*Contemplating....

I debated about sharing this with the world (since I have readers from several continents:), but feel like I should be open about every step in our adoption process. This way you know how to pray for us, and if you are a PAP (prospective adoptive parent), you may learn from our journey (and mistakes!).

Today I was a part of a webinar for those interested in adopting a "special needs" child from China. This is just something we are contemplating pursuing in light of the closure of Vietnam. We have been praying for a long time and I just wanted to listen to this webinar to learn more.

Before we even officially started our adoption process, we were highly interested in China - partially because we have known a few people who have adopted from there, partially because of the publicity that orphans there have received. But, China has some strict requirements, and does not allow people under 30 to apply. I was not quite 29 when we were starting.

Now, I am well over 30 (exactly 149 days), and we meet the other requirements if we were to adopt our next child from China. However, (and this plays a role in our decision) we would not meet the income requirement if we were adopting our 3rd child. For every person in the household, including the child being pursued, China requires a certain yearly income. Unless our salary increases dramatically, (which is pretty much impossible as we raise our own salary through generous donors) we would only be able to adopt one child from China, and it would have to be our next child. I learned from the webinar today that China is strict with the salary requirements.

My fear is that Vietnam may never open, or that if it does, we would adopt Liv, and then it would close again, and we would not be able to turn to China at that time. That's not really reason to pursue China, but it's something to be aware of.

Throughout our process with Vietnam, I have wondered if the Lord had a more special child for us - one with a unique medical need. The wait for a healthy Chinese infant (what we are pursuing from Vietnam) is up around 3 years now. Many of the "waiting children" who are considered to have special needs that make them harder to adopt actually have fairly insignificant issues. Many of these issues are correctable with surgery. Some of the common medical issues we might consider are cleft lip/palate, minor heart defects, limb deformities, vision/hearing weaknesses, large birthmarks, Hepatitis B........ And there is no wait for these children who desperately need a mommy and daddy.

Every month the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) releases a big list of "special needs" children that are available for adoption. Only liscenced agencies have access to this list, and the agency staff match the children with the waiting families who have agreed to adopt a "special needs" child based on the family's preferences. Then the family has a week to decide for sure if they are going to pursue this child. If not, the child is put back on the list for a different agency to look into. It is possible for a family to be matched with a child even before their dossier is completed, but this is not ideal for the child - as this lengthens their wait in China. After a family (who is dossier ready) is matched with a child, it is 3-5 months until they travel to get him or her. The length of stay in China averages 12 days.

Chinese children with cleft palate/lip

A Chinese child with repaired cleft palate/lip.

The reason that we can even contemplate this option, is that many of our fees for Vietnam would transfer over to the China program if we stayed with our agency. I was doing the math and it looks like we could actually save money if we went with China and Vietnam stayed closed. China is a little cheaper of a program.

We would not pull out of Vietnam. We are committed to sticking out this wait, until our agency, or Vietnam, or God forces us to quit. But, we would like to adopt more than one child, so why not start a concurrent adoption now? (Well, several reasons I can think of, but we'll see.)

So, I learned a little from the webinar, but ultimately it made me feel more comfortable with pursuing China. I have yet to talk much with Keith about it, and we still have not heard from the Lord. I'll let you know what we decide.