The Wait and Waiting Children

Adoptions in China are taking a very long time right now in most cases. We were so lucky to wait only six months after our documents got to China in 05 for our referral of Clio. (Of course, those who knew me at the time will laugh because it was all too long back then...I was very stressed and impatient.)

Since that time, the wait for families has increased significantly and it is now about 18 months and those turning in paperwork now are being told it may go as high as 3 years! Ouch! That really hurts when you are longing to hold a little one!

During our first adoption, we had the privilege of meeting several families who adopted through the Waiting Child program, which places children with medical needs and older children. We also had a family in our first travel group discover their little girl had a significant heart condition. We learned there are no guarantees and our hearts were open to many special needs.

In Nov. 2006, we didn't know that halfway around the world a beautiful little girl was born. But we did know our hearts were telling us it was time to begin the journey to our second child. We began preparing our paperwork right around that time and after Thanksgiving, turned it in to our agency, Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI.)

I like to think that the red thread that the Chinese believe connects those destined to be together, had already been spun and was pulling us toward our little Tian. For the waiting child (WC) program, we filled out a Medical Condition Checklist where we listed which needs we were open to and the age and sex of the child we hoped to adopt. The wait to be matched in this program has been running around 8 mos. -- 1 year for most families. So we were very surprised to get the call only 1 day short of 6 mos. And for a little girl under 12 mos. Many families ask for girls under 12 mos., so I was pretty sure we'd be matched with a little boy around 2 years old. So we were surprised and delighted that we were matched with this beautiful little girl so young so soon. We can't wait to bring her home!