Thursday, August 23, 2007

Different Kinds of Waiting

There is some debate or curiosity at least about which is harder for adopting families: the wait before referral or the wait after referral.

Of course, the wait isn't the same across the board within any given country let alone between countries. Different countries have different policies and procedures resulting in drastically different time lines and experiences.

Those adopting from China, for example, are currently being quoted wait times of approximately two and a half years(!) from the time their paperwork is completed until the time they will receive their referrals. While that may seem like an extraordinary amount of time, the good news is that these families must only wait a few weeks from the time they first receive news and photos of their child until they can travel to pick them up.

While other countries have shorter wait times from paperwork completion to referral (I don't think any country has longer wait times than China!), as far as I know there are no other countries that have as long a wait AFTER referral than Taiwan. With Kazakhstan, for example, once a referral is received, families typically travel within a month or so to see their babies and their babies can come home, in most cases, within three months of referral (of course the families may spend seven weeks or more in country before coming home but that's a whole 'nother topic).

The point is that it makes no sense to me at all that babies that have been matched with families shouldn't be united with those families ASAP. *sigh* If only logic ruled the court systems of the world...

4 comments:

Glen and Andrea said...

The long wait times are really rough. We are adopting from Thailand and have just reached our 'two years since we started' mark. The time from when Thailand gets our paperwork to when they send a referral is on average about a year, and then from Referral to travel is 6-8 months. This time seems to be the same from whichever country you live. Then the adoption is finalised about 8 months after arriving home. It looks like the total process will be 3-4 years for us.
We were told it would take about half that time but the process has slowed the further we go along.
It really makes me sad that all the red tape takes so long. Hopefully your wait is nearly over. Can't wait to follow your trip.

Anonymous said...

Love your post!! Definetly the waiting after the referral...looking at those photos is so hard! It will be all worth it though when we get to see them face to face. Blessings, Teresa (Jeremiah's mom)

Judy said...

Never thought this wait would be so hard. Just got to keep remember that our sons will come home and next year this time, we would have all forgotten about the "wait".

Amy, Ryan, Aidan and Lauren said...

I think it's hard no matter what. We switched from China to Taiwan due to the long wait times with China, but then waited nearly six months from Lauren's referral to travel. Before we got our referral, the wait time to travel didn't seem like it would be that bad, but it was super hard and I'm still struggling with some of those feelings, even after being home for almost six months! I think it is just difficult no matter what country program you choose (our domestic adoption was tough, too), but all the paths seem to work out beautifully in the end.