China Adoption Process

People have very preconceived ideas about how the adoption procedure takes place. I'm going to explain what I have learned so far.

First of all, the only way to adopt in China now a days, is to adopt via Special Needs. I believe that some people are still adopting non special needs children, but those are the families who have been waiting for 3 years or longer. I do not believe it is possible right now to start the adoption process and try to adopt a "healthy" child. That being said, "Special Needs" encompasses so many different things. It can be anything from a small heart defect, cleft lip/cleft palate, club feet, missing fingers/missing limbs, hearing impaired etc. There are minor special needs, and more complicated needs.

Most children that are available to be adopted have been abandoned by their parents. It is illegal in
China to put your child up for adoption, and sometimes it is illegal to have more than one child. China has a "One Child" policy that was put in effect in the 80's. (I believe) Sometimes a family can have 2 children upon approval, and most of the time they have to pay extra taxes in order to have more than one child.

So, the reasons for abandonment can be for several reasons. A women could get pregnant with her 2nd child and not be approved and she does not want to abort her baby, so she goes into hiding until she has  her baby, then she leaves that newborn by the orphanage gates so the baby is found right away and has a chance to be adopted. A woman has a baby who has medical needs, and she knows that she cannot provide medical care for her child.... Really there are so many reasons, but one thing is for certain....if a woman carries her child full term, then chances are that mommy wants her baby, she just can't keep her baby for some reason. Women in China are able to have abortions even up to the time that a baby is born. So, the fact that the mommy chose life for her child speaks for itself.

Another thing I learned that hasn't always been the case is that there are LOTS and LOTS of boys that are available to be adopted.

Normally the timeline to adopt a child through the "Waiting Child" program is about 10 - 12 months.