Hundreds of Chinese children come to Canada each year to join their newly adopted families. China’s program is well-established and previously very predictable, however, wait times have been increasing at a rapid rate. Although this has been difficult for those in the middle of the process, the program is still reliable with mot of the children being very healthy females who have been abandoned due to the traditional attitude of favouring boys. Entering into the adoption process with China with the expectation of a lengthy wait will help ease frustration in the process. China also has a Special Needs Program and the Waiting Child Program, which have significantly shorter wait times. Please read below for further information.
Facilitators
We recommend that families use a China facilitator that is intimately familiar with the China adoption administrative process to enhance their adoption application. Hope Services has contracts with three facilitators that have extensive experience with China facilitation and all offer a well-established facilitation service.
Each agency assists with the applicant’s documents (including translation and notarization), as well as escort services to China and organizing every aspect of the trip. For assistance in choosing a facilitator or more information on adopting from China, please contact our office (604-850-1002). We would also be happy to put you in touch with other families who have adopted from China that are interested in sharing their experience.
“Families with Children from China” (FCC), is a parent organization welcoming both adoptive and waiting families and is a strong, organized group. Check out their website at: www.fccbc.ca.
Eligibility Requirements
- Applicants must be legally married over 2 years. If there has been a previous marriage, then the present marriage must be over 5 years. They will not accept applicants with more than 2 previous marriages. No single applicants.
- Must be between 30 to under 50 years of age. If adopting from the Special Needs or the Waiting Child Programs, applicants can be up to 55 years old.
- At least one parent must have a stable job.
- Applicants must have a combined minimum net wealth of $80,000 USD and annual income should be at least $10,000 USD per family member including the child to be adopted.
- Education equal to or higher than high school.
- Less than 5 children under the age of 18 currently living in the home. The youngest child should have reached the age of 1 year. (Adoption of special needs children will be exempt from this limitation.)
- Both applicants are physically and mentally healthy, and able to parent a child. They do not have the following conditions:
- Cancer or personal history of cancer
- Major illness on long-term treatment
- Infectious disease within infective stage
- Major organ transplant in the last 10 years
- Physical disability such as on a wheel chair
- Severe facial deformation
- On medication for depression or anxiety. (Must be off of medication for at least 2 years)
- BMI (body mass index) = or greater than 40
- Blindness in both eyes
- Blind in one eye with no ocular prosthesis
- Hearing loss in both ears or language function loss (applicant is restricted to adopt a child with similar disability)
- No criminal record
- Home study approved by adoption agency
MAIN STREAM CHINA PROGRAM
Children Available
Children available from China are mostly female and are currently 10 - 14 months of age at the time of referral. Applicants may adopt only one child at a time. Most of the children that have been adopted from China are quite healthy with perhaps some initial developmental delays. The children are typically abandoned and are assigned a birth date once delivered to an orphanage. As no background information is available, openness to unknown risk factors is a must. Generally proposals contain a good developmental history of the child from the time they entered care and include one or two pictures.
Waiting Period
The wait time for China has been lengthening and the future time frame is difficult to predict. Presently, families can expect to wait 4-6 years and longer, from the time their dossier is received in China to receive a proposal. This timeframe is subject to change and it is expected to continue to lengthen. If one or both applicants are of Chinese Heritage then the files are expedited. To be eligible for this category one or more of the applicant’s parents, or the applicants themselves, must have been born in China. The present wait time for expedited files is 18 – 24 months, but it is also expected to increase.
After accepting the proposal you will travel in a group approximately 6 – 8 weeks later. Only one parent is required to travel, however, we encourage both to experience the excitement of meeting your child in their home country.
CHINA SPECIAL NEEDS PROGRAM
Children Available
Older and special needs children are available through the China Special Needs (SN) Program. When adopting from this program, the CCAA is a little more lenient on the eligibility requirements; the upper age limit is 55 years and applicants can have more than 4 children at home. The children are typically abandoned and are assigned a birth date once delivered to an orphanage. As no background information is available, openness to unknown risk factors is a must. These children have a variety of medical conditions; some may be minor, correctable medical needs and others may be more complex. Generally proposals contain a good developmental history of the child from the time they entered care and include one or two pictures.
The following are some examples of what is considered to be a SN child in China.
• Cleft Lip/Cleft Palate
• Club Foot
• Cardiovascular/Congenital Heart Disease
• Hearing Impairment
• Visual Impairment
• Neurological Impairment
• Hepatitis B
• Missing fingers/toes
• Child older than 6 yrs old
Waiting Period
The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) does expedite applications to Special Needs Program. Currently the wait time for this type of application is about 1.5 – 2.5 years (subject to change without prior notice) from the date when the CCAA logs in your dossier.
After accepting the proposal you will travel in a group approximately 6 – 8 weeks later. Only one parent is required to travel, however, we encourage both to experience the excitement of meeting your child in their home country.
CHINA WAITING CHILD PROGRAM
This program is unique in that the CCAA has entrusted some adoption agencies to find families for specific children in the Waiting Children’s Program (WCP). The main goal of the program is to find families for children with special needs. The CCAA will accept applications for the WCP through BC’s Central Authority when using one of the CCAA approved agencies. Presently we are working with Family Outreach International (FOI) who is approved to accept WCP applications.
Children Available
Older and special needs children are available through the Waiting Child Program. When adopting from this program, the CCAA is a little more lenient on the eligibility requirements; the upper age limit is 55 years and applicants can have more than 4 children at home. The children are typically abandoned and are assigned a birth date once delivered to an orphanage. As no background information is available, openness to unknown risk factors is a must. These children have a variety of medical conditions; some may be minor, correctable medical needs and others may be more complex. Generally proposals contain a good developmental history of the child from the time they entered care and include one or two pictures.
One difference between the WCP and the other China programs is that the parents are provided with more medical information on the child so that they have more information when making a decision whether to accept a pre-match. The types of special needs in the Waiting Child Program are similar to what is listed above in the Special Needs Program. Some of the most common WCP special needs are Cleft Lip/Cleft Palate, Club Foot and Cardiovascular/Congenital Heart Disease.
Waiting Period
The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) does expedite applications to the Waiting Child Program. The CCAA regularly sends profiles of special needs children in the Waiting Child Program to FOI. FOI will then pre-match approved families with an available child. The wait time from the time your dossier is sent to FOI until you are pre-matched can vary dependent on the types of special needs the applicants are open to. On average, families typically are matched within a few months to up to 12 months after their dossier is received by FOI. Once a pre-match has been accepted by the family, the prospective adoptive parents will have their adoption dossier sent to the CCAA, at which time the process will be expedited. The CCAA will forward the formal child proposal to our Central Authority. This process takes about 3 – 4 months.
After accepting the proposal you will travel in a group approximately 6 – 8 weeks later. Only one parent is required to travel, however, we encourage both to experience the excitement of meeting your child in their home country.
Summary of Process
For detailed process information, please refer to separate form: “Overview of Steps for China Adoption”.
- Make application to Hope Services and fulfill BC requirements for legal adoption. It is important to note that China requires a separate medical form in addition to Hope’s medical. Please insure that you request this from Hope when you attend the Part 1 Seminar.
- Choose facilitator to handle China part of the process and fulfill China requirements.
- Complete sponsorship application from Canadian Immigration.
- Mainstream China Program - Your proposal will come from the CCAA to our agency 4 – 6 years after your dossier is “logged in” in China.
- Special Needs China Program - Your proposal will come from the CCAA to our agency 1.5 – 2 years after your dossier is “logged in” in China.
- Waiting Child Program - Your pre-match will come from FOI to our agency. Your proposal will come from CCAA 3-4 months after receiving the pre-match.
- Travel to China will occur 6 – 8 weeks after receiving your proposal.
- For China, the adoption is finalized in the country while you are there. Your trip will be approximately 10 – 14 days. The first week of the trip is spent in the area where the orphanage is located as the adoption takes place in that Province. The second week of the trip is spent in Beijing where the Canadian Embassy is located.
- There are two post-placement reports required at 6 and 12 months after arriving home with your child.
For more information on adopting from China please contact our office at 604 850-1002 or by email adoption@hopeadopt.org