China Adoption

When my husband and I made the decision to adopt, I decided to join an online community for parents adopting from China. I was excited because I would get to chat with people experiencing the same thing as me. After I decided upon a username and password, I logged on and clicked on the special needs room. The first posting I came to was this: "We received our PA today". There were many congratulations. I had no idea as to what PA meant. I came across another posting: "Has anyone received a TA yet?" This was followed by many replies of "Yes!!!" I continued to find more acronyms: DTC, LOI, LOA. I had no clue as to what these parents were referring to… [more]

Who loves to fill out forms? I do, I do! There is something about writing in the blanks and checking the boxes that I absolutely love. It's been a highlight for me during this adoption journey to fill out all the paperwork. But last week, I met my match -- the I-800A. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the I-800A, let me give you a brief introduction. Since the United State implemented the Hague Treaty, a new form (I-800A) was created to determine prospective adoptive parents' suitability to adopt a foreign orphan. Up to this point, the I-600A was used for all international adoptions. Now, if you are adopting from a Hague country, you must submit the I-800A to USCIS… [more]

In one of my last posts, I mentioned that I may have been matched by my agency with my daughter. My husband and I submitted our LOI (letter of intent) that night to our case manager. I patiently began a short wait to hear China's decision on the match. One day turned into two. Two turned into three. Three turned into four. I knew that the Chinese New Year was upon us, so I hoped to hear a decision before the offices were closed for the holiday. Seven days later, my case manager emailed me with the decision -- China pre-approved us to adopt one of their precious children. Since I now consider myself an official "expectant mother", I am over joyed… [more]

The Chinese New Year is upon us. As a prospective adoptive parent, I plan on celebrating it this year with my husband and a few family members. As this is not a typical American holiday, I was unfamiliar with the holiday's history and particular nuisances. The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in the Chinese culture. The holiday season typically last many days, like the American holidays in late December. New Year's Day is based on the lunar calendar so it can fall on any date in late January or Feburary. It starts with the new moon and ends on the full moon 15 days later (the lantern festival). For 2011, the date for the Chinese New Year is February 3. The Chinese New Year… [more]

My husband and I finished our homestudy about ten days ago. Currently, it is under review at our adoption agency. Knowing this and the dreaded next step of the I 800A, I never thought that the following would happen. On Tuesday, January 18th at 9:30 am, I was sitting in my cubicle at work and thinking about work related things. My office phone rang and I noticed that the caller ID was an outside number. I will never forget the words as I picked up the phone. "Hey Julie! We have a possible match for you." What!?! Many thoughts ran through my head in a jumbled mess at that moment. The first was "woo hoo!!" The next was "this is very soon". The last was… [more]

Since I am adopting from China, I spend a considerable amount of time reading other families' blogs and adoption-related articles. I noticed that many families and authors refer to a red thread and lady bugs in their writing. I began to see lady bugs on many products related to Chinese adoption. "What does string and an insect have to do with Chinese adoption?", I asked myself. Unsure of what I may find, I started a quest to find out. I began by reading books and magazine articles. I perused adoption websites. I talked to various adoption professionals and families who had adopted from China. "What's the deal with the red thread and lady bugs?" I would ask them. Here are their answers. The red… [more]

If you have ever adopted a child from China, you know that you have to write a letter of application to the officials of the People's Republic of China. It must include the gender and age of the child you are requesting and several statements of promise (i.e. you promise to love the child, follow through with all post-adoption reports, etc). As I sat down to write ours, I was at a loss. After many rough drafts and several unkind words to my husband, I finally finished it. I am posting it here in case, you too, get stuck and need a little help to write yours. To the Officials of the People's Republic of China: Hi! We are Ben and Julie H. We have… [more]

After my husband and I applied to our agency, we started the home study process to adopt our child from China. As many of you can attest, the home study is not as bad as you might think (but that is for another post). During our first home visit, my social worker asked me how long I thought the entire process would take. I was somewhat naive and responded "I think it will take 18 - 24 months from start to finish". "You will probably wait 4 - 5 years for a referral of a non-special needs (NSN) child," said my social worker. "Wow! That's a long time," both my husband and I exclaimed. "Why is it such a long wait?", I asked

Perhaps more A-parents (which is a trendy abbreviation for "adoptive parents" I can only promise I'll try never to use again) should read more stories like this one, in which England's foreign secretary, David Miliband, is praised by a mother who adopted from Shenzhen eight years ago. He's just adopted internationally, too. From the United States. There's more detail about his adoption in this rather critical Guardian column, which mentions quite a few things about the context of Miliband's happy day - in that he wound up snubbing a Saudi Arabian delegation because he had to "dash off to America." There are extra helpings of "but it's only an adoption, not a birth" and "surely Prince Saud should take precedence"… [more]

What is that baby really saying? A lot of frustration seems to be tied up with language - and what they call "language delays" are all too often a part of parenting kids adopted internationally. Toddlers like to be understood - and when son (son!) uses a new word and realizes that we know what he means, his face lights up. Of course, babies have their own language, and chances are, if you're an average parent adopting from China, you'll be meeting these new kids when they're really quite new indeed, so what you need right away is some kind of baby translator to know what the latest bout of crying is over. And now (supposedly) you can know for sure. Yes, the good researchers… [more]