The times they are a' changin' ......

With this new month, come the changes that CCAA announce several months ago - BMI less than 40, must have a certain net worth, no singles, age restrictions, certain health restrictions (no depression etc...). I beleive that the CCAA has implemented these new rules in order to address the huge increase in dossiers it has been receiving over the past 2 years....primarily, this increase has come from the U.S. I think that many PAP's and agencies saw China as the most timely option....a 'sure thing' and responded by sending a flood of applications to adopt.

The CCAA appears to be focussing on the Waiting Children's Program - those children with special needs - usually 'minor, correctible' medical needs such as Cleft lip/palate, certain heart conditions (ASD, VSD), birth marks /haemangiaomas, missing/webbed digits, limb differences, vision impairment, hearing impairment, albinism, anal atresia, spina bifida etc.... They seem to be also specifically identifying malnourisment and neglect as 'special needs' at this time as well.

My hope is that these changes reflect a true change in Chinese society...specifically that more domestic adoptions are being allowed to take place and that the vast majority of abandoned/orphaned children are not girls. Only time will tell....

With these recent rule changes, some people out there in IA-land are also discussing interim adoptions, changing counties and attrition rates. Depending on the rules of a certain country or even the state/province, these issues will be more or less important. In my Canadian province, I don't think it is even possible to do an interim adoption while you wait for a Chinese referral...at least I haven't yet heardof anyone attempting it. Perhaps a domestic adoption is allowed, but an interim International adoption is not. I know this is the case in some US states. Because of the huge increase in wait times between DTC and referral/travel to China (upwards of 18 months at present and rising), some people are actually choosing to pull their file completely from China and begin another adoption. Some estimated put the current attrition rate as high as 25%. Not sure if I agree with this....its not easy to gather clear info to come up with that type of stat b/c once people 'pull' their files, they tend to diasappear from the China/IA community...they tend not to announce what they have done. Agencies would be reluctant to give this type of confidential info out - even to their other clients, I would presume.

I wonder what, if any, effects attrition or the rule changes with have on those files already logged in in China - will CCAA be able to process files any quicker (I don't mean referrals, but rather the paperwork that comes after - especially for WC Program - LOA, TA.....)? Will staff be reassigned? Supposedly there are fewer babies available for adoption - or I should say 'paper ready'....meaning that the orphanages are not completing as many babies' files as there are PAP files waiting to be processed.

I'd love to hear input or opinion...but I've yet to receive a single comment on this blog....is anyone even reading this? If so, please let me know :)