China Adoption Program
We are not accepting applications for the China Program at this time.
Please contact our office for more information
Program Description
We are thrilled to be offering families the opportunity to adopt children from China. Our networking agency, Wasatch International Adoptions, has
worked collaboratively with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) since 1997 and has placed hundreds of
children from China.
There are thousands of little girls living in orphanages in China who are waiting for a home and a family. Little
boys are occasionally available, but many times even when adoptive families ask for a boy they are referred a girl. The
reason male children are not usually available is that boys are preferred over girls in China, and since China has the one
child per family policy, little girls are abandoned so the family can try again to have a boy to carry on the family name.
The children from China come from orphanages located in Provinces all over China. The orphanages in China that are
allowed to place children are carefully scrutinized by the Chinese government and must meet high standards of care to
be one of the orphanages that can place children. The children are usually between nine and fifteen months of age.
Toddlers are also available for adoption. The children are normally well cared for and are in good physical condition when
placed with their new adoptive families. All children are screened for Hepatitis B, HIV, and other communicable diseases,
and the medical reports given to adoptive families are quite comprehensive.
The China Center of Adoption Affairs has established one of the best adoption programs in the world and this committee
makes all the assignments for China adoptions. The China adoption process is stable and well established.
The process of international adoption in China is very controlled and
established. The dossier is forwarded to the China Center of
Adoption Affairs (CCAA) and Dillon Southwest will be given a log in date for your dossier. The wait time for referral varies
depending on how many dossiers the CCAA is working with. At this time, waiting time for a referral is thought to be two and one-half to three years. Once your dossier is in the Matching
Room, you normally receive a referral within 30 days. The referral will be sent to Dillon Southwest, and we will immediately contact you
letting you know this referral has been received. Once you accept the referral, you then wait for a travel invitation to be
issued. The travel invitation can come as quickly as 2 weeks or as long as 6 weeks after your referral is accepted.
For this adoption program of children without any known special needs, the entire
process, from beginning to end, can take at least 3 years before an adoption from China is completed and the child is home. This
timeline can vary and Dillon Southwest will do our best to keep adopting parents up to date with the changing timeline.
The workers at CCAA are very sensitive to the requests of adoptive families and try very hard to “match” the children to families
by reading carefully through the information provided to them about the adopting family and the information provided to them
about the available children. If there appears to be a medical problem with the child, the CCAA will reassign the adoptive family
another child, but otherwise adoptive families are expected to accept the referral given to them by CCAA.
China will only allow families to adopt one child at a time. However, if you wish to adopt a second child, another dossier can be
submitted to CCAA 12 months after the placement of the first child. CCAA requires 2 post placement reports to be submitted
on each child, so all adoptive families must be up to date with their post placement reports if another dossier is submitted for
a second child.
Families must travel to China to finalize the adoption and bring their child back to the United States. Although only one parent
must travel, both CCAA and Dillon Southwest feel that both parents should make an effort to travel to complete the adoption.
The stay in China is
approximately 12 days.
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Requirements
The CCAA has some very specific regulations adoptive parents must meet in order to qualify to adopt from their country.
Parents who want to adopt a child from China must qualify and meet all regulations as set forth by the China Center of Adoption
Affairs. China now restricts single women from adopting as well as those over 50 years of age, but encourages married couples
who meet the qualifications to apply.
Must be at least 30 years old and no older than 49 years old. If adopting a special needs child, you can be no older than 54 years old.
Must be a married couple and have been married for at least 2 years before you can apply to adopt a child from China.
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CCAA will accept couples who have been divorced, but there are restrictions:
Neither spouse can have been divorced more than 2 times.
If either spouse has been divorced and remarried, the couple must currently have been married for at least 5 years before applying to adopt a child from China.
Each spouse must have at least a high school education.
No more than 4 children under the age of 18 years old living in the home at the time of application. The youngest child in the family must be over the age of 12 months at the time the family applies to adopt a child from China.
Must have a steady job and earn at least $10,000 per person in your family annually, including the child
who will be adopted. If only one of the adopting parents is employed, this person must meet these income requirements for their family.
Must have net assets of at least $80,000 including their home and stock dividends.
The couple’s Body Mass Indexshould not exceed 40. A calculator can also be found online at www.consumer.gov/weightloss/bmi.htm#BMI If you have questions regarding the weight index, please call our office.
Both prospective adoptive parents should be in good physical and mental health.
Prospective adoptive parents should not be taking psychiatric/mental health medications. Applicants who have not taken these medications for the past two years can be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Cannot have a criminal record, including DUI’s.
If you meet these qualifications, you are good candidates to adopt a child from China.
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Timeline
Part of the timeline for an adoption from China depends on how long it takes adoptive families to complete the paperwork required
by China. Some families take several months to prepare the dossier, and some families prepare the dossier very quickly. Because of this,
it is difficult to estimate an overall timeline from the beginning of the process until the completion of the adoption.
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The Process
While the process for international adoption can, at time, appear overwhelming,
Dillon Southwest is always available to help you with the necessary paperwork.
Some of the things you will
need to do to begin the process of adoption from China:
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If you reside in Arizona, Dillon Southwest will conduct your home study.
If you live outside of Arizona, one of the first things
you need to do after you have applied to Dillon Southwest to adopt from China is to contact us regarding the local agency that
you would like to use for your home study. The home study
prepared for China and an agency that we have a home study/post-placement agreement
with is an essential part of the adoption process. If you are not a resident of Arizona, we have a complete home study packet that
we can send to the agency you are working with for your home study. This packet outlines everything needed for a home study to
adopt from China. However, remember this important fact – before going forward with the home study be aware that this is a time
sensitive document and it is only valid for 18 months. Be sure you have made the decision to go forward before beginning the home
study process.
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After your application has been accepted, you are then ready to apply to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS, formerly INS) in your state of residence so that you can be cleared by the U.S. government to bring a your new child into
the U.S. You will receive the USCIS form, I-600A, in your DSW application packet. After your home study is complete, you should file
this form. To download the form and instructions, go to the USCIS website.
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The Dossier
The dossier is a compilation of documents which is assembled for the foreign government. The following are some of the documents required:
- Personal application letter
- Home Study
- Birth certificates
- Marriage License or Single Status verification
- Divorce Decrees from previous marriages
- Medical Report
- Local Police Clearance
- Employment verification letter
- Certificate of Financial Status form
- Passport copies
- Passport photos
- Power of Attorney
- Child abuse clearance
You need four copies of all documents so you have enough original copies to give USCIS, our agency and the Chinese Government.
Many of these documents will be needed to support information included in your home study. Most of these documents must also be
authenticated by the Secretary of State and verified at the China Embassy. For families residing outside of Arizona and California, the
documents will also need to be authenticated by the State Department.
We understand that this list looks long, complicated and involved. However, please rest assured that we at Dillon Southwest are ready
to help you as you gather all of the documents needed for your dossier. And, Dillon Southwest will provide the necessary
paperwork and walk you through the process as you proceed. In Arizona, your social worker will help you put the dossier together
so that it can be sent for authentication to the appropriate places and then be sent to China. If you reside outside of Arizona, we will
assign a social worker who will guide you in putting the dossier together.
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Travel
Once you accept the referral, you then wait for a travel invitation to be issued. The travel invitation can come in as quickly as 2 weeks
or take as long as 6 weeks after your referral is accepted.
When you travel to China to pick up your baby, a representative from our networking agency will be there to meet you and will be with
you through the entire process. Parents who have adopted from China report that they have truly enjoyed their experience in China.
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How to Begin
DSW invites you to call the agency at (480) 945-2221 to ask questions and
discuss the program in detail.
Our agency schedules orientation meetings and group education workshops
every 6 to 8 weeks. Please call the agency if you would like to be invited to an
orientation meeting.
You may also ask specific questions or request additional
information by filling out our .
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Visit our How Do I Begin page.
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