China Adoption is considered by many in the international adoption community to be the most stable of the countries currently open for international adoption. China adoption was opened to the international adoption process in the early 1990’s and by 2004, placed about 7,000 children with loving parents. In 2005 that number was above 7900. Nearly 95% of
adoption children are girls. Most adoptions occur with the help of an international adoption agency.
International Adoption and The Adoption Process
Adoption occurs after prospective parents complete a personal dossier and homestudy, a process called “The Paperchase”, prospective parent(s) submit their paperwork to The Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA). This is commonly called DTC or Dossier to . This phrase is unique to in adoption. CCAA will then process the application and match approved prospective parents with a child.
Once the prospective parent(s) are DTC, the wait can be as short as 6 month for a referral, but wait times since mid 2005 have stretched to as long as 12 - 14 months for China adoption. The referral is when the child and her new parents are paired. Travel dates for adoption generally come 6-8 weeks after the referral.
Adoption requires one trip by the adoptive parent(s) with a typical stay of about two weeks. Generally, travelers fly to
Beijing and spend several days sight seeing and shopping. Then they travel on to the province where there child is living if it is a distance from
Beijing .
After arriving in the province, “Gotcha Day” arrives. Most often, caregivers travel with the children to the hotel where the soon to be parents are staying. The parents then become the caregivers to the child who stays with them. The child and parents of adoption spend several days bonding while paperwork is process allowing travel to
Guangzhou .
The new family then travels to
Guangzhou . Time in
Guangzhou includes medical visits, a U.S. Consulate (or the new parents country’s Embassy) appointment and ceremony, sightseeing, shopping and bonding. During this time the adoption is finalized, the babies travel visa and passport are issued and the family continues to bond.
The return flight is often quite long. Traveling to the from Guangzhou often includes a layover in Hong Kong, a city and then on to the final destination. Travel can last as long as 30 hours an more - as long as almost any in international adoption. And, like all adoptions, they tell us adoption makes it worth the trip!
