April 2006 is out of Review

No questions were asked, so China has approved us. Now our paperwork is headed towards the *Matching Room*, but it will take a while to get there, probably another 10-12 months.

Theories on the slow-down

These come from the "Rumor Queen" and there are a variety of theories, some based on facts:

*There are no longer that many NSN orphans in China.
*There are plenty of orphans, but problems getting them made paper ready.
*The CCAA has a yearly ceiling that they cannot go over, and that ceiling was lowered last year and then lowered again this year. The ceiling also includes SN children, so the more SN adoptions that happen the less NSN matches can be made.
*The Chinese government wants to make the world think there is no orphan problem as we lead up to the Olympics. So they empty the orphanages out into foster care and say there are no more orphans. The long wait becomes proof that they have solved their orphan problem, since this proves there aren’t enough babies to adopt out.

NSN= non-special needs
SN = special needs (cleft lip-pallette, missing limbs, Downs, heart defects)

November 7, 2005 referred

This is better than the last 2 referral batches, which only covered 4 days total, but 6 days is still slow, and 6 days is becoming the norm. There is a rumor out there that it's going to take all of 2007 to get through Nov-Dec 2005. Throw us a bone already!

April 2006 is still not out of the Review Room. I can't wait for us to be out, as that's a milestone in our wait. We've not been questioned, so hopefully our log-in-date will remain the same. Word is that April is out, but China hasn't updated their website. Maybe this week it will happen!

On a completely different subject...My best friend, Stacie, who lives in TX, really needs some prayers of comfort right now. Her Dad had a massive stroke last Wednesday night, but wasn't found until Thursday. Stacie is driving to Tulsa, OK to have her father removed from life support tomorrow. *BIG HUGS* to Stacie and her family.

Thank you for your letters

Our efforts have paid off in writing Congressmen and Congresswomen. Last week, USCIS announced that 1 FREE extension is allowed on the I-600A. On July 30th, the fees are increasing so this would have cost us $830 to re-file, but it will now be a FREE extension.

We still have to re-do our homestudy, which involves a social worker, re-fingerprinting, updated medicals and updated physicals, but now a considerable amount of our re-filing fees has been reduced by about 1/2.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to write letters on behalf of us and other adoptive families!