Questions, Questions.....

Lots of people are asking lots of general questions lately so I'll answer them here as best I can, just in case you were wondering too.

1. Is Olivia born yet? Answer: I'm pretty sure she is. While our daughter could be up to 2 or 3 yrs. old, the vast majority of children are 7 to 10 months old at the time of referral and 9 to 14 months when the come home with their new families.
2. What's a referral? Answer: Referral is when families get notification and information about the child they are matched with. Referral usually has a brief write up discribing the child, any medical information that is available and 2 or 3 small photos.
3. Do you get to choose your child? Answer: No. The CCAA matches families with children. I don't think anyone really knows how, but rumour has it they do the matches based on lots of factors such as physical characteristics, birthdates, behaviors ie; active children go with active families, etc. Once a family gets a referral, they do have to officially accept or decline that referral.
   
4. When will you get your referral? Answer: I wish I knew. At the time our dossier was logged into the CCAA in China, the wait was 6-7 months from Log In Date to referral. Since that time, things seem to have slowed down somewhat at that end and sadly, the wait is a little longer. I'd like to say we will get referral in January or February and travel 6-7 weeks later, but I'm learning that this process can change quite quickly so we don't really know. We will certainly post our referral on this site as soon as we get anything and I'll update this site more as we get closer.
5. Are the babies all in orphanages? Answer: Most are, but some are in foster care with local families until they are adopted. Foster care is better for the babies for obvious reasons, but also, if Olivia is in foster care, it will make the initial transition more difficult for her, but will be much better for her in the long run as she will likely have learned how to bond and attach to a caregiver or family. Bonding and attaching is generally more difficult for babies that have been only in orphanages as they have had very little personal cuddling and attention due to the high ratio of caregivers to babies. We have been busy researching, learning and preparing for these scenarios.
   
6. Do you have to go to China? Answer: Yes - we will spend almost 2 weeks in China and we wouldn't miss it for the world. This will be such a great opportunity to learn as much as we can about her life before us, to see where she's from, learn more about her culture, etc. The first week will be in whatever province she is from in China to finalize the adoption process and meet all the requirements of the Chinese government. The second week will be in Beijing where the Canadian consulate is. That week is to get passports, immigration documents, travel visa for baby to come to Canada, etc.
   
7. Do the babies speak Chinese? Answer: The babies speak baby. (??)

I hope that answers some of the general questions, but if there's anything else you want to know, or anything you're curious about, just ask. If nothing else, I've learned through this process that there are so many people considering adoption as a means to create or expand a family and learning has been such a great part of this process - we're happy to pass on any information.