[ChristyR2006]

My husband and I are looking into adopting a child Internationally, we do not have a lot of money so we are looking into China's Special needs program, because they wave a lot of the fees if you adopt a child with special needs.
After looking into this program I was appalled with what the Chinese considers "special needs":
* Cleft Palate/Lip
* Club feet
* Missing fingers/toes/ears
* Cross eyed
* Birthmarks
* Extra fingers/toes

I asked one of the consultants why these were considered special needs and she said since China only allows each couple to have 1 child, they want the child to be perfect. And they do not always have the money to fix the defects/abnormalities themselves so they give the child up in order to be allowed to try again.
She went on to tell me it is illegal for the doctor to reveal the sex of the baby to the couple, because they also all want boys, and therefore would terminate the pregnancy just because it is a girl. But if there is any other medical abnormality, what we would consider special needs in America (such as Downs Syndrome, Spina Bifida, etc), they can tell the couple so that they can terminate the pregnancy and start again.
I cannot believe they would give up a child for having birthmarks!!
I am just so shocked that the so called special needs children are perfectly healthy, normal children, with very minor defects that really only effect the way they look and most can be corrected very easily! About the most serious on the list is the cleft palate/lip because that can cause feeding difficulties.

I feel guilty now, because I almost passed on the Special Needs program because I was not sure if I would be able to take care of a child with what I would consider special needs. Knowing what I know now, what they consider as special needs, I think this is the PERFECT program for us. And it will be easier on our wallet as well. God sure does work in mysterious ways sometimes.


I do have one question however, does anyone know if they would be willing to wave the age 30 rule for a special needs child? They wave a lot of the fees so I was hoping they would wave this as well. When we are ready to adopt my hubby will be 30, but I will only be 28.
If they do not wave it then maybe I should just look at it as a sign from God that we need to wait 4 years instead of 2. But waiting 2 years seems too long for me, so 4 sounds like 40 to me lol.

[ChristyR2006]

oops I meant to title this China's "Special Needs" Children but I was holding my son and he hit enter after I typed in China's LOL

[crick]

fixed the title!

[sakelley]

We almost passed up the SN route because we thought China's definition of SN were the same as the US's. However, after researching it, we decided to go this route. We just brough our daughter, who has a very managable SN, home in Sept.

According to my agency, China is tightening the requirements of adoptive parents for SN adoptions so they probably will not waive the age requirement. My agency was given specific instructions not to submit Letter of Intents for any adoptive parents with certain issues that they accepted in the past. One of these actually disqualifies my husband and I from adopting another SN child.

[ChristyR2006]

Originally Posted by crick

fixed the title!

thanks, I tried to look and see if there was an option for that, but I did not see one. You rock!

[ChristyR2006]

Originally Posted by sakelley

We almost passed up the SN route because we thought China's definition of SN were the same as the US's. However, after researching it, we decided to go this route. We just brough our daughter, who has a very managable SN, home in Sept.

According to my agency, China is tightening the requirements of adoptive parents for SN adoptions so they probably will not waive the age requirement. My agency was given specific instructions not to submit Letter of Intents for any adoptive parents with certain issues that they accepted in the past. One of these actually disqualifies my husband and I from adopting another SN child.

That is disappointing, do you know what the restrictions are now? Its probably because their definition of special needs is so distorted and there are a lot of people adopting their special needs children.

[sak9645]

Remember that China makes a distinction between LAWS, POLICIES, and GUIDELINES.

China has a national adoption LAW, which has many provisions affecting both foreign and domestic adoption. This LAW cannot and will not be violated by the China Center for Adoption Affairs. The minimum age of 30 for all foreign adoptions, both NSN and SN, is part of this law. It used to be 35, but was liberalized several years ago.

The CCAA also has certain POLICIES. These are not part of China's adoption law, but are made and enforced by the CCAA. When the CCAA makes a policy, it will not issue an exception. As an example, the 8% singles quota is a policy, as is the rule that single people's dossiers will not be accepted for the NSN program if they have turned 50.

GUIDELINES are what the CCAA uses to provide a broad framework for adoption agencies and its own staff, when considering prospective parents. These guidelines are NOT laws or policies, and China will still consider all applications conforming to the laws and policies on a case by case basis.

As an example, China has guidelines that say:

1. People aged 30-44 are more likely to receive a child 12 months old or younger.
2. People aged 45-49 are more likely to receive a child 13-24 months of age.
3. Married couples aged 50-54 should be "open" to a child over age three.
4. People aged 55 and over will probably not be referred a child.

In fact, there have been many exceptions made to these guidelines. For example:

1. While many people 30-44 have received children 12 months old or younger, some have also received children aged 13-24 months.
2. While some people aged 45-49 have received children in the 13-24 month age group, some have received children 12 months old and younger.
3. While some married couples in the 50-54 age group have been referred children age three and up, more have received younger children, including children under age two.
4. While some married couples 55 and up have not been approved, others -- usually couples where one spouse is 55+ and the other is significantly others, and where there is strong income and insurance to protect the younger spouse if the older one should die -- have been allowed to adopt.
5. There is simply no rhyme or reason as to what to expect if one spouse is in one age category and the other is in a different age category. China does NOT automatically go by the mother's age, or by the sum of the two spouses' ages; such rules are AGENCY formulations, not China's.

I hope this helps.

Sharon

[sakelley]

Originally Posted by ChristyR2006

That is disappointing, do you know what the restrictions are now? Its probably because their definition of special needs is so distorted and there are a lot of people adopting their special needs children.

The CCAA has asked agencies not to submit LOI's (letter of intents) for SN children if the family has any past criminal record - no matter how minor, any mental health problems including bipolar and depression, and any health problems.

An underage drinking and open container from our college days would prevent us from adopting another SN child from China.

[ChristyR2006]

that sucks!! I have nothing in my past, not even a speeding ticket (knock on wood) but my hubby does have 2 minor in possession charges from when he was younger!! DARN HIM!!!!!!!!!!!
But we could adopt a regular child from China still right, if that is the country we choose??

[sakelley]

Originally Posted by ChristyR2006

that sucks!! I have nothing in my past, not even a speeding ticket (knock on wood) but my hubby does have 2 minor in possession charges from when he was younger!! DARN HIM!!!!!!!!!!!
But we could adopt a regular child from China still right, if that is the country we choose??

This is from the CCAA website on "Can foreigners subjected to criminal punishment adopt children from China?"

"Whether or not foreigners have any criminal punishment constitute an important part for judging whether the adoption applicants have acquired the ability to raise and educate the adoptees. In general, the CCAA shall not accept adoptive applications submitted by foreign adoption applicants who have been subjected to criminal punishment. However, in the light of the circumstances, consideration may be given to those who have committed minor offenses and have really shown repentance and no longer committed offenses and no longer committed offences ever since."

We are proof that they do adopt to somebody with a minor offense from many years ago (it has been 11 years). We did have to submit a letter of remorse with our dossier, though. However, I don't know if they plan on enforcing the same restrictions for NSN children in the future.

[Pencil-HB]

I used to escort many families for healthy children and SN children, before their travel, I would follow up the kids' update report.

Your doctor's explanaination in somehow are correct, but for another important reason, is that people in the countryside could offer to fix their child defects, so they choose to quit. As law regulates, it's illegal to abandon baby, so they would choose orphange and some public space for abandon, so that babies are easily to be found.

Special Needs like Down Sydrome, Spina Bifida, kind of nerve system illness would honestly be reported by orphanage, but it does exist some cases that when parents come, they found out this problem without being pre-informed, mostly because some sydrom does not show up,or because lack of staff, they don't have that detail oberservation. Once these unfixable problems are found, you could submit the decline for re-match.

As to your age problem, you'd better consult the related law or some big agency for this issue.

Helen

China Fun: this is my website for adoptive famlies and people who are interested in China to have culture share.

[twoinblue]

Christy, are you sure your agency waives fees for SN or is it only that some SN children who are hard to place have grants that take care of some of the expenses. You might double check.

[craftdweeb]

Originally Posted by sakelley

The CCAA has asked agencies not to submit LOI's (letter of intents) for SN children if the family has any past criminal record - no matter how minor, any mental health problems including bipolar and depression, and any health problems.

An underage drinking and open container from our college days would prevent us from adopting another SN child from China.

Hi. I'm new and probably not adopting for a few years because my husband and I are finishing up grad school. Our kids are 4 and 2.

I'm wondering if things that have been expunged from your record could still somehow come up. My husband spent a night in jail for public drunkeness his freshman year of college. It's been expunged; would that still be a problem?

[sak9645]

Even when a person has had his/her local record expunged, the offense sometimes shows up on the FBI fingerprint check.

For this reason, it is extremely important that your husband disclose any arrest to your homestudy social worker before the homestudy report goes to the USCIS. In the homestudy process, the USCIS requires the social worker to ask the person specifically if he/she has a criminal record. If the person says "no", and it is recorded in the homestudy (as it must be for the USCIS), and if the FBI fingerprint check subsequently shows an arrest, that could very well cause the USCIS to deny 171-H/797-C approval.

If the person tells the social worker about an early and relatively minor event, and gets the necessary documentation, the social worker will need to mention it briefly in the homestudy report. But then there is no risk that the USCIS will deny approval if it happens to show up in the FBI fingerprint check.

Only time will tell how strict China will be with its new guidelines about minor, long ago infractions of laws, which took effect in May, 2007. I think it will take many more months until agencies can be sure exactly how the new guidelines will be enforced.

In the past, China would accept people with a minor offense that didn't involve children or violence, that occurred in the teen or young adult years, and that was not a sign of an ongoing problem like alcohol abuse. And agencies could talk to China, in advance, about the acceptability of a person who -- for example -- got a DUI less than ten years ago, to see if this otherwise perfect candidate had to be disqualified; in most cases, he/she was allowed to proceed.

Today, China is saying that it's going to be much more strict than it was previously, and I think that many agencies are being much more cautious, as a result. I suspect that some agencies will still see if they can talk to the CCAA and get permission to submit a dossier of someone who did a dumb thing at 19, but who has been a solid citizen for the past 15 years and meets all the other adoption requirements beautifully.

When you are ready to adopt, who knows what the situation will be like? There is no guarantee that China will even be open to adoption, though it probably will be. There is no guarantee that there will be a lot of kids with no special needs or only minor special needs to adopt, given the new emphasis on preventing abandonments and encouraging domestic adoptions. There is no guarantee that the policies and guidelines in place now will be in place then.

One thing is clear. If you don't qualify for China, and you may not, there are lots of other countries with children who need families, and you will almost certainly qualify for one of them.

Sharon

[Kaijinsbigsis]

Speaking of manageable special needs, my little sister has port-wine stain (a birthmark) on the right side of her face and on her legs, and congenital glaucoma in the right eye (result of the birthmark being on her eyelids). I have 2 friends, one home for a couple of years, and one about to be DTC for a little boy, who have/are going to have children with facial birthmarks and that is the child's only special need.

Crazy, huh?

Monica