AsiaNews.it has a story on the official response to the baby-marketing scandals: they're tightening regulations at orphanages.

excerpt: Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) – “New, more severe regulations” for China’s state orphanages will be announced shortly, Li Xueju said today. The Chinese Civil Affairs Minister was speaking on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress.

The new norms “aim to lay out standards for running government orphanages and to narrow... more

Undisclosed sources reveal an untold story: whispers abound in the proverbial grapevine of a second flight departing from the CCAA laden with referral folders. This bird is slated for takeoff sometime next week, possibly as early as Wednesday. These folders could be replacements for the ones that were lost (and now, as far as we know, are mostly found).

Or it could be that because they were sending those, the Matching Room Mystics decided to send along a few other new files that happened to already have been touched by the Magic Stapler.... more

In our travel group, the possibility was just raised that we might not travel until after China's "May Holiday," a possibility that I'd imagine has a few families shuddering with whatever it is when you mix anticipation with dread. So very long to wait... and for what? What is this "May Holiday" that shuts all the businesses down for three days?

Somebody just asked that in the group, actually. It's interesting, because it's one of the largest international commemorations based on an event in American history, and we don't even celebrate it. I'd be willing to bet most... more

Latest referral rumors:

Of the batch of 60-something referrals that were misplaced somewhere between the CCAA office in China and the adoption agencies (and eagerly waiting parents-to-be) here in the United States, the courier service found 38 files in a warehouse in Ohio. Apparently, a box containing two plastic packages had burst open, and one of the packages tumbled out. Or maybe a disgruntled courier employee was trying to outdo Ricky Jay's card-throwing skills and practicing with large manila folders to master a new level of awesome ability. It's hard to tell at this point.

This gives... more

Hey -- has anyone out there traveled to Yunyang County? Or anywhere around the Three Gorges area?

I'm curious about the best ways to get around -- I really want to go to the place my son (son!) came from, and, if possible, to visit the orphanage. Being able to visit Fuling SWI, where our daughter came from, was an experience I wouldn't have traded for the world.

But Fuling was only around an hour and a half outside Chongqing. Yunyang is about 6-8 hours outside the city of Chongqing.

And, for you trivia buffs out there, Chongqing is the only major city in China where you won't see bicycles because they have too many steep mountains there. I'm imagining this trip would... more

My Knowledgable Spouse reports that not everyone was as lucky as we were today -- apparently many of The Stork packages haven't wound up where they're supposed to be. It *seems* like DHL misplaced a fat packet of referrals.

Whether or not this was passive-aggressive punishment for all the anxious parents-to-be haranguing the tracking information center ("IS IT HERE YET? IS IT HERE YET? IS IT HERE YET?") is not entirely clear. However, The recently cited Traveling Daughters Family are among the affected. I can't imagine the anticipation, and I don't think my cardiologist would want me to try.

Hold... more

According to My Insightful Spouse, rumor has it the Stork has touched down in San Francisco and at least one packet of referrals has been delivered to an agency in a Western State With A Professional Sports Team Named After Horses And What I Think Is The Highest Baseball Stadium In America.

So it looks like tomorrow, I'll be looking at a referral for the latest family member.

1. The Stork has flown, officially. Because I don't know what the cut-off date was for the folders the CCAA processed, I won't know if my next child's photo is in a folder aboard this flight until Monday or Tuesday. My Beloved Spouse is getting reminders to breathe from our friends.

2. Why are you reading this blog? I'm a little nuts right now. Go read The One and Only G, who's writing about her experiences working in a Chinese group foster home (which in itself is remarkable) with a lot of special needs kids, primarily cleft palate and spinal bifida. She (she? why do I assume "she"?) has photographs of some of the... more

> [A major agency] has notified families that the stork has
> flown the coop and is
> heading the the US. [This large agency] is expecting 90
> referrals
> and includes all
> of May 17.

Do I need to translate this one?

No. I only hope (and kind of expect) "includes all of May 17" also includes beyond May 17 to the 25th.

Rumor has it that the CCAA has decided to cut off the latest batch of referrals at the May 25 LID. The Stork may be in flight as soon as next week -- we might even hear about it by tomorrow, my time.

(Translation: The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs is processing a lot of dossiers, so many that this month, they'll be matching kids with families who got paperwork in up to May 25 last year. This is the group that includes my family's application, which was logged in on the 23rd. The flight carrying the referrals -- the dossiers that have been matched with children by the Magic Stapler in the matching room -- might be taking off by next week. Or even tomorrow, even.)

(So grant... more