I'm looking to adopt a chinese child, but I don't know wich Org. to trust?

Question

I heard that some places have babies just to get money from the adoption. I definetly don't want an Organization like that, I would like one that I know I have helped a child that has been given up, or orphaned.

Any tips, experience, knowledge, or specific org.?

Greatly Appreciated :]

(Just to let you know, I haven't exactly decided actually to adopt a child yet. I still have a few things to learn about adoption.)

Answer 1

I would contact a local adoption agency that specializes in international adoptions.  Many of our friends went thru a local agency here in PA called Adoptions from the Heart.  It is the same agency that we used for our US Adoption.  I highly recommend them.  They might even be able to put you in touch with another agency in your own local area.

Answer 2

The wait to adopt a healthy infant (0-24 months) from China is very lengthy at this point (current wait is two years and expected to lengthen).  If you are interested in adopting a child with mild special needs, the wait could be shorter.  The process to adopt a child from China is very above-board and is generally ethical.  We are using Chinese Children Adoption International and have been very happy with them.  You can google them to get to their website.  The process is not for the faint of heart and is quite expensive.  I would be happy to answer any other questions you have about international adoption.

Answer 3

In order to adopt from China you need to go through a licensed agency. Even though they are non-profit, they are all still looking to profit off the adoptions of the children. Most of the children available in China for adoption have been abandoned by their original parents due to either the one child policy and their preference for a boy, or because the child was born with a special need (health care isnt the same there as here), or because of poverty or unwed mothers (single parenthood is still not widely accepted there). There is generally no knowledge of the original parents since abandoning a child is illegal there (if they left their names, they'd be subject to punishment) and there is no legal adoption system for relinquishing a child. There have been several reports of children being kidnapped or sold by their parents and many of those children do wind up in orphanages. You can google "hunan baby scandal" and read some of the results. You unfortunately can never be sure that your child was not one who was kidnapped or sold to child traffickers. You can't pick a certain agency that doesn't have kidnapped or sold babies, because they won't know either. They just send your dossier off to China where you will be matched with a baby there, they don't have certain babies that they match you to. Some agencies do have lists of waiting children though, which have minor or correctable special needs (cleft lip/palate, club feet, hepatitis b, albinism, birthmarks, extra or missing fingers and/or toes, fused fingers and/or toes, missing limbs, etc) and you can request for the agency to match you to one of the children from their list of waiting children, otherwise you will be matched in China by the same office that matches children for all of the agencies.

Some agencies that you can look at are FTIA (families thru international adoption), Heritage and CCAI, I've heard many good things about those agencies. If you would like to adopt a child from a waiting child list (a child who is older or has a minor special need) you should wait to be signed with an agency until after you have located the file of a child you would like to adopt, since you cannot switch agencies after you have sent in your dossier (you could previously, but they no longer allow it). If you want to be sure that the child you adopt is a true orphan, whose parents are deceased, you can look into one of the african adoption programs as many children there are orphaned by the AIDS virus (the children are tested to make sure they are not HIV+) or by war or poverty. Many times there is information available to you so you will know why the child was surrendered or orphaned.

I want to say that I really appreciate that you are taking the time to learn about adoption now before you are ready to adopt. There are way too many people who don't do this until right before they adopt their child or after they are home, and even more who never learn about adoption issues at all. http://www.informedadoptions.com is a good place to learn about adoption issues such as corruption (and how to avoid it!), ethics, first mother and adoptee feelings, grief and loss, attachment, racism, raising an internationally adopted child and more. Just go to "essentials and articles" and read some of the many articles there.

Answer 4

chinese adoption isn't available until you're at least 30 years old.  a friend of mine was looking into it.