Who is eligible to adopt from China?
According to the China Center
for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA), both adopting parents must be at
least 30 years of age to submit a dossier to adopt a healthy child. Families
can begin paperwork at age 29, however a dossier cannot be submitted to the CCCWA
until both adopting parents are 30 years old. Typically the CCCWA will refer
infants to couples where the youngest parent is 45 years of age or younger at
the time of referral. If the younger of the adopting couple is over 45 years of
age at the time of referral, the child may be older. Both parents of a married
couple must be under 50 years of age at the time of dossier submission to adopt
from China.
Health conditions, financial status, and criminal history are other
considerations the CCCWA include in their approval process. Parents 50-55 years
old and singles may be allowed to adopt children with special needs. For a more extensive list of guidelines for
adopting from China,
please see Legal Requirements to Adopt from China.
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What is the CCCWA?
The China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA),
formerly know as the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) is the
organization within China
that is responsible for processing international adoptions from China. The CCCWA
is a branch of the Ministry of Civil Affairs which oversees the orphanages
within China.
As children are eligible for international adoption, orphanages provide
documentation on those children to the CCCWA. Placing agencies (such as FTIA)
submit documentation (a dossier) on families wanting to adopt from China. The CCCWA
is responsible for reviewing family documentation (dossiers), matching children
with families and overseeing the adoption process.
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What ages are the children that are available from China?
Infants are typically 6 - 18 months of age. Older children
up to the age of fourteen are available as well.
Travel is typically 2-5 months after accepting a referral,
so the child will be 2-5 months older by the time the parents receive him or
her than the child is at the time a family receives the referral.
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Are boys available from China?
The majority of the children are girls; however, yes, boys
are available for international adoption. Families can request a boy from China.
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Can you adopt more than one child at a time from China?
China does not place more than one child for adoption at the
same time except in the rare case of twins or special needs. Twins are
available on rare occasion. The CCCWA does use pretty stringent guidelines in
considering families for the placement of twins. In certain situations, families are allowed
to adopt two unrelated children at once if one of the children has
harder-to-place special needs.
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How much does it cost?
Please refer to the Cost To Adopt From China page on FTIA's website for a detailed cost-breakdown for an adoption from China.
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What will occur after the dossier is received at the FTIA office?
After a complete dossier is submitted to FTIA, all dossiers
go through a very thorough review process. FTIA tries to submit completed
dossiers to China
typically on Thursdays of each week. FTIA does not batch or hold dossiers to
submit a certain number at a given time. FTIA requests that families allow 2-3
days for their dossier to be reviewed.
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Where do the children live?
Most of the children live in orphanages. However, there are some children who live in foster care.
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How much information will we receive on the birthmother?
Generally, in China the birth mother is not known. The child is usually left in an area where the mother knows he/she will be found easily. She does not personally hand over the child to officials and relinquish her parental rights. The child becomes a ward of the government and is brought to the orphanage once picked up. The orphanage director is the child's legal custodian.
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Are the children in China healthy?
Generally, the children adopted from China are very healthy. Developmental delays in certain areas are fairly common, while long-term medical issues are not as common. There is always the possibility of unforeseen or undetected medical or developmental issues and families should be prepared for such.
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What kind of information will I receive with the referral of a child?
A referral typically consists of a physical exam
report, a developmental report, blood test results, and at least one to two
photographs of the child. FTIA will provide families with all original Chinese
medical reports, developmental reports and any other information sent on the
child. FTIA will also provide families with a complete English translation of
the referral information and photographs of the child. All information provided
by the CCCWA on the child will be given to the family.
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Does the medical information need to be reviewed by a doctor?
FTIA does not require that the medical information be reviewed by a doctor. However, because FTIA is not in a position to offer medical advice, we do recommend that the family obtain a medical opinion. This is a personal, life-long decision so we want all families to be comfortable with the decision to accept the referral and complete the adoption. A list of International Adoption Medical Experts is available on the FTIA website.
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Do I have to travel to China?
The adoption is finalized in China, so at
least one parent must travel. We strongly recommend that both parents travel to
see the child's birth country and experience the culture. Another benefit of
both parents traveling is that the child will automatically become a citizen of
the United States upon
arrival in the U.S.;
therefore it will not be necessary to apply for his/her citizenship. If only
one parent travels, a Power of Attorney is needed giving the traveling parent
permission to appear before provincial and U.S. Consulate officials on behalf
of the non-traveling parent. Also, if only one parent travels, the child may
not automatically become a U.S.
citizen and parents will need to apply for your child's citizenship upon
returning to the U.S. Parents will also have to follow their state's guidelines
for re-adopting or registering the adoption in their state.
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How long do I have to be in China?
The trip is approximately 14 to 16 days. The
overall length of the trip is influenced by the province the child is from, the
appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou,
China,
international flight availability for the group, etc.
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Where will I stay in China?
There are many nice hotels in China. We try
to always arrange for our families to stay at the top quality hotels available.
Typically families will spend approximately 5-6 days in the provincial capital
of the province your child is from. From there all families will travel to Guangzhou, China,
to complete necessary steps for the United States Consulate. Families typically
stay in Guangzhou
approximately 5-6 days. Sightseeing in Beijing
for 1-2 days prior to going to the province is optional and dependent upon many
factors including flight availability, appointment schedules, holidays, etc. We
try to include going to Beijing
as part of the trip when arrangements work out for the group, however we cannot
guarantee that it will be part of every trip.
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Who will make the travel arrangements?
FTIA works with travel agencies to arrange all
international and inside China
travel for you, although you may have the option of arranging your
international flights yourself. Families generally travel as a group. Once
appointments are confirmed with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, we will arrange travel dates. The
travel agents we work with will contact you to confirm your international
travel. Once that is taken care of, FTIA will confirm inside China travel
arrangements and send families all travel information including an itinerary
for the trip. Given the dynamics of group travel and the many factors that must
be coordinated, FTIA does discourage families from traveling different from the
plans made for the group.
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Can we use frequent flyer miles?
We at FTIA do our best to make the trip as economical as
possible for families. We do try to help families use frequent flyer miles;
however, using frequent flyer miles can be difficult. Often the details of
travel do not come together until close to the time of actually traveling. FTIA
also uses several different international airlines for the trip depending on
the number of families traveling, flight availability, etc. Typically families
run into problems with frequent flyer miles due to black out dates, the amount
of advanced notice needed to make arrangements, limited number of seats
allotted on flights for frequent flyer mileage users, etc. Again, we will try
to help as we understand the savings potential for frequent flyer miles, but we
want families to realize they are difficult to use.
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Who will help me while I am there?
Typically when you arrive at the airport in China we will
have one of our in-country coordinators from our Beijing Office meet you. A
coordinator will be with you for the rest of the trip. This person will assist
you in filling out all of the required paperwork, make sure you arrive at each
scheduled appointment on time and have everything you need. You will be well
taken care of during your trip in China.
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Do I need to take large amounts of cash with me when I travel?
When you travel to China you will typically need to
carry $8,000 in new, crisp bills. This includes the required orphanage donation
(approximately $5,500) and approximately $1,200-$1,500 in provincial legal
fees. The orphanage donation and provincial legal fees are turned over to our
staff shortly after your arrival in China. The remaining money is an
estimate of the amount that families will need for food, daily necessities,
shopping, etc. Typically most families find this estimate to be appropriate
unless you plan to buy a very expensive souvenir, etc. You will also need to carry
a major credit card (Master Card, Visa, or American Express) in case of
emergency.
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Whom do I talk to if I have questions throughout the process?
When you submit an application to FTIA you will
be assigned a coordinator from the China Team to work with you. When families
are in China, an in-country
coordinator from our Beijing
office or a local guide from the travel agency we work with will be with you to
assist you. Families are always welcome to call or email FTIA and we will do
our best to answer your questions and find you the help that you need through
the adoption process.
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