19 hours ago
One of the adoption websites I read has some wonderful reports that might interest those of you who are considering international and/or China adoption for your family. The adoption landscape has changed a lot in the last few years.
The report, subtitled What's Really Happening in International Adoption, provides some background and statistics on international adoption in general. Here are some interesting points:
* International adoption is on the decline, mostly due to regulatory changes - the introduction of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.
* Many international adoption agencies have closed, some key countries closed their doors to international adoption and yet others closed and reopened.
* China's wait time for as-young-as-possible healthy babies has increased dramatically because China has chosen to prioritize special needs children - children over 3 years old, sibling groups and those with medical needs.
There's another article about Comparing Adoption Agencies Working in China. They suggest some steps in choosing an agency, and they have a simple table of agencies throughout the US who handle China adoptions. I noticed that if the particular agency is not part of Rainbow Kids, the agency link does not work, even for some of the larger well known agencies. So I would not use this table as a definitive list of the best but rather as a starting point for your research. And do ask friends who have or are adopting from China about their agency.
Adoption is a very complicated process and very intimidating when you first approach it. For me it was much more daunting than walking into that behemoth Babies-R-Us store for the baby registry, which was pretty intimidating. Please don't let the unknown hinder your consideration to adopt, whether international or domestic, because there are so many children out there who need families.
And by the way, we received our LID (Lock In Date) late last month. It's October 14, 2009.
The report, subtitled What's Really Happening in International Adoption, provides some background and statistics on international adoption in general. Here are some interesting points:
* International adoption is on the decline, mostly due to regulatory changes - the introduction of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.
* Many international adoption agencies have closed, some key countries closed their doors to international adoption and yet others closed and reopened.
* China's wait time for as-young-as-possible healthy babies has increased dramatically because China has chosen to prioritize special needs children - children over 3 years old, sibling groups and those with medical needs.
There's another article about Comparing Adoption Agencies Working in China. They suggest some steps in choosing an agency, and they have a simple table of agencies throughout the US who handle China adoptions. I noticed that if the particular agency is not part of Rainbow Kids, the agency link does not work, even for some of the larger well known agencies. So I would not use this table as a definitive list of the best but rather as a starting point for your research. And do ask friends who have or are adopting from China about their agency.
Adoption is a very complicated process and very intimidating when you first approach it. For me it was much more daunting than walking into that behemoth Babies-R-Us store for the baby registry, which was pretty intimidating. Please don't let the unknown hinder your consideration to adopt, whether international or domestic, because there are so many children out there who need families.
And by the way, we received our LID (Lock In Date) late last month. It's October 14, 2009.
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