Here is a gift that we got from our son George on Christmas Eve from another adoptive parent. We have never met Debbie or her family but we had exchanged emails on line. They were adopting a daughter from the same orphanage that George lives at this week in China. During their tour they asked the Director if they could take a picture of George for us to send back. The Director graciously agreed and we were so excited to have his smiling face pop up in our email on Christmas Eve.
This is a copy of the email letter she sent to talking about her meeting with George. It is priceless and we can't Thank her and her family enough.
"Hi Christina---
Shen Yong is beautiful!!! He is such a happy boy! I asked the director if I can see him--when they brought him to us he ran over w/ a huge smile! They told him we wanted to take a picture for his mama and he gave an even bigger smile!! When he left, he skipped happily away.
The big room is a group room, there is one of the classrooms for the older kids, one picture of our daughter with her teacher, and then the playground. They really do care for the kids there. When we got there, Kayley was mobbed by all the nannies. They were so happy to see her! The director is very kind and caring. She gave us a bag of snacks for my two boys and for Kayley!!
When do you expect to travel? Are you and your husband going together? It really is an amazing journey!!!
Talk to you soon!
Merry Christmas!!
Debbie"
We just wanted to share the amazing blessing!
Really neat!
Love,
Christina
Monday, December 24, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A Healthy Bouncing 7 year old baby boy, DOB February 29th, 2000.
Hello to all,
Here are some current pictures of George Yong Shen Copeland the upcoming addition to our family.
A healthy, bouncing 7 year old boy, DOB, February 29th, 2000!
George is currently in Ningbo City at the EnMei CWI, just South of Shanghai on the Eastern Pacific Coast, in the Zheijiang Province of China until we can travel to pick him up sometime in late Winter early Spring of 2008.
He seems to have recently lost his two front teeth but will probably only have one in time for Christmas!
Jim, I, Nicole, Sylvia, Sofia and Finneas could not be more thrilled about our new son and brother. What a fabulous Christmas gift to know we are well on our way to having him here with us soon.
We are grateful to God and to all of whom have prayed to get us here so far.
Love,
Christina and Jim Copeland
As a proud Mommy I sent around the pictures to all our family and friends by email and I got so many congratulations and well wishes back that I can tell how well loved George is already and will be forever once he gets to the US.
Here are some current pictures of George Yong Shen Copeland the upcoming addition to our family.
A healthy, bouncing 7 year old boy, DOB, February 29th, 2000!
George is currently in Ningbo City at the EnMei CWI, just South of Shanghai on the Eastern Pacific Coast, in the Zheijiang Province of China until we can travel to pick him up sometime in late Winter early Spring of 2008.
He seems to have recently lost his two front teeth but will probably only have one in time for Christmas!
Jim, I, Nicole, Sylvia, Sofia and Finneas could not be more thrilled about our new son and brother. What a fabulous Christmas gift to know we are well on our way to having him here with us soon.
We are grateful to God and to all of whom have prayed to get us here so far.
Love,
Christina and Jim Copeland
As a proud Mommy I sent around the pictures to all our family and friends by email and I got so many congratulations and well wishes back that I can tell how well loved George is already and will be forever once he gets to the US.
We received updated pictures of George today!
We were all so excited to receive pictures of George that were taken by the Director at George's Children's Home. When Finneas saw them he said, "When is he ever going to get here? I can't wait!" Sylvia, Sofia and Nicole were very happy too and it was neat to see him looking so healthy, happy and enjoying himself hanging out with some friends on the playground where he lives. He was also looking much bigger than the last pictures we had of him so we can tell he has been growing lately. And he is missing a couple front teeth on these ones. The disposable cameras that were in the care package along with the translated letter we had sent back in November through Blessedkids.com will be returned to us when we meet George in Hangzhou next year. So these will have to tide us over until then and we are greatful for them that is for sure!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Dossier to AGCI for Translation and Authentication 12/10/07
We sent in all of the documents needed for our Dossier to AGCI to be Translated into Mandarin and Authenticated as needed. We are hoping our Dossier is ready to head to China and goes in by the end of this month. It was nerve wracking to send paper originals and copies off in the mail after so many months of sweating every I and dotting every T and working so diligently to make so many extra appointments, medical forms, 4 rounds of fingerprinting, waiting on Passports, and completing our Home Study. But today it is off to be worked on by others for a while and hopefully I can recoup before the Christmas rush begins!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
More Chinese Holiday Hoopla that will keep George in China a little longer.
Hello China Special Needs Families!
I wanted to let you know that we heard from Benjamin this morning and he gave us some concrete dates for the Chinese New Year. It looks like it begins on February 6th and does not start up again until February 13th , so the last day families can travel is January 25th (Guangzhou is January 18th), and the soonest you could leave in February would be the February 15th. Let me know if you have questions about this!
I wanted to let you know that we heard from Benjamin this morning and he gave us some concrete dates for the Chinese New Year. It looks like it begins on February 6th and does not start up again until February 13th , so the last day families can travel is January 25th (Guangzhou is January 18th), and the soonest you could leave in February would be the February 15th. Let me know if you have questions about this!
FDL/Favorable Determination Letter dated November 30th, 2007 from USCIS!
The following is a letter from our AGCI Social Worker that we got today.
"Congratulations on getting your FDL! Hooray! That is wonderful news!
I am thrilled to be expecting your dossier Monday. So glad Shen Yong got his care package too. It would be great to see your dossier submitted before Christmas!
Take care and let me know if I can help with anything as you are getting everything ready to send in!"
US Citizenship and Immigration Services processes the paperwork and fingerprinting needed to provide the FDL document that adoptive parents coming from the US are legal US citizens, without serious criminal records and are allowed to adopt children Internationally.
"Congratulations on getting your FDL! Hooray! That is wonderful news!
I am thrilled to be expecting your dossier Monday. So glad Shen Yong got his care package too. It would be great to see your dossier submitted before Christmas!
Take care and let me know if I can help with anything as you are getting everything ready to send in!"
US Citizenship and Immigration Services processes the paperwork and fingerprinting needed to provide the FDL document that adoptive parents coming from the US are legal US citizens, without serious criminal records and are allowed to adopt children Internationally.
Monday, November 26, 2007
A Happy Thanksgiving pep talk to deal with the long, long, long wait!
The following is part of an email I received last week.
"I hope you are able to enjoy a sweet time with your loved ones and create new memories, and just think, with the special needs process being 9-12 months now from start to finish, you should all most likely have your children around the table next year for Thanksgiving! What an exciting thought to think of all your little boys and girls coming home in the next year!
Happy Thanksgiving!"
It really did help keep our eyes fixed on the overall short wait we are experiencing given that we will have our wonderful son home with us by next Thanksgiving.
But I still have to say that dealing with the USCIS was absolutely maddening and there was no telling how long our homestudy and application for finger print appointments would have languished if I hadn't followed up right away to see where our paperwork was in the process.
We applied for our FDL on October 7th, 2007. The USCIS IL office sent my receipt for my 1600a within 10 days of receiving it. But then I had to follow up right away because the way the letter was written led me to believe that they were mistakenly waiting for more paperwork from me before they would submit my request for fingerprinting. Which was true. She was holding our file indefinitely in her file cabinet waiting for missing birth certificates and a missing homestudy. But we had in fact sent in all the BS and the HS with the application so I asked her to look for it again. When we cleared it up she submitted the fingerprint request to the OK or NE division of USCIS that is responsible for sending out the fingerprint appt. letters, and I received the appointment letter within 10 days of my phone call to her. The appointment was for about 10-14 days in the future. We took off work and went to our local Processing Center in suburban Chicago. We were sent home without being fingerprinted as they said they had too much work and too few staff to see us that day and we should request a new appointment for two weeks later. We explained that we were there with an expedited Adoption request and they really couldn't have cared less. They didn't sound too helpful about our possibility of getting seen in a couple of weeks either. I called the main USCIS number again and got some bad info, some good info and some inconsistent info. We decided to head to the MN office based on the info we received and after looking up the address on the US Official web site we took off work a second day, got a sitter and headed out early in the morning so we could be seen. Of course the address was incorrect and we were at the wrong office. We were at USCIS but they weren't sure where the right office was for us to go to get our fingerprints processed might be. They suggested St. Paul and based on that wishy washy recommendations we headed there and luckily it was the right office. The people working there were friendly and efficient. They said the fingerprints were cleared within 48 hours. So I mailed the woman at USCIS IL a copy of my appt. letter with info written on it that we had an expedited application and that we had been fingerprinted. The USCIS has to do things the old fashioned way and has to REMEMBER who has an appointment and on what day. They have to right it down to remind themselves to check on the database as they don't have any system that reminds or cross references the appointments for follow up checks automatically for them. So that is why it usually takes up to 4 months or longer for people to get their FDL letters processed. I did this so the Orphan Bureau Director in IL would see that week that she could look them up and issue the FDL which she did within less than a week of getting the follow up info I sent her.
I can'imagine how anyone ever immigrates legally to America. The process of working with USCIS is really slow, really tedious and if you have to go into an office for an appointment in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs I can guarentee you that you will feel like pulling every hair in your head out one by one in an effort to deal with your frustration over the indifference and noticeable lack of care or concern for their customers of the people manning the office and the inconsistent information you receive when you do ask questions. Also if you call the main customer service for the US you will get incorrect information repeatedly. And if you go to the Official Web sites you will get incorrect information and if you email someone you will probably not hear back from them ever.
God bless the folks that run the USCIS in MN though. Once we found the right office they were practical, nice and efficient. Everything we expect out of good Minnesotans. AAAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!
Ok now on to more pleasant things hopefully. This was a big hurddle and I am glad it is over for now!
"I hope you are able to enjoy a sweet time with your loved ones and create new memories, and just think, with the special needs process being 9-12 months now from start to finish, you should all most likely have your children around the table next year for Thanksgiving! What an exciting thought to think of all your little boys and girls coming home in the next year!
Happy Thanksgiving!"
It really did help keep our eyes fixed on the overall short wait we are experiencing given that we will have our wonderful son home with us by next Thanksgiving.
But I still have to say that dealing with the USCIS was absolutely maddening and there was no telling how long our homestudy and application for finger print appointments would have languished if I hadn't followed up right away to see where our paperwork was in the process.
We applied for our FDL on October 7th, 2007. The USCIS IL office sent my receipt for my 1600a within 10 days of receiving it. But then I had to follow up right away because the way the letter was written led me to believe that they were mistakenly waiting for more paperwork from me before they would submit my request for fingerprinting. Which was true. She was holding our file indefinitely in her file cabinet waiting for missing birth certificates and a missing homestudy. But we had in fact sent in all the BS and the HS with the application so I asked her to look for it again. When we cleared it up she submitted the fingerprint request to the OK or NE division of USCIS that is responsible for sending out the fingerprint appt. letters, and I received the appointment letter within 10 days of my phone call to her. The appointment was for about 10-14 days in the future. We took off work and went to our local Processing Center in suburban Chicago. We were sent home without being fingerprinted as they said they had too much work and too few staff to see us that day and we should request a new appointment for two weeks later. We explained that we were there with an expedited Adoption request and they really couldn't have cared less. They didn't sound too helpful about our possibility of getting seen in a couple of weeks either. I called the main USCIS number again and got some bad info, some good info and some inconsistent info. We decided to head to the MN office based on the info we received and after looking up the address on the US Official web site we took off work a second day, got a sitter and headed out early in the morning so we could be seen. Of course the address was incorrect and we were at the wrong office. We were at USCIS but they weren't sure where the right office was for us to go to get our fingerprints processed might be. They suggested St. Paul and based on that wishy washy recommendations we headed there and luckily it was the right office. The people working there were friendly and efficient. They said the fingerprints were cleared within 48 hours. So I mailed the woman at USCIS IL a copy of my appt. letter with info written on it that we had an expedited application and that we had been fingerprinted. The USCIS has to do things the old fashioned way and has to REMEMBER who has an appointment and on what day. They have to right it down to remind themselves to check on the database as they don't have any system that reminds or cross references the appointments for follow up checks automatically for them. So that is why it usually takes up to 4 months or longer for people to get their FDL letters processed. I did this so the Orphan Bureau Director in IL would see that week that she could look them up and issue the FDL which she did within less than a week of getting the follow up info I sent her.
I can'imagine how anyone ever immigrates legally to America. The process of working with USCIS is really slow, really tedious and if you have to go into an office for an appointment in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs I can guarentee you that you will feel like pulling every hair in your head out one by one in an effort to deal with your frustration over the indifference and noticeable lack of care or concern for their customers of the people manning the office and the inconsistent information you receive when you do ask questions. Also if you call the main customer service for the US you will get incorrect information repeatedly. And if you go to the Official Web sites you will get incorrect information and if you email someone you will probably not hear back from them ever.
God bless the folks that run the USCIS in MN though. Once we found the right office they were practical, nice and efficient. Everything we expect out of good Minnesotans. AAAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!
Ok now on to more pleasant things hopefully. This was a big hurddle and I am glad it is over for now!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Emailing back and forth with other Adoptive Parents from EnMei
There is a lot of support from other Adoptive Parents online. The following is a letter I wrote to another adoptive Mom and her response back to me about our future kids.
Debra,
Congratultions! I am glad to hear things are going faster than
expected. We are hoping that will be similar for us too. Our son Shen Yong "George" is there. He is 7 years old. We are hoping to travel sometime Feb-April. Please keep us posted about if you are able to tour the Orphanage. We would love to go there with George too. I would think it would help the transition to be able to meet or at least see the people and place he spent so much time with and be able to have that frame of reference for him and for the rest of the family. Again, Congratulations!
What a wonderful Holiday surprise!
Christina
"Hi Christina--
It certainly is an exciting time! When did you log your paperwork in? If we go to the orphanage (which I hope we do) we will try and get a picture of your son--I will def. keep you posted-If we don't go, I will try and ask the director about him for you.
Good luck with everything! Have a great Thanksgiving.
Debbie"
Debra,
Congratultions! I am glad to hear things are going faster than
expected. We are hoping that will be similar for us too. Our son Shen Yong "George" is there. He is 7 years old. We are hoping to travel sometime Feb-April. Please keep us posted about if you are able to tour the Orphanage. We would love to go there with George too. I would think it would help the transition to be able to meet or at least see the people and place he spent so much time with and be able to have that frame of reference for him and for the rest of the family. Again, Congratulations!
What a wonderful Holiday surprise!
Christina
"Hi Christina--
It certainly is an exciting time! When did you log your paperwork in? If we go to the orphanage (which I hope we do) we will try and get a picture of your son--I will def. keep you posted-If we don't go, I will try and ask the director about him for you.
Good luck with everything! Have a great Thanksgiving.
Debbie"
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Nothing like a Chinese and/or American Holiday or two to slow down the paperwork.
Families,
I have an update for you that Benjamin just sent in. We asked for clarity on December travel and this is what I learned today:
Again, as Emily said, if your child is from Guangzhou the latest you can travel is November 30th to travel before Christmas, if you are from any other province the latest you can travel to leave before Christmas is December 7th. Our office as well as our office in Beijing will be closed the last week of December. The next soonest date you can travel is Friday, December 28th.
Please keep in mind that the Chinese New Year will be in February of 2008 and will begin on the 7th and will last for one week. Families will not be able to travel this week as everything is closed in China.
I hope this clears up any confusion. Let me know if you have any questions!
Have a great evening!
PS No DHL packages yet this week, one came in for Kate late Friday with 2 non-special needs referrals, the families were logged in to the CCAA for 2 ½ years, so they are so excited! Hopefully I will get a package soon for ya’ll!
I have an update for you that Benjamin just sent in. We asked for clarity on December travel and this is what I learned today:
Again, as Emily said, if your child is from Guangzhou the latest you can travel is November 30th to travel before Christmas, if you are from any other province the latest you can travel to leave before Christmas is December 7th. Our office as well as our office in Beijing will be closed the last week of December. The next soonest date you can travel is Friday, December 28th.
Please keep in mind that the Chinese New Year will be in February of 2008 and will begin on the 7th and will last for one week. Families will not be able to travel this week as everything is closed in China.
I hope this clears up any confusion. Let me know if you have any questions!
Have a great evening!
PS No DHL packages yet this week, one came in for Kate late Friday with 2 non-special needs referrals, the families were logged in to the CCAA for 2 ½ years, so they are so excited! Hopefully I will get a package soon for ya’ll!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Still waiting for AGCI to review homestudy.....
Still waiting and waiting. Lots of layers to go through. Must remember to be Patient. I am wondering how easy it is for George to wait since he knows we are coming and he is only 7 years old. Must be pretty hard for him when some of these timelines and waits are pretty arbitrary and dependent on people's time off schedules. Must remember to be patient and not bitter as time slips by that he can't be home with his new family while all these layers of forms and more forms are reviewed and reviewed to death by people needing a full day to look at a paragraph or two and then needing another day to walk it someone else's desk that needs another day to review it and change it back ad nauseum.
Finally an email. The reviews are back and it is ok to send it to CIS today.
Just 5 weeks to review and edit it. One extra month for our son George to live in an Orphanage when he is already 7 years old. I find it hard to believe that there could be a more maddening process than a Domestic Adoption like we have done in the past but this is an indication an International Adoption might be just as frustrating if not worse.
I will run out immediately and mail it overnight to Chicago for our I600a!
I wouldn't want anyone calling me to ask me about paperwork I am supposed to send them that might be a day or two later than they were expecting. I really couldn't quantify how little respect I have for double standards. : (
Also sadly this 5 week delay on finalizing our Homestudy ensures that George will turn 8 years old in the Orphanage as his Birthday is coming up at the end of February and he will have to celebrate yet another year without a family of his own around him yet. And it also ensures our file will get bogged down several extra weeks by shut downs at AGCI and any other US service providers for the week of Thanksgiving and at least a week if not more at Christmas. I would love to know who I could thank for those outcomes. : (
Finally an email. The reviews are back and it is ok to send it to CIS today.
Just 5 weeks to review and edit it. One extra month for our son George to live in an Orphanage when he is already 7 years old. I find it hard to believe that there could be a more maddening process than a Domestic Adoption like we have done in the past but this is an indication an International Adoption might be just as frustrating if not worse.
I will run out immediately and mail it overnight to Chicago for our I600a!
I wouldn't want anyone calling me to ask me about paperwork I am supposed to send them that might be a day or two later than they were expecting. I really couldn't quantify how little respect I have for double standards. : (
Also sadly this 5 week delay on finalizing our Homestudy ensures that George will turn 8 years old in the Orphanage as his Birthday is coming up at the end of February and he will have to celebrate yet another year without a family of his own around him yet. And it also ensures our file will get bogged down several extra weeks by shut downs at AGCI and any other US service providers for the week of Thanksgiving and at least a week if not more at Christmas. I would love to know who I could thank for those outcomes. : (
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
A Care Package and a letter to Shen Yong's Children's Home Director
Here is the letter we sent off hoping for some word on our son. It has been 4 months since we began to work on bringing George home to our family so we are hoping to hear something soon if possible.
Christina and Jim Copeland
Shen Yong
02-29-2007
Ningbo City, EnMei CWI, Zhejiang Province
We would like to request updated sizes and pictures and get the answers to the following five questions:
1) How is Shen Yong feeling about his adoption into our family?
2) Is he doing well in school and what grade level classes is he taking now?
3) What are some of Shen Yong's favorite things to do, games to play when he gets to choose?
4) What is he most looking forward to about having brothers and sisters?
5) Is Shen Yong's medical condition (hypospadias) corrected to a normal range level or will he require further surgery or medication treatment when he gets to the US?
We are looking forward to traveling to China and becoming his parents. He looks very healthy, happy and full of energy in the pictures we have seen of him from his referral so we know he will get along with everyone in our family just fine.
If you have the opportunity, can you start working with him to learn some English prior to our arriving in China? We will be working here in the US to learn some Mandarin so that we can communicate more easily with him when he moves to the US. We will be happy to pay for the Tutor as described to us by our Adoption Agency, Families are Forever.
Thank you for taking such good care of him until we can arrive to complete his Adoption.
Sincerely,
Jim and Christina Copeland
Christina and Jim Copeland
Shen Yong
02-29-2007
Ningbo City, EnMei CWI, Zhejiang Province
We would like to request updated sizes and pictures and get the answers to the following five questions:
1) How is Shen Yong feeling about his adoption into our family?
2) Is he doing well in school and what grade level classes is he taking now?
3) What are some of Shen Yong's favorite things to do, games to play when he gets to choose?
4) What is he most looking forward to about having brothers and sisters?
5) Is Shen Yong's medical condition (hypospadias) corrected to a normal range level or will he require further surgery or medication treatment when he gets to the US?
We are looking forward to traveling to China and becoming his parents. He looks very healthy, happy and full of energy in the pictures we have seen of him from his referral so we know he will get along with everyone in our family just fine.
If you have the opportunity, can you start working with him to learn some English prior to our arriving in China? We will be working here in the US to learn some Mandarin so that we can communicate more easily with him when he moves to the US. We will be happy to pay for the Tutor as described to us by our Adoption Agency, Families are Forever.
Thank you for taking such good care of him until we can arrive to complete his Adoption.
Sincerely,
Jim and Christina Copeland
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Connie is back from Alaska on 9/26/07 and still no word from AGCI on the Homestudy
Still waiting for someone at AGCI to review our Homestudy efficiently and work with our Licensing Social Worker so George can come home sooner than later.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Still waiting for AGCI to review Homestudy on 9/14/07
Sadly no word from AGCI. Connie our Licensing Social Worker in Illinois that works with Illini Christian Ministries has bent over backwards to get our homestudy done as quickly as needed so we can bring George home as soon as possible but I guess that won't be enough. AGCI knows she is leaving on vacation but still the Homestudy sits on a desk in Oregon waiting for some reason of which I am sure I will never get a straight answer too.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
HomeStudy sent to AGCI from Illinois Christian Ministries, September 11th, 2007
Our homestudy was sent to AGCI today. Hopefully they will review it as soon as possible and make any changes needed so it can be notarized and sent in with our I600a which can't be sent in without it. That form requests the fingerprint appointment and Illinois won't process it without a final copy from DHS.
Questions for the Director of EnMei.
Tiffany said we could submit 4 questions to the Director of George's Children's Home for updated answers. She also said we should not count on getting any updated answers as they seldom to never come to the Adoption Agencys. She suggested trying to go through a private vendor as they seem to have better luck with getting them answered. We will give it a try but after that answer I guess we won't hold our breath.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Received PA/Pre Approval Letter dated August 23rd, 2007 came today!
Jim and Christina,
Great news!!! Today I received your Pre Approval (PA) notice dated August 23rd, 2007 from the CCAA!!! This means that the China Center for Adoption Affairs has reviewed your Letter of Intent and family information sheet and has decided that you will be a great family for Shen Yong!
We are now able to submit your dossier, along with this pre approval letter to the CCAA as soon as your documents are completed.
Please keep in mind that your adoption process will not officially begin until we submit your dossier to the CCAA. It will be 12-17 weeks for your Letter of Confirmation (LOC) and then 2-4 weeks for your Travel Approval (TA) and then you will leave 2-4 weeks later. We have no control over when the TA is issued, though we will do our best to get you to China as soon as possible!
Please let me know if you have any questions about the above time frame. I will be praying that your adoption process continues to move quickly and smoothly! I pray that you are getting very close to having your home study done, to the CIS, and getting your FDL and then getting your dossier in our office! I have attached a copy of the PA to this email for your records. You won’t need to do anything with this document, but it’s a great keep sake to have in your adoption files. I will save the original PA and submit it with your dossier. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for your family as you continue to gather your paperwork. Have a terrific week and I will look forward to being in touch with you soon!
Blessings,
Tiffany
PS. Please note that at this time you are able to send care packages to Shen Yong.
Great news!!! Today I received your Pre Approval (PA) notice dated August 23rd, 2007 from the CCAA!!! This means that the China Center for Adoption Affairs has reviewed your Letter of Intent and family information sheet and has decided that you will be a great family for Shen Yong!
We are now able to submit your dossier, along with this pre approval letter to the CCAA as soon as your documents are completed.
Please keep in mind that your adoption process will not officially begin until we submit your dossier to the CCAA. It will be 12-17 weeks for your Letter of Confirmation (LOC) and then 2-4 weeks for your Travel Approval (TA) and then you will leave 2-4 weeks later. We have no control over when the TA is issued, though we will do our best to get you to China as soon as possible!
Please let me know if you have any questions about the above time frame. I will be praying that your adoption process continues to move quickly and smoothly! I pray that you are getting very close to having your home study done, to the CIS, and getting your FDL and then getting your dossier in our office! I have attached a copy of the PA to this email for your records. You won’t need to do anything with this document, but it’s a great keep sake to have in your adoption files. I will save the original PA and submit it with your dossier. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for your family as you continue to gather your paperwork. Have a terrific week and I will look forward to being in touch with you soon!
Blessings,
Tiffany
PS. Please note that at this time you are able to send care packages to Shen Yong.
Friday, August 31, 2007
How were you able to adopt a boy from China?
Jim and I are often asked how we are able to adopt a boy from China. There is a general perception amongst Americans and also some of the Chinese people I have met that there are little to no boys waiting for adoption in China. This letter I received from our Social Worker today clearly outlines the fact that reality in this case is the exact opposite of many people's perceptions.
"Dear Families,
I hope this email finds you doing well and enjoying your summer! I am writing today to talk with you about something that is near and dear to my heart, the waiting special needs children in China, more specifically the waiting boys.
I am writing to tell you about the need to adopt boys from China, and even though they are on the special needs list, already had their surgeries, and doctors are stating, that except scars, they are healthy. I am sure that many of you have heard of or read the book The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans about the abandoned girls in China and their journey to adoptive families, and their forgotten past. Families for years have been going to China to bring home little girls that were abandoned as the Communist government was enforcing the one child policy and families were keeping their one boy and abandoning their girls. To this day we still see that 95% of adoptions in China are for little girls. I too, when I started the China program, thought mainly of these girls, and there is still a need for families to adopt girls in this country that is still run by these rules of Communism. However, it was not until I began working in the special needs program here at AGCI, that I began to see the need for boys to be adopted too. The special needs program ranges from age 6 months to 13 years old, from minor to major special needs, to correctable to uncorrectable special needs. The older children and the boys from China are the hardest to place.
I have learned that since we opened in China in the early 1990’s we have only received one non-special needs referral of a little boy! However, in the few years we have been placing special needs children, we have received nearly a hundred referrals of special needs boys and they continue to come. We are only one agency of many in the United States who are trying to place these precious boys. Something I did not think of until I began in this program, and I am sure many families have not thought of either, is that if families in China can only have one child in there home they will most likely keep a healthy boy, and abandon a boy who has a special need. As a result we are seeing just as many boys as girls on the special need list and sometimes even more. Even though I know this and we share this with many families, we still have a huge majority of families coming to the special needs program for girls. On average we receive 30 special needs children every four months from China and have three months to place them. With every group we have a waiting list of families to contact about the kids. When we received our last group of kids on our waiting list of about 40 families, only about five were open to boys. “Why is this?” is a question I often ask myself. “Why, if I have a two year old girl and a two year old boy with the same special need online, will many families call about the girl but hardly any for the boy? Why will a girl be placed within days, and a boy sit for months waiting and often we will have to return his file to China?” I do not think we have ever sent a girl’s file back to China, they have all been boys. I do not understand why I have 9 boys waiting right in China, many of which have needs, that if they were a girl, would probably already be placed, but now the boys have been sitting three months with hardly any inquiries and are awaiting an approved extension from the CCAA so we can have more time to place them.
I am seeing that many families are now going the special needs route as the timelines are now 9-12 months from start to finish rather than the nearly 2 ½ years in the non-special needs route. Even with that, many boys still remain without a family. I recently did some research online and learned that there are other agencies facing the same problem, one actually has a whole section titled “China’s Forgotten Boys” and another large China only adoption agency has a boy on the opening web page trying to bring on families to adopt boys from China.
I wanted to share this with you today to inform you about the need we have for the boys to be placed on our special needs list. We still have several other boys waiting that are listed at www.allgodschildren.org . Please contact me if you or someone you know is interested in any of these other little boys. We are hoping to find homes for all of them soon! If you already have a referral or know that God is calling you to adopt a girl that is awesome! God knows what is best for you and your family and special needs is not something that everyone can take on! If you are still not sure though we encourage you to pray about welcoming one of these little ones into your heart and home and we ask that you share this possibility with friends and family too!
Blessings"
"Dear Families,
I hope this email finds you doing well and enjoying your summer! I am writing today to talk with you about something that is near and dear to my heart, the waiting special needs children in China, more specifically the waiting boys.
I am writing to tell you about the need to adopt boys from China, and even though they are on the special needs list, already had their surgeries, and doctors are stating, that except scars, they are healthy. I am sure that many of you have heard of or read the book The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans about the abandoned girls in China and their journey to adoptive families, and their forgotten past. Families for years have been going to China to bring home little girls that were abandoned as the Communist government was enforcing the one child policy and families were keeping their one boy and abandoning their girls. To this day we still see that 95% of adoptions in China are for little girls. I too, when I started the China program, thought mainly of these girls, and there is still a need for families to adopt girls in this country that is still run by these rules of Communism. However, it was not until I began working in the special needs program here at AGCI, that I began to see the need for boys to be adopted too. The special needs program ranges from age 6 months to 13 years old, from minor to major special needs, to correctable to uncorrectable special needs. The older children and the boys from China are the hardest to place.
I have learned that since we opened in China in the early 1990’s we have only received one non-special needs referral of a little boy! However, in the few years we have been placing special needs children, we have received nearly a hundred referrals of special needs boys and they continue to come. We are only one agency of many in the United States who are trying to place these precious boys. Something I did not think of until I began in this program, and I am sure many families have not thought of either, is that if families in China can only have one child in there home they will most likely keep a healthy boy, and abandon a boy who has a special need. As a result we are seeing just as many boys as girls on the special need list and sometimes even more. Even though I know this and we share this with many families, we still have a huge majority of families coming to the special needs program for girls. On average we receive 30 special needs children every four months from China and have three months to place them. With every group we have a waiting list of families to contact about the kids. When we received our last group of kids on our waiting list of about 40 families, only about five were open to boys. “Why is this?” is a question I often ask myself. “Why, if I have a two year old girl and a two year old boy with the same special need online, will many families call about the girl but hardly any for the boy? Why will a girl be placed within days, and a boy sit for months waiting and often we will have to return his file to China?” I do not think we have ever sent a girl’s file back to China, they have all been boys. I do not understand why I have 9 boys waiting right in China, many of which have needs, that if they were a girl, would probably already be placed, but now the boys have been sitting three months with hardly any inquiries and are awaiting an approved extension from the CCAA so we can have more time to place them.
I am seeing that many families are now going the special needs route as the timelines are now 9-12 months from start to finish rather than the nearly 2 ½ years in the non-special needs route. Even with that, many boys still remain without a family. I recently did some research online and learned that there are other agencies facing the same problem, one actually has a whole section titled “China’s Forgotten Boys” and another large China only adoption agency has a boy on the opening web page trying to bring on families to adopt boys from China.
I wanted to share this with you today to inform you about the need we have for the boys to be placed on our special needs list. We still have several other boys waiting that are listed at www.allgodschildren.org . Please contact me if you or someone you know is interested in any of these other little boys. We are hoping to find homes for all of them soon! If you already have a referral or know that God is calling you to adopt a girl that is awesome! God knows what is best for you and your family and special needs is not something that everyone can take on! If you are still not sure though we encourage you to pray about welcoming one of these little ones into your heart and home and we ask that you share this possibility with friends and family too!
Blessings"
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Home Study and Background Checks
We have been busy working on getting in the appointments we need in order to finish up our Home Study and our Background Checks. There are lots of things to coordinate and think about and share with the Social Worker but soon it will be finished and we can move on to the next step of the process.
It takes Jim and I back to all the paperwork and hoops we had to jump through like we did for Nicole's Domestic Adoption 9 years ago.
It will all be worth it in the end like it was when we made the decision to have Nicole become a permanent part of our family!
We love her so much and it was totally worth it and we are faithful that it will be the same in George's case.
It takes Jim and I back to all the paperwork and hoops we had to jump through like we did for Nicole's Domestic Adoption 9 years ago.
It will all be worth it in the end like it was when we made the decision to have Nicole become a permanent part of our family!
We love her so much and it was totally worth it and we are faithful that it will be the same in George's case.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
We are Expecting!
We received this wonderful email today..
"Hello Jim and Christina!
Congratulations on your acceptance of your referral. I received your contacts and application today! I am so excited to begin working with your family as you enter the China special needs program! Your referral packet has been mailed out today.
Tiffany,
All God's Children Adoption Agency
Portland, Oregon"
Jim and I are starting on a journey to add to our family by adopting Shen Yong,a 7 year old boy living in Ningbo City, China. He is living at EnMei SWI in a well run Orphanage/Children's Home in the Zhejiang Province. His paperwork says that he loves to play with cars and ride his bike. He is very social and likes to act. He knows his antonyms and synonyms. We are thrilled and can't wait until he is home with the rest of us in Geneva, IL and joins his brother and three sisters. God is Awesome and we are so Thankful for his bringing George to our attention through All God's Children International and Tiffany our new Adoption Social Worker.
"Hello Jim and Christina!
Congratulations on your acceptance of your referral. I received your contacts and application today! I am so excited to begin working with your family as you enter the China special needs program! Your referral packet has been mailed out today.
Tiffany,
All God's Children Adoption Agency
Portland, Oregon"
Jim and I are starting on a journey to add to our family by adopting Shen Yong,a 7 year old boy living in Ningbo City, China. He is living at EnMei SWI in a well run Orphanage/Children's Home in the Zhejiang Province. His paperwork says that he loves to play with cars and ride his bike. He is very social and likes to act. He knows his antonyms and synonyms. We are thrilled and can't wait until he is home with the rest of us in Geneva, IL and joins his brother and three sisters. God is Awesome and we are so Thankful for his bringing George to our attention through All God's Children International and Tiffany our new Adoption Social Worker.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Jim and I make a Big Decision
Today Jim and I completed our paperwork with All God's Children, International to adopt a little boy with Special Needs from China that is being represented for adoption by their Agency. We have been submitting interest forms for about 9 months to various agencies finding out general information on their Adoption Programs, the different types of kids they represent, where they are from, how old they are, what their Special Needs or Personalities might be. We also supplied them with info on what type of family we were, what type of child might like being part of our family and that we were specifically looking to adopt a little boy 4-6 years old that was outgoing, cute and smart like his potential new siblings are.
Earlier this week we were contacted by Tiffany a Social Worker at AGCI who had a little boy that AGCI was representing that she thought might be a match for our family. We had several days to review some basic referral information in his file that included a few pictures, information on how he came to be living in an Orphanage and how he was ready for International Adoption, 1-3 page documents in the areas of physical development, social development and cognitive development. After reveiwing the information, discussing it at great length, and running the medical information by our Pediatrician and an MD in Chicago that reviews medical files for potential Adoptive Parents, we decided that Shen Yong would be a wonderful addition to our family and we filled out the necessary paperwork required to get the process started to bring Shen Yong home to live with us.
Earlier this week we were contacted by Tiffany a Social Worker at AGCI who had a little boy that AGCI was representing that she thought might be a match for our family. We had several days to review some basic referral information in his file that included a few pictures, information on how he came to be living in an Orphanage and how he was ready for International Adoption, 1-3 page documents in the areas of physical development, social development and cognitive development. After reveiwing the information, discussing it at great length, and running the medical information by our Pediatrician and an MD in Chicago that reviews medical files for potential Adoptive Parents, we decided that Shen Yong would be a wonderful addition to our family and we filled out the necessary paperwork required to get the process started to bring Shen Yong home to live with us.
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