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This is a short list of questions that we have been typically asked regarding our adoption from China of Chloe and Mackenzie. This is based on our personal experiences. We hope that you find this helpful! Maybe this information will help bring home one more of those beautiful children!
Yes, they are both adopted. Chloe on Christmas Day 2000 and Mackenzie on August 17, 2003. They are both from China. Chloe is from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province and Mackenzie is from Fuling in Sichuan Province. Yes, through adoption, but not biologically. Yes, some boys are available. Most children available for adoption from China are girls. Boys will sometimes be available who have special needs (i.e. cleft lip). The Chinese government has a one child policy and the Chinese cultural preference is for boys. This has several reasons. Boys are seen as being able to contribute more if the family farms, boys will take of their parents in their old age, and boys will carry on the family name. For Chloe, our total expenses were about $17,000 and for Mackenzie, they were about $28,000. This figure includes obtaining, notarizing, certifying, authenticating, and mailing of all documents required, homestudy and adoption agency fees, complete travel expenses (airfare, hotel, meals, and sightseeing), fees in China and the orphanage donation. For Chloe, from the start of collecting our paperwork to the day we got her in China, it took 13 months. For Mackenzie, the process took 18 months. This included about 2 extra months due to China suspending adoptions during the SARS epidemic. China offered us the best combination of things that we were looking for. We wanted a daughter, and most children available for adoption from China are girls. We did not want the process to take to long, and the typical time from China was 13-18 months. It had to be a reasonable amount of money. While China was not the cheapest, it is also not the most expensive. Yes, we went to China for each daughter. China requires you to be there for at least 10 days to complete the process. We were there for about two full weeks each time. We were a little nervous, especially the first time. It is generally pretty safe over there, and we had guides throughout the trip. The Chinese people are very friendly and are happy to see these children going to good homes in the United States. No, in fact we do not know anything about their biological parents. Both of our daughters were found abandoned. We got to visit an orphanage on each trip. Although they would not be acceptable to American standards, they are in general, clean and well staffed with caregivers who are very concerned with welfare of the children. They were also very full of beautiful children that need homes and families. The children in the orphanages are immunized (in China) and given physical examinations. When a child is referred for adoption, you receive translated copies of the examination results. The children from the orphanages are in overall good health, but typically have coughs and runny noses (Chloe and Mackenzie both did). The children are examined again in Guangzhou prior to completing the paperwork at the US Consulate. No, each daughter was picked for us. They base their selection on the personal information (interests, personality, background) that you provide with your homestudy. We have heard that they also select a baby’s looks based on the pictures of you that are included with the homestudy. In our case, both girls have definite traits that are like us, and each one resembles us in some respects. You can specify an age range of the child on your application paperwork. China also has limits on the age of child that you can adopt based on the parent’s age and age of other children in the household. We requested babies under one year old, and both daughters were about 10 months old when we adopted them. China allows a certain number each year of single women to adopt children. Once that limit is reached you have to wait until the following year. Single men can not adopt a child from China. Adopting a child from China is not that difficult. Our agencies provided us with a list of the steps to follow, the paperwork required, and the estimated costs. Basically we just followed the list and checked items off as they were completed. The hardest part is patiently waiting from the time your dossier is sent to China until the day you receive the name, pictures, and information of the child they are referring to you. For Chloe we used America World Adoption Association (AWAA). For Mackenzie we used Great Wall China Adoption (GWCA). We used GWCA because we were not satisfied with the entire experience with AWAA and had heard good things from people who used GWCA. Yes, both girls are US citizens. In 2000, Congress passed a law that President Clinton signed that grants automatic citizenship to children adopted internationally. Both girls adapted to us very well, right away. They fit perfectly into our lives from the start and we can’t now imagine life without either one of them. |
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