[mpdion]

Hello,

Has anybody heard anything about China closing their adoption program during the Olympics? My Sister in-law is from China and this is the news her Father shared. He still lives in China.

He said there's plenty of babies to go around, but due to Communism, the Government doesn't like anybody looking at them. They say anything to save face and avoid human rights violations. Since China joined the European Union, orpahages are required to file additional paperwork. The paper trail is so extensive, those running the orpahages get overwhelmed and don't list all the available children. They would like to, but there's not enough help.

Supposidly, the wait time for a referral is going to increase to 3-5 months for every 1 month.

Can anybody confirm these rumors? I'm concerned.

LID= 8-11-06

[Trace7]

I don't think anyone knows if it will close during the Olympics, but if it does - keep in mind that the Olympics is only 3 weeks or so, so hopefully it would not put things too far behind when this occurs as far as travel/referrals. I think many people (myself included) believe the Olympics and the spotlight on China is playing a huge part in this slow-down - that it is possibly deliberate and intentional - but I am not sure that anyone is able to confirm that except the CCAA itself, and I doubt they will do that.

As far as how long referrals are taking, it is currently taking about 3-5 months to get through 1 month - so that is not really a prediction - as that is already happening. In fact, it took 6 months to get through all of November 2005 LID's. It has now taken 3 months for December 2005, and is looking like at least 2 more months to finish December. I hear January has more LID's than December.

All told, the CCAA only referred from 9/9/05 through 12/14/05 between last January and this December. The last batch (which came out in late December - so I am not sure if we will see referrals in late January or if we will have to wait until early February) had referrals through 12/19/05 LID's. So that is just over 3 months of LID's referred in a year. The year before (2006) was not much better, sadly.

[Eve W]

Originally Posted by mpdion

Hello,

Has anybody heard anything about China closing their adoption program during the Olympics? My Sister in-law is from China and this is the news her Father shared. He still lives in China.

He said there's plenty of babies to go around, but due to Communism, the Government doesn't like anybody looking at them. They say anything to save face and avoid human rights violations. Since China joined the European Union, orpahages are required to file additional paperwork. The paper trail is so extensive, those running the orpahages get overwhelmed and don't list all the available children. They would like to, but there's not enough help.

Supposidly, the wait time for a referral is going to increase to 3-5 months for every 1 month.

Can anybody confirm these rumors? I'm concerned.

LID= 8-11-06

I can’t comment on the information you provided, but I think that you meant that China joined the Hague Convention not the European Union.

Eve

[amyfk]

I really feel for all of the families who have been waiting so long feeling that the China program was reliable, having to go through all of this. Especially all the folks who went through the heartbreak of failed IF treatments.
I hope things speed up for all of the waiters(and also for all the kids who do need homes).
Amy K, NJ

[mpdion]

Hello Everybody,<br><br>I must correct a huge mistake in my terminology. I do mean the Hague Convention and not the European Union. Please accept my appologies. Peace, love and happiness.<br>

[KarenInCa]

As Trace already pointed out, the Olympics is not very long. Quite frankly, I can understand CCAA wanting to close down for the Olympics. One 'investigator', reporting on ONE orphanage and spicing it up just a little, to look like a 'third world' donation campaign that you see on late night tv to 'save the children' can completely destroy the entire adoption program reputation in China.
On the other hand, this could also mean that after the Olympics, referrals speed up greatly.

[twoinblue]

Korean adoption fell away dramatically after the Olympics in Korea. There were very uncharitable comments made by the US and other countries' media. The one that sticks out in my mind the most is, "Korea's biggest export is orphans."

Although the Olympics has nothing to do with adoption, I can see the desire to save face making an impact.

I heara a rumor that after FEB 08, the CCAA will not take any more dossiers. It's just a rumor but its a viable one. How can they possibly expect people to try to plan four years into the future for a child? They have to get caught up on the dossiers they have.

[sparkybear]

Originally Posted by twoinblue

I heara a rumor that after FEB 08, the CCAA will not take any more dossiers. It's just a rumor but its a viable one.

can you expand on this a bit Julie? There are a lot of people out there freaking out about this. Any info you can share would be helpful I'm sure.

[KarenInCa]

Last I heard from our agency (in a newsletter, around November) our agency said that the China program is still good, but unexpected time frames. They did not say anything about not taking any more dossiers in that newsletter for China, and I think they would have...Unless it's something that had been considered after November 07.
I'd also be interested in where that rumor came from. Do you mean that they are going to stop completely, or do you mean that they might pause dossiers until after the Olympics?

[Leilani's Mom]

Well, considering that's less than a month away, I think China would have announced it to allow people to speed up their paperchase. Like everything else, we'll see what happens!

[mpdion]

Hi Julie,

My Sister in-law's family still lives in China. Her family has heard the same rumor, concerning the stop in Dossiers. They are not certain if it's temporary due to the current back-up. Nobody will confirm.

[ashmilf]

Oh I really hope this is not the case. We are just now able to start the paper chase and I am so excited. I know that 4 years is far off, but we will wait. And who knows! Maybe things will speed up.

Does anyone know how to find out if this is true or not?

[KarenInCa]

I've looked high and low for any substance to this rumor on sites and google searches, and can't find any. Does anyone have any info from their agency to say otherwise?

[Norsk]

Originally Posted by mpdion

Hello,

Has anybody heard anything about China closing their adoption program during the Olympics? My Sister in-law is from China and this is the news her Father shared. He still lives in China.

He said there's plenty of babies to go around, but due to Communism, the Government doesn't like anybody looking at them. They say anything to save face and avoid human rights violations. Since China joined the European Union, orpahages are required to file additional paperwork. The paper trail is so extensive, those running the orpahages get overwhelmed and don't list all the available children. They would like to, but there's not enough help.

Supposidly, the wait time for a referral is going to increase to 3-5 months for every 1 month.

Can anybody confirm these rumors? I'm concerned.

LID= 8-11-06

Our agency just had a meeting with the CCAA (announced on their website today) and was told that they expected 2006 (and 2007) LIDs to wait 3-4 years. Our agency, however, made it clear that there was no guarantee from CCAAs side that the wait wouldn't go over this.

They were also told that there would be referrals and trips during the Olympics that they would have to be redirected to finish the adoption in another part of the country, as they thought it in Beijing would be impossible for a-parents to find hotel rooms.

[amyla]

I just spoke to our agency. They are predicting CCAA will be closed the month of August due to the Olympics. She was did point out that there has been no official word of that from China.

Our LID is March 8 06. She is predicting a fall or winter referral. Needless to say we were hoping for much sooner than that...

And as far Chinese New Year they are guessing CCAA will be closed from about the 6th-18th or 8-10 days. No official word on that either.

Soooo long story short I didn't hear anything I was hoping for. Just wanted to share.