Children in the special needs group have what are considered more minor and correctable conditions such as:  cleft lip/palate, minor heart condition, hernia, skin conditions, etc.  Boys are often considered special needs because more families want to adopt girls.  Children older than 10 are considered special needs as well.  Children placed in the special focus group have conditions that are more involved and require extensive therapy/surgery/interventions such as: brain damage, blindness, paralysis, etc.

After speaking with the representative from the China Program, she made us much more confident in our decision to adopt from China.  China has one of the longest standing international adoption relationships with the United States.  Compared with other countries, it is a relatively short and smooth process.  From start to homecoming, we will be looking at a 16-24 month process.  Our start date was back in March when we formally filed our adoption paperwork with our adoption agency, so at the very longest we’d have a homecoming in March 2019.  In all likelihood, our child will be here before then!  Our agency has people on the ground in China who will be able to coordinate our trip, lead us through the legal process on both ends, and facilitate communication between us and the orphanage/foster family caring for our child.

As all of the adoptable children from China have special needs, Philip and I have the opportunity to fill out what is called a “Waiting Child Application.”  The Waiting Child Application allows adoptive families to list all of the medical conditions that they are open to or will possibly consider.  This was one of the many steps when I was glad to be married to a pediatrician!  Basically, potential adoptive parents are given an extensive list of the special needs often seen in the Chinese orphanages/foster homes.  Philip and I had to go through the list of conditions and create 2 lists.  The first list was our “green lights,” all of the conditions that we feel equipped to take on.  The second list had our “yellow lights,” the conditions that we might consider depending on the severity or combination of conditions listed in the child’s file.  This was the most difficult and emotional part of the process so far.

We submitted our Waiting Child Application last month to our adoption agency and can receive a match any day.  How long will it take to get a match?  The more conditions a couple is open to, the higher the likelihood that they will get a quick match.  The fewer conditions a couple is open to, the longer they will likely wait.  We are requesting a baby girl between the ages of 0-2 years old.  Based on the conditions we listed, we are probably looking at that timeline I mentioned above of 2 years or less.  In all likelihood, she would be 14-16 months at homecoming.

When/if we are given a match, we will receive a very basic file for that child.  It will likely include a few photos, perhaps a video, and a brief medical file.  The information may be incomplete and/or dated.  We are not required to accept that match.  We will have the opportunity to review that child’s file for approximately 5-7 days.  During that time, we can consult with physicians who have experience reviewing international adoption files to determine what that child’s special needs will require and whether or not we feel ready and able to adopt that child.

Since March, we have been working on 2 important steps:

1. Building our dossier
2. Completing our home study

A dossier is just a fancy word that means a whole bunch of paperwork required by the U.S. and Chinese government for our adoption.  I already have a 2-inch binder full of copies of the paperwork we have collected and completed.  An adoption dossier for China requires approximately 50 different documents, many of which need to be original, notarized, and certified.  A dossier requires things like:  training certificates, birth certificates, several background checks, fingerprints, medical forms/test results, and a home study summary.

A home study is basically an extensive look into your actual home and your family’s readiness to adopt.  Our adoption agency is based out of Virginia and does not perform home studies in Nebraska, so a social worker from Lutheran Family Services is working with us.  The social worker comes to our home 3 separate times, 2 hours each.  We completed our home study visits back in May, and we have really enjoyed working with our social worker.  She is helping us to feel as prepared as possible and getting us equipped with all of the resources we need.  She is in the process of writing up our formal home study report.  She’s just waiting on us to finish our adoption training classes before she can tie a bow on things.  Our adoption classes are online, and we’re nearly done with them.

It typically takes families 4-7 months go complete the paper chase.  We’re right on track and are feeling good about things.  All of the documents that we collected now need to be state certified.  This will take several weeks.  It is very important that none of the documents we gathered are older than 6 months old by the time they reach the Chinese government or they will need to be redone.