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China Adoption
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China Adoption

For families adopting in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Nationwide.

Lutheran Social Services of New England, Inc. is accredited by the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA), a government agency, to place children from China’s orphanages and foster care system with U.S. families since 1995. We are fortunate to wonderful bilingual Chinese representatives in China whose work make this program smooth and predictable. China adoption is the first choice of many adoptive parents when opting for international adoption.

The Process

Once the home study has been completed, you will be assisted by experienced International Adoption staff at LSSNE in preparing the China dossier (set of legal documents) required by the Chinese authorities. The documents must all be certified and authenticated here in the U.S. before they are sent to China. Your dossier (including INS approval) will be sent to CCAA along with dossiers from other LSSNE adoptive families, usually 3-6 families at a time. This group of families becomes a travel group and your group will received referrals at the same time as well as travel together to China.

Currently the wait for a child referral is 20-24+ months.* The child referral information from CCAA includes photographs, medical examination, and a social/developmental background report. Families will receive their child referral assignments as a group and travel in the same small group. Typically, you will go to China to adopt your child about 6-8 weeks after the assignments have been formally accepted. You will be guided and escorted throughout the time you are in China.

Parent Eligibility

Married couples between ages 30-49 for healthy infants; ages 30-54 if applying for a waiting child with special needs. You may have up to four other children in the home. One parent must be a U.S. Citizen. You must be married for a minimum of 2 years. If either spouse has been divorced, the current marriage must be at least 5 years. Up to two divorces are acceptable. Both applicants must be free of any major medical concerns. Applicants with any of the following medical conditions are ineligible: infectious disease, mental handicap, wheel chair bound, severe facial deformity, diseases which require long term treatment and which affect life expectancy, organ transplant within 10 years, Schizophrenia. Both applicants must be free of any medication taken for depression or anxiety for the last two years and have a Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 40.

Children

Both girls and boys can be adopted from China. Babies are typically around 7-9 months old at referral, toddlers and children over 5 are also in need of homes. Some children may have special medical needs which can be corrected in the U.S. Many children have predictable delays in development due to living in an orphanage.

Travel

China requires families to travel only once for adoption. Both spouses are expected to travel unless there is a valid reason why one cannot go. Families travel in groups and are escorted by a knowledgeable adoption guide/translator. The trip takes approximately 12-14 days and includes a stay in the local province where the orphanage is located, as well as in Guangzhou, where the US Consulate issues US Visas for newly adopted children to enter the United States.

* Contact our International Adoption Specialist for the most up-to-date referral times.

Read Stories from our families about their China Adoption experience with LSSNE