A few questions -

[irishprincess71]

DH and I are planning on adopting from China in the next 2 years. We have two boys and are hoping to eventually add two girls to our family.

How long does an adoption from China take - from start to finish?

What is the very first thing that we would need to do to get started?

Do both parents have to go to China to pick up the child?

[EFmom]

irishprincess, we've adopted twice from China. Go to www.fwcc.org and there's a wealth of information about adopting from China.

The time frame is unpredictable in that the time it takes to get a referral when you start may well be quite different from what it is when it's your turn. Right now, referrals are running about 10 months after your paperwork goes over.

When we started on our first adoption, referrals were taking less than four months from the time you submitted your paperwork to China, but by the time we were up to bat, it had stretched to 9 months. For our second adoption, when we started it was at 8 months, but it took 14 months by the time it was our turn. There are lots of reasons for this, and really, there's no predicting.

Also, the homestudy and dossier prep phase can vary tremendously depending on your local BCIS office, your homestudy agency, how complicated your personal situation is, the state and county you are in, etc. Figure it will take about 6 months, but sometimes it's shorter.

Find your local Familes with Children From China group and start talking to people who've recently adopted and you can get a better feel for things. Start researching agencies. As for both parents traveling, in most states, no they don't. But, if both parents don't travel, you must readopt in your state. You do not have to readopt if both do travel. Readoption in my county is a major pain--it's like adopting from scratch, new documents, new homestudy, massive check writing and all! I know, I've got to do it because I stayed home with dd1 while dh went to get dd2, and every time I think about it, my stomach hurts! In other states it's a matter of filling out a form and paying a nominal fee. So, again, it's good to check with your local FCC group.