want info on China adoption

[jubilee]

I want to consider adopting a daughter from China... however I think it will be a few years. (Plus I still have to get my hubby on board with the plan! :)) Anyway, I'm not ready to contact an agency but I want more info. I've found the thestoryofyou.com site, but it glosses over the real meat of how did the family decide on China, what were the barriers, info on parent over 45 years old adopting (hubby is 42 now, but I'm 33), etc. Does anyone have websites or groups they could recommend? I'm a researcher at heart, so I need to soak up every bit of info before I am ready to say this is the right decision for me, my family, and the little daughter that I think is out there for me.
Thanks SO much!

[crl]

Hmmm, I suggest joining apc--a huge yahoo group for people interested in China adoptions. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/a-parents-china/ You can get flamed there pretty easily, but there's a lot of great information. I'd just read for awhile and then if you're feeling brave, you could start posting. :-) You can also check out the links in the apc links section.

You could also check out the Families with Children from China website. I think it is www.fwcc.org

If you are interested in books too, I can try to remember to post the contents of my library when I'm at home. The books won't help on process details though. I do like my subscription to Adoptive Families magazine. It's not China-specific, but I think it has a lot of good information each issue (every other month or so).

If I think of more, I'll add to this.

[malie]

Just be aware that the face of international adoption can change a lot in 2 or 3 years

http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/china_adoption.php

while at this point the process in China is unlikely to change since it is pretty stable, the US side of things may change slightly because of the Hague which is suppose to put into effect sometime in the near future. (While there is no way to know exactly the way things will change, forms, who they get send to etc may easily change)

As for the age thing China is actually a country which in many ways respects/desires older parents. I'm pretty sure that both parents need to be over 30 to adopt from China and that in most cases the oldest parent can be 55 at the time of an adoption.

As long as one parent is under 45, the referral is normally of a infant/toddler (say under 15 months). If both parents are over 45 then the referral is normally of a child older than 15 months (although if there are no children older than 15 months than that may not be the case)

One thing that factors into adoptions from China is income. The couple must have a base income of 30,000 and then 10,000 for each additional child already in the home. So a family of four for example would need an income of 50,000. A family of six would need 70,000 (you may have up to 4 children in your home to adopt from China

[Lucia]

Hi Julie,

We are also seriously considering adopting a daughter from China or Taiwan. To help us in the difficult process of choosing a country, my husband and I have been doing a lot of reading and internet searching. Here are some of the books that have been recommended by others on this board and some of our friends who have already adopted. I ordered all of these books from Tapestry Books online...a great resource for adoptive families.


A Passage to the Heart (a collection of essays from parents who have adopted children from China....great resource since it covers such a wide range of topics)


Wuhu Diary ( I am currently reading this and really enjoying it. A personal account of a woman's journey back to China with her adopted daughter.)

The Secret Thoughts of An Adoptive Mother (my husband and I both got a lot out of this little book...very quick read. very honest and addressed some of my husband's worries about adopting, especially a child of a different background than his. The author has a bi-racial son through domestic adoption)

Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Parents Knew (we haven't read this yet, but it looks good)

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Lucia
mom to Noah 2/2003