China Program Updates

Children's Hope received three China referrals on July 7 for Chinese expedited families. There were two beautiful little girls and one handsome little boy. The children are from the Jiangsu Province and are 11 months, 14 months, and 20 months old. These expedited families waited 18 months for their referrals.

We received 15 referrals on June 9!! There were two boys and 13 girls who will soon be with their new loving families. The age of the children ranged from 8-months-old to 22-months-old which put all within the age range of what was requested by the families. This referral day covered January 13, 2006 to January 16, 2006 for a nearly 29 month wait. The next log-in-date to receive referrals is February 9, 2006. In addition to today's referrals, Children's Hope received three seeking confirmation letters for families adopting waiting children.

Nine families are leaving this week to complete their Chinese adoptions, and will be in China for Mother's Day. On May 29, 18 more families will travel before China settles into Olympic mode. Congratulations to all these families and soon to be mothers!

The China Multiple Agency Waiting Children web site has been very active since our Children's Hope inception into the new electronic program in January. This month we have been able to submit letters of intent for several families.

Traveling: Eleven families from Children's Hope International's February referral group and 14 waiting children families are currently traveling in China, successfully completing their adoptions. All 25 of these families will return home Thursday, April 10 through Saturday, April 12, depending on their child's province. These families have been having a great time, enjoying their large travel group, bonding with their children and their children's friends, and seeing all the local sites in China. See this month's Blog(s!) of the Month for an up close look at all the fun and excitement.

What does it mean to be a Waiting Child? Older children or those with special medical needs are not so easily matched for adoption. Young healthy infants are quickly placed into loving families, as older children look on. When a child is adopted through the Waiting Child program, it is now their turn to find the love and care of their very own parents.

Each family was matched with one of 9 beautiful little girls and 2 handsome little boys from the Gansu, Guangdong, and Jilin provinces and Tianjin City. These infants range in age from 7 - 15 months and 24 - 28 months. The families’ paperwork was logged in China on December 20, 2005. Each waited 25 long months from their paperwork receipt in China to their referral day.

Parents travel to China approximately 8 weeks after their referral day to complete their Chinese adoptions. Congratulations to these families and all our China families who have moved up in line. The next group of referrals will begin with the December 28, 2005, log-in-date. Our next log-in-date is January 6, 2006.

Going into the new year of 2008, we are thankful for each and every moment we have shared with our wonderful China families and joyfully look forward to what this year will bring. Children’s Hope is honored to be walking your adoption journey with you and your family!

Referrals: On December 31, 2007, six of our families adopting from China received referrals, each for a beautiful little girl. These girls, all from the Guizhou province, range in age from 14 months to 4 years old. The girls’ new families waited 25 long months for this day, from their adoption paperwork submission to China on December 19, 2005. We expect these families to travel in about 8 weeks. Congratulations!

On December 6, Children's Hope received referrals for five happy families adopting from China. Each family saw their first pictures and reviewed medical information for a daughter. The girls range in age from 9-10 months, and are from the Jiangxi province.

These referral families all had their adoption paperwork added to the CCAA's database on December 13, 2005. After waiting 24 long months from log-in-date to referral, we expect these families to travel in about 8 weeks. Congratulations! The CCAA’s next group of referrals will begin with the December 15, 2005 log-in-date. The next log-in-dates for Children’s Hope families are December 19 and 20.  We fully expect the wait time from log-in-date to referral to grow to over two years in 2008 and continue to climb to possibly four years over time. 

The Children’s Hope China Team is very excited to announce that 26 waiting children have been placed with our China families this month and several children are currently being reviewed. Waiting children are those children available for adoption who are older or have medical needs. Congratulations to these families!

The Children's Hope China Team also received healthy infant referrals on November 5 for ten of our China families. The 10 beautiful little girls are from the Guangxi, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Liaoning provinces. Nine of the girls range in age from 6½ to 13 months; and one toddler girl, just over 3 ½ years old, was referred to a St. Louis family. When her parents were presented her referral, they said, “We are thrilled; she is so beautiful!”

Children's Hope China team received twelve referrals on the first of October for our 11/28/05 log-in-date families and our 8/8/06 and 8/29/06 Chinese expedited families! The referrals are for twelve beautiful little girls from the Chongqing, Jiangxi and Shanghai provinces. These girls range in age from 6.5 to 9 months, and one 2.5-year-old. Our families waited 22 months from the completion of their adoption paperwork to referral; the Chinese expedited families, 14 months. We expect these families to travel in about 7 weeks to complete their China adoptions.

Traveling! Children’s Hope families who received referrals in July just recently returned home with their children and those who were matched in August left for China for the Hunan, Anhui, and Guangdong provinces this week. This month, our families are staying at The Garden while in Guangzhou finalizing their adoptions with the US Consulate (please find more information below). We are very fortunate that these families will be home before the celebrations of the Harvest Moon Festival holidays and the Guangzhou Trade Fair!

Reminder: Children’s Hope offices will be closed on Monday, September 3 in observance of Labor Day; we wish all our families a fun-filled and safe holiday weekend!

The August China program newsletters were mailed today. This latest issue is also available on CHI Family Net under "Newsletters", "China", "August 2007". We are requesting our next group of waiting children and will provide information when we receive the next list to the CHI Family Net site as well.

Referral News: On August 2, twenty-two families celebrated their referral through Children’s Hope for their China adoption, including four referrals for Chinese expedited families. Twenty-one beautiful little girls and one very handsome boy made up the group matched with their forever families. They range in age from 7- to 20-months up to 37 months. These families waited 21 months since their paperwork was registered in China to their referral day; the Chinese expedited families, 14 months.

Congratulations to these families and all our China families who are approaching their own referral day!

The China team reunited with 229 China children at the Children’s Hope Reunion Picnic on Saturday. We had a wonderful day celebrating with our families! Many travel groups from years past planned to come together for a full weekend; some groups even matched with tie-dye t-shirts. Packing peanuts in blow-up swim pools? This was a family favorite, along with a performance by singing Babaloo and the face painting and balloon animal art of Funnie Farm.

Referrals: The CCAA was busy matching referrals to families seeking Chinese adoptions last week. We hope to receive new referrals very soon! This group of referrals will begin with the 11/2/05 log in date. The current wait time from log in date until referral is 18-19 months.

Travel: Children’s Hope has recently received travel approvals for the 5/1/07 referral group. The families will travel to China to complete their international adoptions from June 21-July 4. Four families are set to return with their children late this week. Congratulations to these newly united families!

Completed China adoptions in 2007 through May: 106

Referrals: Children's Hope announced the arrival of 15 China referrals for our 10/27/05 log in date families last week on May 1, 2007. These beautiful children are all girls from the Jiangxi province and range in age from 7 to 11 months. These referrals were for families whose dossiers were logged into the China database system on October 27, 2005 through November 1, 2005. These families waited 18 months from log in date to referral. We expect all of these families to travel in about 8 weeks to complete their adoptions from China. The next group of referrals will begin with the 11/2/05 log in date.  

This past month saw a record number of completed dossiers sent to China, 115. Congratulations to all the families as they completed their dossiers for submission under the current China requirements! Almost all of our families with the desire and capability to submit before the deadline met this goal. This is an amazing accomplishment! Those that were unable to do so are currently selecting from optional Children’s Hope country programs.

Waiting Children: The China team is thrilled that 18 waiting children have been placed from the current waiting children list. Two waiting children have not been requested for review. Updates have been requested from the CCAA and will be posted when received in hopes that a family will come forward when more information is available. Of the two children remaining on this list, the first has cleft lip/palate. Children's Hope is in process to provide surgery for him regardless of his placement with a Children's Hope family. The second child has the same diagnosis as Adoption Services Director Ann Tollefson’s youngest son, Andrew. Any family interested may call and speak with her directly about her experiences and joys in parenting this condition. We hope the best for all of these precious children and their future forever families!

Referrals: Children's Hope is proud to announce that we received eighteen China referrals today for families with a 10/18/05 and 10/24/05 log in date. The referrals are all little girls ranging in age from 7 to 12 months old. The children are from the Hubei and Jiangxi provinces. We expect the families to travel in about 8 weeks to complete their adoption process.

For these families, the wait from log in date to referral was 16 to 17 months. Congratulations to these happy families and everyone who moves up in line for referrals! Congratulations also to the the three waiting children families who received their travel approvals today, too!

happiness and prosperity for you and your families on the 4705 Chinese New Year! Both the CCAA and our Beijing Office will be celebrating Chinese New Year from February 18 through February 25.

Seven waiting children families arrived home yesterday after completing their Chinese adoptions. Welcome home!