Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
a full day
We enjoyed the first part of our morning at a nearby park; grass, a ropes course
(much needed adventure time) and goldfish pond.
The lobby of the 9th floor has become our new playroom. Incidentally, we also discovered this floor is housing several officers of China's Communist Party for a conference.
Walmart and McDonalds.
Two places I try to avoid at all costs in America.
Well... we are not in America.
We love this sweet girl!
Monday, January 09, 2012
Anna Grace Bowen Dean
Anxiously waiting... watching the clock till 3:00pm.
The moment we have been anticipating for 5 years... surreal!
Joy.
Her first smile... as we left the hotel for dinner.
A quiet neighborhood stroll in Nanning.
Two happy brothers.
Another happy brother and a really grateful Daddy.
All tucked in.
Monday, May 18, 2009
one angle on the slowdown
Why Americans Are Adopting Fewer Kids from China
By KAYLA WEBLEY / HONG KONG Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2009
Becky Freer says adopting a 10-month-old girl from China was the best thing she ever did. So when Freer, 44, recently decided to further expand her Austin, Texas – based family by adopting another daughter, she thought China was the obvious choice. She soon discovered however, that as a single woman, she is no longer eligible. "Three years ago I was an acceptable parent, and now I'm not," she says. "It seems unfair." While Freer has since been approved to adopt a daughter from Ethiopia, she is one of a growing number of prospective parents who are unable to adopt from China under new laws Beijing put in place in May 2007.
International adoptions in the U.S. gained momentum during the 1990s as families reached out to orphans in poorer corners of the world. China's international adoption program, which opened in 1992, has become particularly popular due to its transparency and efficiency. But the stricter guidelines, intended to limit an overwhelming number of applicants, are proving effective. Adoptions of Chinese children by U.S. citizens have dropped 50% in three years, from 7,906 children in 2005 to 3,909 in 2008, according to the U.S. State Department. Among the new regulations, adoptive parents are required to meet certain educational and financial requirements, and must be married, be under 50, not be clinically obese, not have taken antidepressant medication in the past two years and not have any facial deformities. (See pictures of American children up for adoption.)
Even before the new regulations, adopting a child from China was never simple. The state-run China Center for Adoption Affairs requires U.S. applicants to submit a long list of documents, including home studies completed by social workers and federal background checks. Fees and expenses can amount to upward of $20,000, and the wait can be long. China has a backlog of approved international applicants and is only now placing children into the homes of families who were approved for adoption more than three years ago. Some families that don't want to wait that long look to China's "waiting child" list of children with special needs — a national database where prospective parents can read about orphans with disabilities. (Read "Cleaning Up International Adoptions.")
The new laws are only part of the reason why fewer Chinese children are being adopted by American families. While the Chinese government does not release domestic-adoption figures, U.S.-based adoption agencies say more Chinese children are being adopted in the mainland. (Adopting a second child is one of the few exceptions to China's one-child policy.) "More and more people can not only afford to adopt a child, but culturally it's also more accepted," says Cory Barron, director of the St. Louis, Missouri – based adoption agency Children's Hope International.
A change in gender perception may also be a factor. While girls still make up 95% of children at orphanages, Josh Zhong, director of Chinese Children Adoption International in Centennial, Colorado, says that, too, has shifted. "People's attitude toward having girls is changing dramatically," Zhong says. "I have friends [in China] who have girls, and they are just so excited." It's part of a shift that, for the visible future, is keeping more of China's children closer to home.
By KAYLA WEBLEY / HONG KONG Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2009
Becky Freer says adopting a 10-month-old girl from China was the best thing she ever did. So when Freer, 44, recently decided to further expand her Austin, Texas – based family by adopting another daughter, she thought China was the obvious choice. She soon discovered however, that as a single woman, she is no longer eligible. "Three years ago I was an acceptable parent, and now I'm not," she says. "It seems unfair." While Freer has since been approved to adopt a daughter from Ethiopia, she is one of a growing number of prospective parents who are unable to adopt from China under new laws Beijing put in place in May 2007.
International adoptions in the U.S. gained momentum during the 1990s as families reached out to orphans in poorer corners of the world. China's international adoption program, which opened in 1992, has become particularly popular due to its transparency and efficiency. But the stricter guidelines, intended to limit an overwhelming number of applicants, are proving effective. Adoptions of Chinese children by U.S. citizens have dropped 50% in three years, from 7,906 children in 2005 to 3,909 in 2008, according to the U.S. State Department. Among the new regulations, adoptive parents are required to meet certain educational and financial requirements, and must be married, be under 50, not be clinically obese, not have taken antidepressant medication in the past two years and not have any facial deformities. (See pictures of American children up for adoption.)
Even before the new regulations, adopting a child from China was never simple. The state-run China Center for Adoption Affairs requires U.S. applicants to submit a long list of documents, including home studies completed by social workers and federal background checks. Fees and expenses can amount to upward of $20,000, and the wait can be long. China has a backlog of approved international applicants and is only now placing children into the homes of families who were approved for adoption more than three years ago. Some families that don't want to wait that long look to China's "waiting child" list of children with special needs — a national database where prospective parents can read about orphans with disabilities. (Read "Cleaning Up International Adoptions.")
The new laws are only part of the reason why fewer Chinese children are being adopted by American families. While the Chinese government does not release domestic-adoption figures, U.S.-based adoption agencies say more Chinese children are being adopted in the mainland. (Adopting a second child is one of the few exceptions to China's one-child policy.) "More and more people can not only afford to adopt a child, but culturally it's also more accepted," says Cory Barron, director of the St. Louis, Missouri – based adoption agency Children's Hope International.
A change in gender perception may also be a factor. While girls still make up 95% of children at orphanages, Josh Zhong, director of Chinese Children Adoption International in Centennial, Colorado, says that, too, has shifted. "People's attitude toward having girls is changing dramatically," Zhong says. "I have friends [in China] who have girls, and they are just so excited." It's part of a shift that, for the visible future, is keeping more of China's children closer to home.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
adoption reminder
Reviewed through: March 31, 2007
Placed through: March 2, 2006
Tonight as I was putting the boys to bed, Josh and Caleb both prayed for their sister -- it is really sweet to hear them love this little girl they have never met. No doubt, there is an indescribable love for her in April and me. It's real for the little guys too. There are days where the wait seems like FOREVER, but then again, we have no other option but to trust Him for the timing. Above, are the latest status updates from the CCAA, China's Adoption Agency. Our date for log-in is April 15, 2007. We're getting close to being reviewed! That's pretty funny, because we have moved, had another child, and are moving to Hong Kong. Just a couple things have changed. Good thing for home-study updates - So, maybe year from now, Anna Grace's brothers will be tucking her in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)