*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.

*Some Hope to Cling To

I talked with our agency today, just clarifying more about the closure, and our options. I was pretty discouraged reading blogs of others and finding that most have dropped out of the Vietnam program, and that their agencies haven't been as positive as ours.

Our agency is encouraging families to start concurrent adoptions if they would like, but are not recommending dropping Vietnam. Only one family out of over 30 waiting families has dropped out. They do remain hopeful that adoptions will reopen soon, as Vietnam has taken significant steps and negotiations have begun. Our agency believes that as long as there are no unpredictable issues that arise, adoptions would likely begin again by the end of the year, or early 2009.

I can do that. I can wait an extra 6 months or so. One day at a time.

Some of our other options through our agency are going with China special needs (which we would be interested in), or Nepal. Nepal has been closed for some time and should reopen this month, but there are already many families waiting. If we were to do a concurrent adoption, we would not have to pay our agency fees again, but would need to pay any country specific fees. We would also need to do the paper chase again and submit a whole new dossier, with an updated home study. It would likely take several months to compile and then we would join a waiting list again, and be on two waiting lists at once. Since we want to adopt more than one down the road, this may be a good option for us, but we're not ready to make any decisions yet.

At the same time, our interest in Africa is growing. Our agency, however, does not have any programs in Africa, so we would be starting at ground zero and loose the money we've put into Vietnam (if it remains closed).

Lots of "ifs." We will keep praying.

Koen was a terror this evening, so it's hard to imagine having more than one tonight. But, maybe he's a terror because he needs a sibling to learn he's not the center of the universe.