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Adoption TimingThe results of the 2006-2007 Adoptive Families survey.
More than 1,500 Adoptive Families readers responded to our survey. The results showed the impact of countries' changes in adoption policy, which included incredibly varied timelines for families adopting from many of the top sending countries. Here are some highlights and breakdowns of what readers told us.
Timing Highlights of the 2006-2007 Adoptive Families Survey
- More than half of prospective domestic adopters were matched with a birthmother within six months, and took home their baby within a week of his/her birth.
- Many domestic adopters worked with more than one birthmother before adopting.
- Most families who adopted from Ethiopia were able to bring their children home within one year.
- Almost all Ethiopian adopters received their referral within six months of completing their dossier.
- China's new regulations have caused wait times to increase to 2 years or more for families just beginning the process there.
- Most families who had already begun the process received their referral within in 18 monhts.
- Families adopting from Guatemala were usually matched within three months of completing their dossier, but faced wait times of nine months or more to bring their child home after the referral.
- 65% of Guatemalan adopters traveled more than once to visit their child while they waited.
- Russia also provided quick referrals, but most families made three or more trips to the country before bringing their child home, as courts were less willing to waive the 10-day wait period.
- Russia also allowed licenses of U.S. agencies to expire, leading to a hold on international adoptions for several months until those agencies were reaccredited.
- Those adopting from South Korea faced the longest waits for referral, due to new regulations for placing children within the country.
- Although travel is not necessary for adoption in South Korea, almost half of those adopting from that country made the trip.
Wait times for referrals and placement, as well as length of stay in other countries.
| Timing |
Domestic
Newborn |
Ethiopia |
China |
Guate-
mala |
Russia |
Korea |
| Referral in less than 6 mos. |
56% |
81% |
0 |
92% |
68% |
71% |
| Placement in less than 6 mos. |
74% waited
less than
1 wk.
after birth |
97% |
94% |
37% |
72% |
90% |
| stayed less than 3 wks. |
|
89% |
99% |
95% |
56% |
100% | Back To Home Page ©2013 Adoptive Families. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. |
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Comments
We originally started with International Adoption, but after receiving my February issue of Adoptive Families magazine and reading the Cost and Time Poll, it prompted us to research further into domestic adoption and we have now switched over to domestic as of this week and signed up with a consulting service. Thank you to all that participated in the poll and Adoptive Families magazine for placing the article. We really feel at more peace with this path we've detoured on.
Posted by: Kim Cole at 11:04am Jan 17
We just brought home our 3rd child from South Korea. Our first son's process was 6 months in 2003, our daughters process was 3 months in 2004, and our newest son's process took a year. It was a long wait, but worth it when we brought him home 6 weeks ago. Since then, our international agency has stopped accepting applications due to the long wait for referral. Travel is now approx. 4 months from time of referral.
Posted by: Dana at 3:12pm Jan 17
Our adoption for our second child from China started in March 2006. We are still waiting. A big sister waits for her little sister. We all wait. It is a heart break for our family. China why?
Posted by: mary gund at 8:47pm Jan 21
We also started our second China adoption in 2006, and expect to wait much longer. In addition to a huge increase in the number of people applying to adopt from China (because the wait was so short for awhile, probably) China has been slowly decreasing the number of referrals it sends out each month. When our dossier was logged in in China I expected to wait about a year (or maybe less if things sped up). Within a few months we realized the wait would be much longer -- maybe up to two years. Our paperwork has been in China for over a year now, and I expect to wait at least another two years -- maybe three, or longer. If you want to agonize about "why" or "how much longer" with kindred spirits check out Rumor Queen's site. Any timeline of China adoption that is based on past history is going to be very misleading -- if you are thinking about getting into this lineup PLEASE go to Rumor Queen (chinaadopttalk.com) and check out some of her charts and graphs, or listen in on some of the forums to get an idea of how things are going with China right now: SLOW!!
Posted by: Kristen at 4:27pm Jan 31
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