We are TA!

Yeah! We just received our Travel Approval phone call from our agency. This means that the dates are narrowed to us leaving anytime starting Nov 11th (OMG!!!) and be back before Dec. 7th! We are coming for you, Joylin!
I am hyperventilating....Better start looking for the suitcase...

Hoping it meant to be...

All I can say is we hope to share great news here soon! I have been so unproductive these last two weeks and praying for strength and MORE patience. Just let it be final, please!

Counting the days

RQ gave a great post about visually helping kids understand the days before our referral. She mentioned using items in a jar like marbles or pennies or something that you could put a large amount in. After a referral date is posted by CCA* , then take out that number of days that were matched.
I think a jar would be really helpful for ME, too!

Here is our calculation of "days" left in line:
It is 192 days from the start date March 22, 2006 (the latest match date) to the end date (Sept. 29, 2006 -our LID date), end date included.

Or 6 months, 8 days including the end date

Alternative time units
192 days can be converted to one of these units:
16,588,800 seconds
276,480 minutes
4608 hours
27 weeks (rounded down)

Update

Here is a short update on the adoption.

Sept. 29, 2008 was our 2 years of waiting anniversary.

Referrals were matched at the end of Sept. for people with LID (paperwork dates in Ch*na) through Feb. 15, 2006.

The line is still moving. People are still receiving referrals.

March is a huge month of people waiting. We hope they can get through that month by Jan 2009.

Our USGIS paperwork will expire in Sept. 2009. I hope we have a better projection of the time frame.

I took a new job and love it! This keeps me focused and organized. Maybe I should use this time to get established in my job/career so that when princess does come, I can have both.

Another update

We took another small step in line this month. I think the term "baby steps" is an ironic play on words in this case.

We were lucky to have a set of referals this month since the speculation was there wouldn't be any due to the Olypm*cs. Most of the gov agencies have closed until they are over. Next month will also be small IF they are able to get any at all. Many people still waiting in IA are hopeful that the rumor of things speeding up after this month comes true. There are many prayers for more matching, and we are among them.

The predictions if things continue or slow even farther down are horrible. But we are almost in our 2nd year of waiting. There are many more important needs in the world than my desperate plea for answers. I have seen my selfish ways too often. If I can keep busy enough and avoid the daily speculations- I can get through this using more patience.

Someone the other day didn't like how I was rushing to get something back from service- She scolded me and said "slow down, You have to have patience. Just wait, in time."
Blah! Blah ! Blah! I wanted to shout like a two year old - I have been waiting! I am tired of it!" Then wanted to throw myself down in a temper tatrum. BUT I did not. I did manage a half smile through gritted teeth though.

We can do this. 2010 doesn't look so far away anymore. A special little girl is there for us. I love to see the people's news of the latest referrals. Someday it will be us, looking back telling people it was worth the wait.

Latest Referrals

The latest referrals were for people logged in (LID) with paperwork was from January 13-20th. That is seven days further we move up. Better than last month's batch but slower than last year at this time. Moving forward is still a plus.

The rumor is to get to March 2006 by the end of this year. March has a lot of families logged in. It will take a while to get that paperwork done & matched.

We are LID end of September 2006 & still in line hoping for some faster matching.

Congrats to all those who waited for 29 months to see their new family members!

It is 16!

This case it is not a sweet sixteen.

Right now this adoption blog is nothing more than a reminder of another month waiting.

The current wait is 24-26 months. What this means is that people who have just received a child referral have waited 24-26 months. Rumors & speculations are telling us that we have 3-5 more years. 2008 is not really possible without a miracle. 2009 is less likely to happen also.
Have Faith. I do. But not necessarily that this adoption will actually take place. I have faith that the divine power is in control and knows what is best. His plan may not include this adoption. That I am accepting. Depressed? Of course, but we have our paperwork in through 2009. Then we will see what will happen.

We are looking into other countries IA programs. We are trying to find the right fit. We started off wanting to expand our family. We decided not to add another into the world with children needing homes. So Ch*na was a perfect fit for us but we would have to wait a year. Well that changed.

We are currently researching Eth*opia. The orphanages and country is in extreme poverty. This seems to be where the need for a new life is greatest. Just some health factors and emotional issues to work through. It isn't the perfect fit but we may be led this path.

So another month waiting. Thanks for reading....see you next month.

The latest updates

The rollercoaster continues. The latest referrals were for LID up to December 19th, 2005. This was another small batch. Remember I am a Sept 2006 LID.
There is HUGE concern over what is happening with the IA program in China.
People want to know but there doesn't seem to be much information given. This is when the rumors and speculation is high. People need to figure out what is going on and many people have ideas.
I have been bouncing around to check out some.
The Olympics is probably a factor. Speculation is that China is planning on minimizing some of the IA program because image.
There are other rumors that they will only be through Feb 2006 at the end of 2008. Again, this is a tough one- drawing out a lot of emotions on all grounds.
I am going to have to trust this is the path I am meant to take.

This is part of my daily prayers & readings:

"May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. (this is really hard on some days)....
Let His presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love....."

We are renewing our paperwork. All of our doctors reports were good & we are now waiting for the home study update. This should take us into 2009.

More Math

This information came from another site but they explain some of the math.

Using this information to calculate the number of dossiers ahead of us Sept 2006ers:
as of October 2007 30000 dossiers at CCAA
12600 dossiers for October 2006 - April 2007 if you use 1800 dossiers filed on avererage for those months
3000 dossiers for May 2007 - October 2007 (if you use 500 dossiers files on average for those months)
30000 - (12600 + 3000) = 14,400 dossiers ahead of us
with 7000 referals a year or (7000 / 12= 583 referrals /month)
and 100 files closed per month
14,400 / 683 = 21 months or August 2009.
That would put us at a total wait of about 35 months.

While my thoughts are obvious on this- there is hope for something to change. I guess I will keep up the faith.

We are currently renewing our paperwork with the US gov. We are granted one FREE extension. After our paperwork expires the second time- I believe we will drop out.

Referrals for September

I don't pretend to understand the universe - it's much bigger than I am
Albert Einstein

They have confirmation of referrals through Nov. 30th 2005. The cutoff is not set but doesn't look good according to the rumors. We don't know if Dec.1st - 5th is in or not.

People with Chinese heritage have been expedited through Aug 2006. That is very good news that children are being placed.

Congrats to all of you that see the light at the end of this long tunnel now. This last month was an emotionally rough one.

Dang Nebit!

This is probably the nicest way I can state how upset we are that the latest news is that there were only 4 days LID referrals.
To explain for those not in this twisted mess what just happened is that the Chinese government agency took the whole month of Aug. to move 4 days of LID paperwork. The last 3 referral trends were 7 days. Now it is lower.
When we signed on there was about 3 weeks of referral dates for each calendar month. It has been getting progressively slower- which means - the wait for us is LONGER.
Current predictions for the BEST case scenario from NOW is 2 years for us to recieve a referal. Why this is happening is not clear- not easy to give ONE reason.
We need a miracle that this is not the trend.

Referrals for July

COngrats to all those people who received referrals with LID Nov 14 - 21st 2005. The children are precious. I love referral time - it shows that matches are being made and I can take my next step in line forward. Happy cloud Nine!

Adoption Update

The latest information is that the next set of referrals are in the mail. The LID that are to be matched are from Nov. 7 - 14th 2005. It seems small but Nov has a large group of people with LID. March 2006 will be large too but hopefully we will see some previous trends in double digit matching soon.

There are 319 more LIDs before us to go. This number came by taking the number of days ahead of our LID 9-29-07 and adding them together:
16 (Nov 2005)+
31 (Dec 2005)+
31 (Jan 2006)+
28 (Feb 2006)+
31 (March 2006)+
30 (April 2006)+
31 (May 2006)+
30 (June 2006)+
31 (July 2006)+
31 (Aug 2006)+
29 (Sept. 2006)
-----------------
319 Days

This number represents all days - there are days included that don't have any LIDs due to holiday or weekend. So we (in the adoption community) hope for a larger span of LID to move us closer to our referral. It is like standing in line.

CCAA (the government agency that has the paperwork) has finished with May 2006 LIDs in the review room. The review room is another double check for making sure all the paperwork is in order and clear for the match room. If there is a problem your adoption agency will be notified and help you correct, clarify or update. Getting out of the review room is a big step in the waiting process- it kind of let you know that that your file was handled and read in China.

Not really an update but...

"When you want to believe in something, you also have to believe in everything that's necessary for believing in it."
~ Ugo Betti

Nothing new on the latest adoption scene- they are getting close to another set of referrals and a TA group. Best wishes & prayers for those so close- I enjoy seeing all the referral pictures. Somehow it makes it more real.

The Slow Boat to China...

After ready some lengthy information provided by my agency and what other news sites say about Chinese Adoptions, Kurt & I have come up with a summary of "factors" beyond our control on our wait for a referral.
This is what we came up with:

Factors For

CCAA is working to persuade local officials to work with them and developing a relationship with them. This is provided through funding, education and supplies.

CCAA moved to a new building with more space. They may hire more people.

There are stricter requirements for incoming dossiers, so there won’t be as much of a build up in the future. Doesn’t really help many of us with our Dossier already there.


Factors against

Dramatic increase in Dossiers (foreign paperwork) –This is because the health of the children, acceptance of Asian adoptions, successful program stability & reliability and manageable wait time. CCAA took more dossiers than their past yearly quota in 2005, then they received many more than they could manage. This is probably the biggest cause for the slow down.

Hunan trafficking incident- A baby was brought to an orphanage and money was asked for the child. The Chinese government made example of these people including the director of the orphanage, so directors may not participate in reporting the orphans to CCAA if there is any uncertainty and the hassle since it was voluntary to participate.

Lack of motivation among officials- international adoption adds too much extra work on an already heavy work load. This is probably the other greatest reason.

Orphanages buildings and symbols of power – Overly large newer facilities need to maintain a certain number of kids or they can lose their jobs. The government has put a lot of money into the orphanages to improve them.

Impact of Economic success – Improved economics has lead to more domestic adoptions and less abandonment.Less orphans is a good sign for China, but this is minimal since the most of the country sides are still dealing with low economic issues.

So when do we travel?

I bet some of you are wondering when are we traveling to China to meet our daughter. Well, let me briefly explain the process where we are now. My information is what I have read & asked about.
We had all of our translated paperwork checked in with China on 9/29/06, this is our "Log in date" (LID). The current process is for the Chinese government (CCAA) to review our paperwork and match those qualified people with requests with the available orphan information sent to them by the orphanages. This process is the only way to adopt with China.
Most people, including us, have requested a healthy girl at 0-12 months of age. CCAA of China will choose the child for us. We will be given this referral and have to accept within 24 -48 hours. While other people have requested a waiting child. These children have some minor to major disabilities or may be older. Their wait may be a little shorter and the adoption agency has a list so you can actually “choose” your child.
OK so the big question is WHEN? As of this week, people with LID of 10/05 have just received a match. Then people travel in about 6 -8 weeks from this phone call.
Our projected timeline (which varies with different people’s math) to receive a match or our daughter's picture is about 18-20 months from our LID. So right now we would be traveling in late 2008.
Hope this helps. Right now we are in the very long wait phase. Why the long wait? That will be my next post.