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Sunday, November 9th, 2008
Fostering Love, cont.
Last week I wrote to my friend in China and asked about the foster families caring for the children in Delilah's program.
He understood my concern about removing a child from a home if it was possible for them to stay and be adopted by their foster family. Unfortunately, it is not usually possible. The foster parents in China are usually older and retired from their jobs. They depend on the stipend they receive from the government for being foster parents. Not only is domestic adoption within China expensive, the government stipend would cease and the family would be fully responsible for raising the child.
I feel better knowing that the foster families go into fostering with their eyes wide open. They can still truly love the child but accept that her life is meant to continue somewhere else.
These are just a few of the many photos I received. It is so rare in China adoption to have this sort of photographic record. I am blessed beyond measure. And even while time seems to be standing still, we are preparing, and we will be ready, one day soon, to fly to Delilah.
Fostering Love, cont.
Last week I wrote to my friend in China and asked about the foster families caring for the children in Delilah's program.
He understood my concern about removing a child from a home if it was possible for them to stay and be adopted by their foster family. Unfortunately, it is not usually possible. The foster parents in China are usually older and retired from their jobs. They depend on the stipend they receive from the government for being foster parents. Not only is domestic adoption within China expensive, the government stipend would cease and the family would be fully responsible for raising the child.
I feel better knowing that the foster families go into fostering with their eyes wide open. They can still truly love the child but accept that her life is meant to continue somewhere else.
These are just a few of the many photos I received. It is so rare in China adoption to have this sort of photographic record. I am blessed beyond measure. And even while time seems to be standing still, we are preparing, and we will be ready, one day soon, to fly to Delilah.
I've been following closely all the developments and changes in Chinese adoption for the past few years. For a person putting together a dossier right now, even China is saying there could be a 4 to 5 year wait. That is for Non Special Needs, as young as possible, healthy infant girls. There are many reasons for that.
Right now, referrals are being given to people who turned in their dossiers in Feb. 2006. At that time people only expected to wait a few months, and they have waited two years. Each month the wait increases. It's really not a program I would recommend to anyone at this time.
The reason our timeline is different is that we are adopting through the Special Needs program. That is where the need is right now. Children with medical conditions, both girls and boys, are waiting for families that can give them a home and hope for a better life.
We knew we wanted to adopt special needs from the start. Some people, perhaps like your friends, are with an agency that does not do special needs adoptions for some reason so they cannot change plans at this point. They have to wait and hope, or pull their application. Does that make sense?
I'm not in St. Louis. I'm in NC. Thank you for your post.