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China Adoption FAQ

Do I qualify to adopt from China?

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

• You must be a married couple and must have been married for at least 2 years. CCCWA will accept couples who have been divorced but there are restrictions:
  • Each spouse can have no more than two divorces each.
  • If either spouse has been divorced and remarried, the couple must have been married at least 5 years before applying to adopt a child from China.
• You and your spouse must be at least 30 years old and no older than 54 years old.
• Each spouse must have at least a High School Education.
• There is not a limit to the number of children in the home when adopting a special needs child.
• You must have a steady job and earn at least $10,000 per person in your family annually, including the child you plan to 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. This can include the equity in your home and stock dividends.
• The couple’s weight index cannot exceed 40. The formula for calculating your weight index is in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared. An example for the weight restriction would be if a man is 5’9” tall he cannot weigh more than 268 pounds. If you have questions about the weight index, please call our office.
• You cannot currently be taking anti-depressants or must have been off anti-depressant medication for at least one year.
• You cannot have a criminal record although some issues such as a DUI may be ok if the event happened some years in the past.

If you meet these requirements, you qualify to adopt from China.

What are the special needs children from China like?

The special needs children from China have a variety of problems which can range from minor to severe. There are many children available and right now there are more boys than girls available. These children are usually abandoned in orphanages because of health concerns the biological family can’t deal with. Some of the children have received some treatment for their medical condition, but often times they receive no treatment at all. Each child available on the CCCWA shared list has pictures and an English translation of the child’s medical report. In order to view the children available, families must have a completed homestudy, and must be a current client of WIA.

How long will the process take?

• 3-4 months to complete a homestudy and file the I-800A with NBC. This work has to be completed before families can apply to adopt a specific child.
• 2-3 weeks to be pre-approved by CCCWA.
• 4 months for dossier translation, approval and review. Official referral is sent to family.
• 15-20 days once the approval is completed for CCCWA to send a letter of approval.
• 4 weeks until the Travel Approval letter is issued.
• 2-4 weeks to obtain a Consulate appointment and approved for travel to China.

How do I find the child I want to adopt?

In order to look at pictures of the children available, families must be current clients of WIA, have completed a homestudy, and should have completed a WIA form that contains information that is submitted to CCCWA once the adoptive family identifies a child to adopt. When a family reaches this point in the process they will be able to look at the children available. Once a family finds a child they want to adopt, WIA’s staff person will put a “lock” on that child which lasts for only 48 hours. During this wait time adoptive families might be asked for additional information and confirmation that they absolutely do want to go forward with the adoption of the child on hold. We encourage all families who want to adopt special needs to carefully consider the type of health and medical problems they feel they can handle. Once a child is identified and the family is pre-approved by CCCWA, the child is theirs once the adoption process is complete.

Can I adopt more than one child at a time?

Unfortunately China will only allow the adoption of one child at a time. However, if you wish to adopt a second child form China, another dossier can be submitted 12 months after the first adoption is completed.

Do I have 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 U.S. 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 it is not possible for both parents to make the trip, one parent is required to be in China to sign the adoption documents. They stay in China is approximately 12 days.

If you would like more information about adopting a child with special needs from China please contact Kathy Junk – email address kathy@wiaa.org.