Adoption Services

Bulgaria Adoption

China Adoption

China Special Needs

Congo Adoption

Dossier Preparation

Ethiopia Adoption

Guatemala Adoption

Haiti Adoption

Kazakhstan Adoption

Second Chance

Taiwan Waiting Child

China Adoption FAQ

What are the children from China like?

There are many thousands of little girls living in orphanages in China who are waiting for a home and a family. Little boys are occasionally available, but many times even when adoptive families ask for a boy they are referred a girl. The reason male children are not available is that boys are preferred over girls in China, and since China has the one child per family policy little girls are abandoned so the family can try again to have a boy to carry on the family name. The children from China come from orphanages located in Provinces all over China. The orphanages in China that are allowed to place children are carefully scrutinized by the Chinese government and must meet high standards of care to be one of the orphanages that can place children. The children are usually well cared for and are in good physical condition when placed with their new adoptive families. All children are screened for Hepatitis B, HIV, and other communicable diseases, and the medical reports given to adoptive families are quite comprehensive.

How long will the process take?

Once your dossier is submitted to China and your documents are received at the CCCWA office, your documents are stamped and registered at CCCWA. This registration process can take up to 6 weeks, depending on the workload of the workers at CCCWA and the number of dossiers submitted. When factoring in local holidays and the number of dossiers submitted, it could take as long as 5 years or more after your dossier is registered with CCCWA before families receive a referral of a child. After receiving this referral and the medical information about the child referred, families must sign an acceptance letter stating they want to adopt the child assigned to them. After the acceptance letter is received by CCCWA, it is usually around 6 weeks before a Travel Invitation is sent to adoptive parents inviting them to come to China to complete the adoption. This timeline can vary and WIA will do our best to keep adopting parents up to date with the changing timeline. The entire process, from beginning to end, can take up to 2 years before an adoption from China is completed and the child is home.

How do I find the child I want to adopt?

In order to look through pictures of available children a family must complete a China Parent Waiting Form ad submit it to the agency. This form can be obtained by emailing Kathy Junk at kathy@wiaa.org. The information on this form will verify the fact that a family meets all the requirements to adopt a waiting child from China. Once this form is completed and sent to WIA we can share files of children that match the special needs families are open to accepting. Families are encouraged to have a completed home study before beginning the search for a child; however in some instances a child may be ‘locked” for a family without a completed home study. Once a family finds the child they want to adopt, WIA’s China coordinator will lock that child in for the family for 72 hours. During this 72 time frame the adoptive family can request additional information from CCCWA if desired and then make the decision to accept or decline the referral of the child. We encourage all families who want to adopt a special needs child to consider carefully the type of health and medical problems they feel they can handle before asking WIA to put a lock on a specific child. Since 72 hours is generally not long enough to obtain a full doctor’s opinion or assessment regarding the medical problems of any child families should have already spoken to a medical specialist before beginning the search for a child. Discussing specific special needs in advance allows a family to act quickly once a child has been locked in for them. If a family decides to accept a referral of the child locked for them, CCCWA will review the family’s information and when the family is approved they will issue a formal pre-approval notice. The adoption process will then begin.

Can I adopt more than one child at one time?

China will only allow families to adopt one child at a time. However, if you wish to adopt a second child another dossier can be submitted to CCCWA 12 months after the placement of the first child. CCCWA requires 2 post adoption reports to be submitted by the adopting parents, and so all adoptive families must be up to date with their post adoption reports if another dossier is submitted for a second child.

Do I need to travel to China to pick up my adopted child?

Yes, you must travel to China to finalize the adoption and bring your child back to the United States. Although only one parent must travel, both CCCWA and WIA feel that both parents should make an effort to travel to complete the adoption. However, when that is not possible, one parent is required to be in China to sign the adoption documents. The stay in China is approximately 12 days.

Do I qualify to adopt from China?

The CCCWA has some very specific regulations adoptive parents must meet in order to qualify to adopt from their country.

• You must be at least 30 years old and no older than 49 years old. If adopting a special needs child, you can be no older than 54 years old.
• You must be a married couple and have been married for at least 2 years before you can apply to adopt a child from China.
• CCCWA will accept couples who have been divorced, but there are restrictions:
  • o Each spouse is allowed to have had 2 divorces, which means there can be a total of 4 divorces between the two spouses. However, neither spouse can have more than 2 divorces. For example one spouse cannot have 3 divorces and the other spouse 1 divorce, bringing the total of 4 divorces between the two. .
  • If either spouse has been divorced and remarried, the couple must currently have been married for at least 5 years before applying to adopt a child from China.
• Each spouse must have at least a high school education.
• You cannot have more than 4 children under the age of 18 years old living in their home at the time they apply to adopt a child from China. The youngest child in the family must be over the age of 12 months at the time the family applies to adopt a child from China.
• You must have a steady job and should earn at least $10,000 per person in your family annually, including the child they will adopt. If only one of the adopting parents hold a job, this person must meet these income requirements for their family.
• The couple should have net assets of at least $80,000 including their home and stock dividends.
• The couple’s weight index should not exceed 40. The formula for finding the weight index is weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared. An example of the weight restriction would be if a man is 5’9” tall, he cannot weight more than 268 pounds. If you have questions regarding the weight index, please call our office.
• You cannot have a criminal record, including DUI’s.
• Prospective adoptive parents should not be taking psychiatric/mental health medication. Applicants who have not taken this type of medication for the past two years may be considered on a case by case basis.

If you meet these qualifications, you are good candidates to adopt a child from China.

What does it cost to adopt a child from China?

It usually costs approximately $17,000 to $22,000 to adopt a child from China. This estimate includes the travel to China and the accommodations while in China. Adopting from this country is a great option because the costs are not as high as some other countries.

If you are interested in obtaining more information about adopting from China, please email Kathy Junk at kathy@wiaa.org or call our office Monday through Friday during regular business hours.