Why China?

When Mark and I were attending the group training classes, we saw a video called "China's Lost Girls"- a documentary by National Geographic. It described the complex issues of the "one-child policy" in China. This policy (in a nut shell) is one attempt to control their growing population of too many already. Many Chinese parents feel a great need for a son to carry on the family name and to care for them in their old age. Large fines are given to those who choose to have more than one child. (I've heard the fines could equal a year's salary and also apply to extended family members as well.) That is when the extremely difficult decision to abandon their girls (usually in places they will be quickly found and taken to orphanages) in order to try for a boy is thrust upon them. Chinese orphanages were quickly overcrowding with baby girls, which in turn opened the doors of international adoption to help find homes for their children.

We learned that China's adoption program was the most stable and reliable. All adoptions run through one agency....China Center of Adoption Affairs...or the CCAA. (In Russia each region had it's own set of rules and regulations.) Once your dossier goes to China (DTC), you then get logged into the database and get a log in date (LID). This is kind of like your number in line to wait for the next available child. As of today...the wait in line is approximately 9-10 months from LID to the time you get your notification that you've been matched with a child ( also known as your "referral".)

Our LID is 11/18/05. So we are hoping to hear from our adoption agency in August (that they have a referral for us-which usually includes atleast one picture and a medical report.) So there you have it! Now we just wait................and wait...............and wait some more.