SARS and Chinese adoptions

[kama'aina mama]

There was an article in my local paper today about three local couples who just got back from China with their new children. They were the last group permitted before the Chinese gov put a stop on all international adoptions. They also spoke to a woman who has done all the steps and is waiting now for the phone call to go pick up her ten month old daughter.. a call she now knows will not come for quite a while. I just felt such pain and sadness thinking of all the people, so eager, so ready to bring home a child and now denied the chance to decide for themselves if they are willing to take the risk to go collect the babe.

[Ragana]

Talked to a friend who is going through this. They haven't actually put a stop to all adoptions as I understand it. That is what I thought, too, from the way it was described in the paper. She said that parents are still being matched with children, but depending on where the child is from, the parents may not be able to travel to pick them up at this time. When travel bans are lifted, they can.

[Clarity]

but, unlesss it has changed, all kids had to go to guangdong, which is very sars-affected for their US entry visa. I am so sad for all the families!!!

[EFmom]

I am praying this clears up soon. After you get a referral for a particular child, the wait to travel is agonizing under the best of circumstances. I can't imagine how hard it must be for these families, not knowing when travel will be allowed.

Everyone still must go through Guangzhou because that's where the US consulate is, and that's where you get the child's VISA.

[Tigeresse]

Yes, that is true, all travel is suspended unless families cannot change their reservations (for those that have received their permission to travel).

China is still taking dossiers and processing them, but not issuing referrals or permission to travel, as far as I know. Our agency told us the CCAA will be reevaluating once a month.

We will have DTC in a few weeks, and after that the current wait for referral is 14 months, so for us, this situation may not have too much of an effect, but for all those families who either already have a referral or were very close to getting one this news must be heartbreaking. I hope this SARS issue can be resolved so these children and parents can be joined together in their forever families.

[Dakota's Mom]

Just got a notice from our agency that the China Center for Adoption Affairs has officially restarted China adoptions. As of today, parents who have permission to travel will be allowed to travel to bring their children home, people who have referrals will be issued permission to travel, and new referrals will be issued. It looks like things are getting back to normal. I hope it stays that way so all these little ones can find their way home to their forever famlies.

[EFmom]

Thank goodness!

My heart aches for all those people who will have to redo their INS clearances again. It was bad enough to have to do it once!

[TiffanyK]

I'm sooo glad China is opening up for travel again! We have friends awaiting a referral. Hope everyone will have their babies home soon!

[Jenny_adoptChina]

Two more months worth of referrals came in today for Chinese adoptions! April and May'02 submittals came last week after the SARS ban was lifted, and then June and July'02 referrals came today! They expect August and Sept'02 to come by the end of July, and then probably Oct/Nov at the end of August (I'm thinking), and then even if they're down to just one month at a time after that (we submitted in Feb'03), we'll get our daughter's picture by the end of November and travel around Christmas time or in January - yippee!
Friends at work ask about how we can wait so long (still roughly 6 months to go), but we've been waiting for a baby for nearly 10 years, so 6 months seems really close to us! I'm so excited!

[TiffanyK]

Congratulations! My friends said last night that they were next in line for referral. I wouldn't be surprised if they got their referral today! They submitted in June.

I hope your six month wait goes fast and your baby is in your arms soon!

[Tigeresse]

Jenny,

That's great news! Referrals have been pouring in on the list I'm on, and it is looking like the wait is dipping below the 14 month period we were told to expect. I haven't really heard that things are moving faster from my agency, but that would be wonderful! We are DTC June '03 and weren't expecting a referral until Aug/Sept '04. This really gets my hopes up!

Best wishes to you and everyone awaiting referrals!