp here.

1. The Chinese will say that there are more international prosective parents than adoptive children. That there aren't enough orphanages that are international adoption approved, there is paperwork/approval process for the orphanage must do before the children are available for international. Plus they are pushing domestic adoption, they are also changing/ laxing some of their rules on how many children a family can have. Some people say it has something to do with international relates and what not.

2. DOR date of referral / the date you get to see your new beautiful child
LID, Log in date / date in which China states they have received your paperwork, referrals are usually given out based on your LID
DTC Dossier to China / date your agency sends your paperwork to China
LOI, this is a special needs abbre. I believe it is letter of intent. someone sn will need to explain more
TA Travel approval date. even though you have received your referral they still must approve your travel to the country. Agencies don't make travel plans until they have this. Once they have the TA they will make the CA (counsel sp? appt - US citizenship ) then once that is known you can make your travel plans.

HTH, abit of a long day here. Good luck!

[turtleheadfred]

Hi! Unfortunately, I would have to agree with everyone else. We were doing our "paperchase" for at least a year and a half... due in part to some misunderstandings on our part. But now, we're in the waiting process and still looking at about 2 years.

It can be somewhat frustrating, but it helps when you know what to expect. We weren't very realistic, but the climate has definitely changed - so our situation is somewhat different.

As long as you gather information and feel like you have the best knowledge you can gather on how long your wait could be etc., it's much easier to handle. JMO! Good luck!

[vivismom]

If you're still thinking about when to start, you could do "baby steps" on the paperwork in the meantime, that wouldn't take that much effort on your part in the midst of chasing after your 2 little boys. For example, call and get certified copies of all birth and marriage certificates. Gather your tax documents from the past couple of years. Put your finances in order and organize that paperwork. Email different agencies and request information, and pm people here to ask about agencies you are considering. Once you have an agency they will have a list of documents you should begin collecting. When we got this I made an appt for dh and I to have our medicals done because our doctor takes a while to give an appt, and it turned out he was SO SLOW getting us the form back. I also asked friends right away to write the recommendation letters because they also were slow. THere is some running around once you get into the heat of the paperchase- asking your police dept for police reports, getting your fingerprints taken several times, etc, but you can break it up and either bring your kids with (I did- with treats of course, or do it someday that they have an activity or babysitter. It seems that everything takes longer than you think, there are lots of bumps along the way, and the wait time could get longer or shorter- BUT fortunately for the internet we have lots of support, and you will find MANY people in the exact same situation as you! Good luck!!!

[lovemybulldog]

Originally Posted by cbw

Hi,
I'm new to this whole thing...the forum, talking to others about adoption, asking questions and looking for support, etc. I haven't yet started the adoption process so I'm unsure how long from filling out paperwork to bringing home our child will take.
I'm estimating two years. Does this seem realistic?

We have two biological kids (both very young, close in age and boys) that are running me ragged. So, I'm trying to determine when we should start the process.

Thank you in advance for your feedback,
cbw

This would be a great time to evaluate whether or not you would feel equipped to parent a child with special needs. Before you start paperwork, you have many more options than after the fact (i.e. after LID, you cannot change agencies and in some cases cannot change from NSN to SN).

China classifies some things as special needs that we never would consider as such. Before my hubby & I started learning about the China program, we fully thought that special needs meant long term daily care that would either bring me home from work full time or require in home care. There certainly are plenty of kids who need homes that fit this criteria, but MANY MANY MANY have mild needs that are easily managable and/or correctable by "western" standards. Common SN's are cleft lip/palate, minor to major heart defect, Hep B+ (active or just carrier), limb or digit difference, sight or hearing impairment...even birthmarks. There's a little boy sitting on our agency's list with a birthmark on his cheek. That's it.

Going the SN route takes a slightly different path and can change your timeline significantly. We signed with our agency last June, started our paperchase in October, and well, my sig says the rest.

We're crossing our fingers that we'll travel in Sept. or Oct. to our son in Zhejiang.

PM me if you have any questions. There are many SN families here that can offer advice if this is something you would like more information about.

[KarenInCa]

Id say closer to 3 years than 4, from start to finish. But it is realistic to think that it would be 3 yrs. However, that is also assuming that the recent change in requirements are not going to effect wait times. If I had a crystal ball, I would say that the wait times will start going back down in about a year or two, based on attrition and also the fact that after April 07, there are probably going to be a lot less applications for adoption.
As others have stated, getting the paperwork together can differ. If you work on it, it can take 5-6 months to get to that point. But it can also take longer as you've seen, if there's a glitch, etc.
With our first daughter the wait was 9 months from DTC to referral. Now, the wait is 20 months, and we expect the wait for our second daughter to reach 24-30 months, instead of the 9 month wait for our daughter. A few years back it was also a long 2 year wait, so Im sure it will continue to go on a natural curve up and down, but over a period of years, so just as you think it's 'normal' the time will either increase or decrease.
My advise is simply, if you are drawn toward China, then just go for it, regardless. DH and I really had no idea that we would ever adopt a child, and one day we simply discussed it, and that same day we were prepared to adopt a child FROM China. From that day forward, we were drawn toward adopting an older toddler from China, no other age group and no other country. Now, 2 and a half years after that one day, we are waiting for our second daughter from China, and 3 years ago, we were not even considering children.
I have an older bio son also, but since the day we decided, I really couldn't imgaine having another child other than a daughter from China.