Disabled / chronic illness and waiting children in China

[widemouthedfrog]

Hello everyone. I have always wanted to adopt from China (since I was in high school). Now that I have type 1 diabetes, I no longer qualify under their standard regulations for adoption.

However, I am also interested in the waiting child program. I would particularly like to adopt a child with a club foot, since I had a foot problem as a child that involved surgery, exercises, and a leg brace for many years.

Does anyone know if the waiting child program for China has different guidelines for parents with chronic illnesses?

Many thanks. Yes, I know that if we do decide to proceed with an adoption in the future, there are many options ... but I am curious to know whether my original idea is still a possibility.

[RedOakMomma]

I would call a couple of large agencies with big China programs (Great Wall is one, there are a few more) and ask this question. The China waiting children program seems to be in a big transition right now. With the projected wait on the regular adoption program in China now well over 10 years, people are leaving that program in droves and heading over to China's waiting child program. With all the change, all the people, I would call an agency to get the most up-to-date information.

Good luck! And let us know what you find out.

[widemouthedfrog]

Goodness, 10 years! That is astounding. I should have adopted when I was 25 (pre-diabetes and pre-10-year-wait).

Glad to hear that people are moving to the waiting child program, though.

I do have a call in with a local agency, but I need to follow up.

[Spock]

We adopted our son through the special needs program in China last year. We meet all the current requirements but I have heard of exceptions to the rules being made on a case by case basis, especially for harder-to-place kids. It would definitely be worth asking about. Let me know if I can answer any questions about the process or anything else. I remember how overwhelming all the information was at the beginning!

[tiffani]

TRICIA!!!!

hi. I know you're just in the initial "what if" stage of this journey, but I like to see you here all the same.

Mark, as you know, is also diabetic, and while our chosen country is not as strict about parent's health as China is, he just had his doctor add that his diabetes is well controlled, that he's healthy, etc, and there is no reason why his diabetes would prevent his parenting an adopted child.

gotta run!

[tiffani]

sorry, had to let the cable guy in... mark got cable the other night when I was out.

wanted to just add that I'm almost positive that with the waiting child program they'd be more willing to accept your very healthy diabetic self than with the regular China program.

I'm super excited for you just thinking about this -- you're such an amazing mama you need another kid!!

[tiffani]

sorry Tricia did I scare you?

too soon for excitement... but I know this is something you've been thinking about for a long time, and last I heard it was OFF the table, so even just the fact that it's ON the table is good news to me, regardless of the eventual outcome.

[widemouthedfrog]

Nope, you didn't scare me. For some reason I didn't get the reminder that someone had commented. Very boring of me.

It's one the very edges of the table, barely there. But maybe it's there to consider. The doctors prefer that I have babies within my 5-year-diabetes diagnosis time frame (although it's possible later, of course) and I'm not super interested in a biological child. But this, I'm interested in.

[tiffani]

well looking into it is a good first step, and doesn't mean anything for sure... how does dh feel about it?

[widemouthedfrog]

dh is entirely overwhelmed with life at the moment. He's doing his Master's degree and working full time, so everything feels like too much for him. However, I am developing a longer-range evil plan that would see him working less and me working the same or less, so I hope that things will feel like they are within his capacity at that time.

[tiffani]

I thought of you when I saw this today, do you get the rainbow kids newsletter? I tried to link you to the newsletter I got, but of course I can't link you to an email of mine, so I'm copying and pasting the info I thought you might be interested in. you can sign up for their newsletter here. or see the whole site here



China: The CCAA has announced that it is changing its name, and will focus on placing more special needs children, something everyone in adoption has suspected for a number of months. I believe the Half the Sky Foundation is doing an excellent job of reporting this, and refer readers to their website.

...and...

Club feet is a condition where one (unilateral) or both (bilateral) of an infant's feet are rotated inward, often giving the impression of being 'upside down'. The deformed foot may be smaller than normal, and the affected leg may be weaker and smaller than the unaffected leg. Club foot does not affect other aspects of the child's development and children are usually of normal intelligence.

When left uncorrected, club foot can be crippling and painful. Adoptive families change the future and lives of these children.

Visit our Special Needs Area to learn more about this and many other manageable special needs.

Read Our Special Blessing: Adopting a son with club feet


...just thought I'd share!

[widemouthedfrog]

Thanks for fueling the fire, Tiffani!
I am intrigued by that article, since the method that they used sounds very similar to what I went through as a child. I wonder if it is the same. I know what my treatment was because I remember a lot of it, but I don't know its name.

[tiffani]

Originally Posted by widemouthedfrog

Thanks for fueling the fire, Tiffani!

no problem! I'm sure your husband thanks me as well!

[Monie]

Hi Tricia
I know this is an older thread, but I don't get a chance to check MDC often...

I have a chronic illness and have adopted two waiting children from China - our younger daughter has been home almost 4 years, her need was cleft lip and cleft palate. We brought our son home this February, his need is spina bifida. Because of my health condition we had a couple more hoops to jump through than we would have otherwise, but it was nothing too major.

I know the rules are tighter now and the CCAA is not making as many exceptions as they used to, but I would suggest contacting several different agencies and asking. I contacted many about my situation, and most of them got back to me the next day.

good luck!

[widemouthedfrog]

thanks Monie. We will do so!