A Flurry of Paperwork
We submitted our I-600A to the INS on 10/1/96 with fingerprint cards, but
without the home study. We have heard how many people have had lots
of problems with lost finger print cards or very long delays in approval,
but we had no problems with the Cleveland office.
The next steps for us were a home study and the selection of an agency.
We talked to several local social service agencies about performing the
home study. The home study is where a licensed social worker interviews
the parents and others in the household, inspects the home, and writes
a report on the suitability of the home for a child. Most of the agencies
wanted a lot of money to perform the home study, up to several thousand
dollars. One required that the home be completely baby-proof before the
home study would be approved. We thought that was ridiculous since
we KNEW that it would be 6 months wait after our paper work went
to China. Most irritating was that the agencies would put us on the waiting
list for a home study, the quickest they could get to us was 2 months and
would take several months to complete. We talked to several people
in our local Families with Children from China group and found a small
private home study agency, World Family Adoption. They were able
to do the home study in under 6 weeks, for less than a thousand dollars,
and could start within a couple of weeks. Obviously, we recommend them
quite highly. During the home study a good social worker will probe
issues that are relevant to the adoption that you are pursuing. In
our case, since we wanted to adopted a foreign child, our social worker
asked many questions about our feeling on race and culture. She also
asked us about our childhoods, our feelings about our infertility, and
our feelings about disciple. The questioning was designed not only
to provide our social worker with information, but also to get us thinking
about important issues in parenting and cross cultural adoption.
During the six weeks that it took to do the home study, Ginger furiously
chased the necessary paperwork and reviewed adoption agency literature.
Ginger came up with a spread sheet listing all the necessary documents
and all the authentications needed for each one. She had Kinko's
enlarge it to 2 foot by 3 foot on bright pink paper and posted it in the
living room. As each document was obtained and notarized, certified, etc.,
she checked it off of the list. It certainly helped that both Ginger
and I had notaries where we work. Laura Morrison, a document courier
and adoptive parent ( http://www.asststork.com
) was a great help in getting the proper documents to the proper places.
Selecting the right adoption agency for us was very tough. We
quickly eliminated agencies that imposed religious, age, marriage, and
other restrictions beyond the Chinese requirements. Although we agree
that an agency has to feel comfortable with the families that are adopting,
we personally see little value in these factors as indicators of the ability
to parent. Richard
Smith's (the founder of the Adoptive Parents China {APC} mailing list)
story (or
perhaps you may find his story here) of trying to adopt as a single male greatly influenced us.
Although I certainly understand the argument that 2 parents are generally
better than one, one parent is better than none.
We eliminated a couple of agencies that had confidentiality agreements
that prohibited posting to the Internet. Agencies have a tremendous amount
of power and control over families in their programs. The Internet
and lists like the APC allow adopters to compare experiences, warn others
of rough spots in the road, and become more prepared parents. Our
agency, like every agency at the time, told us initially that it would
be perhaps 6 months before we would travel. Then things slowed down
and the six months became 9 months, then 11 months. Without the perspective
that the APC list provided it would be easy to think that our agency lied
to us and was just stringing us along. The reality was that every
agency was experiencing the same slow down and it was due to a reorganization
in China. I feel that confidentiality agreements allow bad agencies to
hide poor performance and unethical acts, and they also hurt good agencies
that use them by not allowing clients to publicize their good performance.
We eliminated a couple of agencies because they wanted money up front,
before they would send complete information or applications. One
agency insisted that we use their local affiliate for the (very expensive)
home study, one agency wasn't accepting applications until after the first
of the year. One agency that stood out was Great Wall Chinese Adoption
out of Austin, Texas. This agency is run by Snow Wu, a Chinese lady
that had come to the U.S. about 6 years previously. We check out
her references and talked with the Texas state adoption authorities, they
were all very complementary of Great Wall. But they were a new agency
and had not yet traveled to China. Since choosing an agency is such
an important decision, and we were nervous about signing with a new agency,
we decided to travel to Austin on November 1st to meet Snow Wu, look over
her operation and also visit Ginger's sister who lives in San Antonio.
The following is an E-mail that I sent to a person that ask us our impressions
of the agency:
Our trip to Great Wall China went well. Snow is a charming
woman that seems to know her stuff. She is a thin, attractive woman in
her mid thirties. She and her husband had American professors in China
and came to the U.S. about 6 yrs ago to study. Her husband is teaching
at University of Texas at Austin. She and her husband have a 6 yr.
old daughter and are citizens of the P.R.C.
Her offices are located in an office park directly behind a
grocery store. The offices are clearly low rent and small, but well kept.
Her suite consists of a outer receptionist office where her assistant,
Jamie Batey, has a desk (complete with a picture of Jamie's child) and
a couple of chairs for waiting clients. Jamie is a Texas country girl,
nice, friendly, and talkative. A large picture book of China is on a table
along with several issues of Parents and other child rearing magazines.
Jamie's area is decorated with several large prints of happy and beautiful
children at orphanages, and a photo of Snow's daughter. Great Wall's
Texas license is posted here, along with two legal postings (one on Great
Walls' obligation to report child abuse, the other prohibiting any inducement
to place a child for adoption). There is also a matted and framed article
from the Austin newspaper about the start up of Great Wall. There
are several photos of Snow with the state welfare people taped up on the
frame.
There are two other rooms off of the reception area, one to
Snow's office, the other to a room which we did not get to see, but has
at least a copier and word processor (Jamie went in there to type the contract
and make copies). I assume that it also must have some file storage
and the like.
Snow's office is rather large with a huge map of China on one
wall. Behind Snow's desk is a large painting (print I think, but didn't
want to be too nosy) of the Great Wall. She has her PC on the credenza
under the painting. Another wall has a huge calligraphy wall hanging with
the Chinese symbol for home. We sat in two chairs directly in front
of her oak desk. Under the large glass desk cover were the referral
photos that Great Wall has received along with some more recent photos
of the children that her staff has taken. Also on her desk was a Mickey
Mouse photo album with pictures of the children and orphanage staff in
China.
I gave her our application and pulled out my questions that
I got from the FCC web site. I tried to ask them, but my wife was
so excited by the pictures and small talk, it was hard to get a word in.
We talked about the recent special needs problems, and she assured us that
because we are childless, and both between 35 -45 that the recent events
would not affect us. Snow showed us on the map where the orphanages are
that she works with and told us "that is where the prettiest girls in China
come from". Both my wife and I melted and smiled at each other while we
thought of a pretty little girl of our own, while at the same time feeling
a little gullible and foolish for day dreaming during this serious meeting
that we might actually get a baby.
She answered every question we asked, and asked us some social
worker type questions about race and how the child would be received by
our community and family. After about an hour and a half, we asked for
a contract. We had to suggest that we were willing and able to pay
the first payment if she thought we qualified. She placed us under
absolutely no pressure for either time or money.
I am satisfied that Snow knows what she is doing. It
still concerns me a little that they haven't traveled yet, but waiting
is a part of international adoption. I know that this was long, but I hope
it helps you. If you have any questions, please e-mail me. Since
your application just went in, we might even travel together.
