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In June 2001, we began the adoption process when we signed up with our adoption agency, a San Francisco bay area based international adoption agency (headquartered in Orinda, California with branch offices in Sacramento and Pasadena) called Heartsent Adoptions (editor’s note: they get an A+).

From June 2001 to September 2001, we gathered the necessary paperwork that needed to be submitted to complete our formal adoption application to the Chinese government. The formal adoption application to China is called a dossier. Documents that needed to be gathered included our birth and marriage certificates, letters from our employers verifying our employment, copies of tax returns from the previous 3 years, letters from our local police verifying we do not have criminal records, medical clearance letters from our doctors, our family financial statement (listing debts, assets, and liabilities), etc. Also during that time, we were visited three times by a licensed social worker from Heartsent. These visits were for a home study which is a social worker report discussing our home/work/family situation and ultimately judging whether or not we would be acceptable adoptive parents. The home study report was included in the dossier to China.

We were also required to be fingerprinted twice. Once by the INS to make sure we didn’t have criminal records with the FBI. And once by the California Department of Justice to make sure we weren’t in any of its criminal records.

We submitted all of the paperwork to Heartsent and they prepared our dossier. They submitted our dossier to China on September 21, 2001. The dossier arrived in Beijing on September 25, 2001. The Chinese government agency that is responsible for all international adoptions in China is called China Center of Adoption Affairs, or CCAA). We did not receive any information from the Chinese government (no updates, status reports, etc.) until when the Chinese government matched a child to us and sent us photographs and a short description of the child (the documents sent by the Chinese government notifying applicants of the match and providng information about the child is called a “referral“).

The wait between when the Chinese government receives the dossier and when it sends the referral to the waiting parents depends on the backlog of dossiers at CCAA. Our wait was 13 months. Due to numerous factors, the wait time has recently been increasing.

Most of the children available for adoption in China are girls. In China, with some exceptions, each family is only allowed to have one child (called the One Child Policy). Culturally and economically, Chinese families believe that it is to their advantage to have a son rather than a daughter. Some Chinese families abandon girls shortly after birth so they can try again for a boy. Since Chinese families are not allowed to give up a child for adoption (or otherwise, abandon a child), some families will secretly abandon girls in a public place (such as in front of a government building, hospital, or school) where they know their girls will be quickly found and turned in to the authorities.

The availability of children available in China has decreased due to an increase in domestic adoption in China and a Chinese government effort to encourage families to have a daughter as their one allowed child. At the same time, the number of applications to adopt Chinese children from other countries has dramatically increased. Thus, the wait time has increased as supply has decreased and demand has increased.

In 2004, 7,044 Chinese children were adopted by Americans. In 2005, 7,906 Chinese children were adopted by Americans. In 2006, 6,493 Chinese children were adopted by Americans (despite the fact dossiers had increased).

On Monday, November 4, 2002, we received notice from our adoption agency that a referral for us from the Chinese government had arrived in Heartsent’s office. On November 5, 2002, we drove to Orinda (California) to meet staff at our adoption agency. After seeing our daughter’s pictures and reviewing her medical report (essentially the report stated “normal” in all categories), Susan and I filled out the one page, check the box form informing the Chinese government that we accept the referral. The agency Federal Express’d the acceptance form to China that day.

After accepting a referral, the standard wait is 4-8 weeks before traveling to China. The wait involves getting approval to travel to China from the Chinese government, arranging appointments in China with Chinese and U.S. government officials, and making travel arrangements. Once waiting parents arrive in China, they stay there for approximately 12-14 days. Babies are usually received soon after arrival in the Chinese province where the babies are. The remainder of the 2 weeks involves dealing with the Chinese government to formalize the adoption in front of Chinese government officials (this adoption finalization is recognized by both the Chinese and U.S. governments), obtaining a Chinese passport from the Chinese government allowing our child to leave China to travel to the U.S., having her examined by a doctor as part of her U.S.immigrant visa application, and obtaining an immigrant visa from the U.S. Consulate. Most of the two weeks is waiting time between those official activities (which take very little time) so there are plenty of opportunities to see the sights and just hang out while in China. Adoptees officially became U.S. citizens once they step on U.S. soil because they are being brought to the U.S. for adoption purposes by at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen (this is based on a U.S. law called the Child Citizenship Act of 2000).

On November 19, 2002, our adoption agency told us we received permission from the Chinese government to travel to China and arrangements had been made for the orphanage to bring Emily to the Lake View Hotel in Nanchang on December 8, 2002. Arrangements had also been made for appointments with Chinese and U.S. government officials in coordination with the December 8 receipt of Emily.

With the exception of exact dates (which are listed below), Megan’s adoption followed the same timeline and process as Emily’s adoption. The only difference was that Emily is from the Jiangxi province and Megan is from the Guangdong province. Since the capital of Guangdong is Guangzhou, for Megan’s adoption, we spent our entire time in mainland China in Guangzhou.

Timeline For Adoption #1 (Emily)

Timeline For Adoption #2 (Megan)