September Referrals and SCARY math

Well, Late August/Early September referrals arrived today. They were not the "all of September" that everyone was hoping, wishing, and praying for. Only families thru September 8th will get to meet their daughters, via a photo today.

Now here's the SCARY math part...it took August 2005 90 days to be complete. June and July also took around the same time frame. If September 2005 through April 2006, each take 60-90 days to be complete, we will not see Emma's picture for 14 to 21 more months depending on what happens the next several months.

This equals to a February 2008 or August 2008 referral. Are you kidding me??? 2008 is the Olympics, which is not good. Who knows what kind of delays that could cause for travel arrangements.

I have 4 words...In GOD we trust.

Fun items added to our blog

At the top of the blog, you will see I added a Lady Bug Ticker counting how many days we have been "Paper Pregnant". This count is from the time we were officially entered into China's database, 4/26/06.

Take a gander to the right of this post and there is a clock that tells you what time it is in China.

Rumor Queen

The Rumor Queen is a fellow adopter, blogging her adoption wait and analyzing what the CCAA will do next. Her information is based on data that families send to her and from the watching the past two years of referrals being assigned. The Rumor Queen has "insider information" and usually knows when referrals and/or travel arrangements are on the way before the adoption agency tells the families.

Our agency, FTIA, usually rolls their eyes at the mention of "The Rumor Queen". They wonder how she has time to parent or work based on the extreme she goes to in analyzing the wait time. One of the FTIA staffers actually dressed as "The Rumor Queen" for Halloween.

If you look at her website with a sense of humor, it won't cause stress, but if you look at it like she's the gospel, you're going to get stressed out. For me, it's fun to follow to see how "right" she is every month. Check out her website if you get a chance!

Could it be true?

The following information is extremely exciting!

Word from the East is that all of September 2005 will get to see their daughter's precious faces next week or the week after. Our April timeframe would still be off-track, but not as horrible as it could be if they start referring full months again. Yipee!!! Funny thing about this mornings post...Doug and I were dining at McAllisters last night, discussing how long we thought it was going to take and I explained to Doug the CCAA needs to start referring a month at a time again in order to get nearer to our April timeframe. The Gods must have heard us talking.

Some other news that will definitely help us...adoptions within China have not taken off like they anticipated. They were reserving children for their countrymen and the children being reserved are now being placed back into the International Adoption Program. Between this and the orphanage in Hunan re-opening, hopefully 2007 will bring very good things!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

A Time to Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! There is nothing better than Pumpkin pie and Sweet Potatoes w/marshmallows on top. This year I'm in charge of the sweet potatoes and will be testing a new recipe I found in a Kraft magazine. Wish me luck.

Emma is going to love Grandma Barrett's sweets. So far Grandma is making a pie, pumpkin rolls, no-bakes and possibly some peanut butter fudge. OH MY!

Doug is working overtime on Thanksgiving, but thankfully he will be near my mom's house and will be able to stop by for some eats. We will celebrate Thanksgiving with the Todd's on Saturday. Here's a picture of Emma's cousin, Dylan or The Bear as "The Godfather" calls him. And of course he is wearing his "Bear Shirt".

China is Tightening the Belt

It's officially true, China has imposed tighter weight and financial requirements. We believe they are doing so to narrow the applicant pool. Neither of these restrictions will have an impact on our adoption of Emma, but there are definitely some families at our agency this will affect, specifically related to weight. Our agency has been encouraging families to be as healthy as possible and to use the wait for our daughters to slim down...they unofficially knew this change was coming about 6 months ago. Families are being told if your paperwork has been logged into China, we should not be affected, but they are not 100% sure until our paperwork goes to "The Review Room". Potentially families could be asked for updated financial and medical reports if the paperwork logged is borderline passing.

In terms of weight restrictions, couples who have Body Mass Indexes (BMI) of 40 or more will probably be rejected unless they can provide medical documentation that indicates they are perfectly healthy despite the high BMI. In my opinion this makes sense...our girl's deserve the best of us and if we aren't healthy enough to live until they make it to adulthood, they'd be better off with healthier parents. A lot of families in our adoption group are freaking out over the weight restrictions more than the financial restrictions. Considering how much we see in the news about the new epidemic of obesity, it's not surprising most of the families are very concerned if they will be denied based on weight. Since the agencies have now been given a definitive number, they can deny couples before they start any of the paper chase and save a lot of heartache.

The financial requirements are that the family gross income be equivalent to $10,000 per each person in each household, including the adopted child. For example: 2 adults, 1 child = $30,000 or more per year. Families also cannot be in the red when it comes to mortgage, car payments etc. I believe China will be using a similar calculation of debt to income ratio that the US uses for loans and credit analysis.

WHEW, at least this doesn't affect us!

"Review Room" info Updated!

Well, our documents are 3 months away from being at least reviewed by the CCAA. They updated their website last night to the following:

"The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application
documents registered with our office before January 31, 2006"

Bible Verse and Update on August 2005 Families

"I will bring your children from the East and gather you from the West." ~Isaiah 43:5

Last fall, I was searching through my Bible for verses related to Adoption/Infertility and this verse was listed. I have a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" Bible which has a really nice index of topics that directs you to related verses/psalms. How fitting is this verse for an adoption from China! I saw the verse on someone else's Chinese adoption blog today, so they must have thought so too.

China divided August 2005 into 3 again by only going to August 24th. Everytime they divide a month into 3 vs 2, the slow down gets worse. At least after 2 weeks of sweating it out, August families found out today if they had a referral or not.

China normally updates their website so families know BEFORE the Fed Ex packages arrive if they are in the batch, but they didn't this time, so that's why families were on pins and needles. China finally updated their website Wednesday night at 8pm, which is 9am Beijing time.

This is from the CCAA's website that all the families watch so they know when their paperwork is in the "Matching Room" or they are being "Referred":


The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application
documents registered with our office before December 31, 2005.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families
whose adoption application documents were registered with our office
before August 25, 2005.