[Michelle Nord]

Help!! I'm in the process of adopting from China, my LID date is 11/05/06 I was told we would have our daughter by this summer. Now it's looking like next summer. Does anyone know what country has the shortest wait time right now? The reason for the rush is that I have 3 boys ages 13 & 10 and then a soon to be 4 year old. I want his sister to be close to him in age, not a big span because it already feels like I'm raising two families I don't want to start over again when he starts school. That's why when we started thru China a year ago, they would have been just 3 years or less apart. I don't know what to do I'm so frustrated. I live in the US so I could also do Domestic adoption but I don't know much about that either. Any advice??? Thanks
Michelle

[umichlori]

you could adopt an older child from another country, that would make the difference in ages between the kids less. We're adopting from S. Korea, and although our daughter is 3 months, I know there are older toddlers waiting as well. PM me if you want more info.


Good luck!
Lori

[sak9645]

Go where your heart is. ANY country could have unexpected delays.

If your heart is in China, stay with the program. If not, Ethiopia seems to be fairly quick at present. Vietnam has just restarted and is supposed to be fairly quick, but there's no track record yet. Guatemala is spotty -- sometimes quick, sometimes slow.

Sharon

[ocracoke]

I, of course, would always recommend Ethiopia. It is fairly quick depending on the agency you use. My paperwork arrived in Ethiopia April 13th, my referral was June 29th, court will be July 26th, and she will be home by the end of August. Aside from the countries Sharon mentioned (she knows her stuff) what about Korea -- what is their time line. Older child adoption is also an option. And of course...domestic -- which I know very little about.

Samantha

[bluedaisy]

I agree that Ethiopia is a wonderful program! If you are interested in a slightly older child (say, 1 year and up), the wait times can be shorter. The waits for infants are longer. All this depends on the agency you choose--there's at least one that seems to take a really long time--but if your homestudy is done and you only needed a small update, it's possible you could have a referral this fall and travel this winter.

[angelkisses0102]

Kyrgyzstan is a new program which at the present time is fairly quick. Because it is a new program, there are infants and toddlers available. I have a friend who is on her way today to meet her 7.5 month referral. She should have her home no later than late September or early August...that is due to a delay with vacations in Kyrgyzstan.

[Dearonebaby]

If you wish to stay with an asian country I would suggest Taiwan's orphanage program.. Referrals with the right agency is about a month to 3 months. We had our referral within 3 weeks of signing with the agency and it takes about 6-8 months for the process of adopting from Taiwan orphanage or foster care programs. In country stay is only 5-7 days. Price is 21k-24k travel included. They take great care of their children in their orphanages, especially St. Lucy's. If you need more info.. please private message me.

[overflowing]

Hang in there Michelle!! With a Nov. LID it seems as though your referral could be here by March...if CCAA keeps referring 2weeks at a time (praying for full months). It's possible if you switch programs/countries now...it will take just as long as if you stayed with China (besides all of the expenses and work involved in switching).

If you have questions about domestic, I can help. With our daughter, from intial paperwork to the day she came home was only 3 1/2months. With our son, from hs update to the day he came home was 6 months (we had 1 1/2days notice with him). Domestic is just as unpredictable as international adoption. It could take months to years before you are matched.

Someone menitoned it in an earlier post...follow your heart...only you and your family truly know where your heart is leading.

Blessings, stacy

[kidmd2b]

We are adopting from Ethiopia and the wait seems to be less than other programs, although it is picking up popularity and therefore extending the wait more than before. It also depends on what you are looking for. I know that there are 2 and 3 year old healthy boys on the waiting children list because of age that would reduce the wait by a landslide. If you are looking for an infant girl, the wait time in Ethiopia would be a bit longer. It all depends on what is in your heart.
Good luck,
Cindy

[iedelson]

Hi just got word from agency that korea may take longer now. There are changes to laws coming in Jan and our refferal is due around that time. It will be hit or miss if we get our baby on time. We're thinking of changing countries also.Korea may keep the babies in foster care 6 mos longer to see if they are adopted domestically. If not they will be adopted at around a year old internationally. As we research we find that swithing countries will take even longer than possibly waiting the extra time. Our other choice is China. We don't have any children so we're in a hurry also. let's just hope things move faster than expected!
did you ever think of a witing child? Some have only minor medical issues, like premature birth!

[pinkshoes]

Girls seem to be preferred more than boys in international adoption so all other programs give you a little more time frame wait when requesting a girl. China is predominantly girls so I guess just search your heart. I echo what someone said about Vietnam. Look into it. Also check out www.jcics.org where they have lots of info & you can see lots of the countries that allow international adoption.

[teranga]

From day one to the day we met our son was under 6 months (he was 4 months at referral; 8 months when we met to bring him home). This again is with the Ethiopia program (PM me if you'd like the agency). The process when we did it was about 1 month longer for infant girls.

But stay focused on where you want your child to be from. It doesn't help much if you quickly adopt an Ethiopian child and spend the next 10 years longingly looking at every Chinese adoptee....

Teranga

[Michelle Nord]

Can you please send me info. on your friends adoption and who they went thru, cost ect. Thanks Michelle

[cdyson]

Hi-

I am new to the forum & have enjoyed reading & learning what everyone is or has gone through. My question is what is LID?

My DTC was 9/06. I've gone through a Korean adoption, but the China process is completely different, so I'm learning as I go.

Thanks, CAROL D.

[specialk4b]

LID stands for logged in date - the date your dossier is logged in in China.