86 batches to go!!!

another batch has been allocated, number 7 from tassie, they got got a little girl born on the 20 of Jan 2008.
there log in was 22nd of feb 2006...
there are now approx 87 batches in front of us!

can you believe it has been 2 years and 4 months since we attended the information session and applied!!

News News News December 2008

CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with their office before 28 February 2007. They have also finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before 23 February 2006.

reminder that ours went in on the 23rde of April.....

Do the numbers mean anything???

I have just been sticking beaking on the australia adopt china website and there table of batches goes like this.
there are a total of 199 files been sent to china since the begining of time.. from Australia..

The lastest batch was 113 from NSW

We are 197 so that means they need to allocate 84 files before they get to us..

this really could take forever...

News News News

It has been officially posted that:

CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with their office before 31 January 2007. They have also finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before 9 February 2006.

Wow feb 06, those guys waited 2 years and 7 months..

We are Logged in 23rd April 2008

Been a long time since i have posted, we have been away. But very excitingly we have been logged in only 6 days after our file went to China! So no more hurdles to jump, just a long long long wait!
I am editing this post as silly me thought we had done all there was to do... and forgot about or may be i didnt know about the review room...

FIle is off to China finally

1 year and 4 months and our file is off to China yippeee
now just wait for the DTC (date to china) the LID (log in date) and then many many many months down the track allocation......
You know i have been reading rumour queen and they released some blogger sites that have been allocated in the last few weeks, like waiting for lucy.
It is so fascinating that they say whew how stressful the paperchase has taken 3-4 months! how does that work? Are they then going to wait an additional 12 mnths for allocation?
There is loads being talked about and done in the AUstralian adoption community about all these wait times etc. But i feel it will all be to late for all those before me and for us?
Man is not infertility enough to suffer? then this wait.
The strangest thing for me is that here i am waiting for some poor lady to get pregnant, someone who knows she cant keep the baby or who is praying for a boy, then she has to give up her own child so that i can be a mother. Sometimes this whole situation feels wrong....
One womans suffering is anothers most joyous occasions.

On that happy note :)

Mrs Negative

You know one of my sticky beak sites is Mrs Negative, i have been reading her blog for a long time and more recenty after a struggle she has become a mum. It is so wonderful to read her blog... What she says is all the small things that so many mums ?take for granted or maybe just dont often express because they are caught up in all the little things.. these are the things that i dream and long to feel and it is nice to see a new mum (or an old one) cheerish even the small things of being a mother that i miss out on every day...

Mrs Negative says" I can't quite explain how it feels to finally be a mother. Even to myself. It's so much broader than I ever imagined. Of course, I knew that being a mother meant having a child, but I never thought about all the...moments. The hundreds of tiny moments that combine together and create a day. Wiping his face. Putting on socks. Bathing him, clinging onto slippery arms as he thrashes, splashing suds into his own face. Announcing to no-one in particular "Oh, he's tired" or assuring Cooper that "I'm coming, just a minute" as he bellows from his crib.
I feel more important than ever before.
I feel more normal than ever before.
I feel like I finally belong.
And it is a feeling renewed everyday."

I want to fee important
I want to feel normal
I want to belong
and who needs to say renewed.....

File is in

Very exciting news, after our official notification from ICAS that we have been approved the paperchase continued and we are pleased to say that we ahve done all we can do... and our file has been sent into the ICAS office, it contained
original marraige and birth certificates, photos of our family and us, an application for adoption in china, a letter to china asking we be allowed to adopt (my brother in law did a fantastic translation), police cheques, cheques and cheeques, medicals and finaical statments and finally a letter from each of our emplyees stating that we had ongoing employment and how much we earned.. pheeeew....
all whilst spenging up to 13 hours a week trainign for my black belt promotion on the 7th of March. No wonder i feel exhausted!!! :)

Celebrities Can Adopt – Why Can't We?

This article was published on Maree Claire online, you can read text below or click hyperllink for the real deal

Angelina Jolie wants a "rainbow family", while Madonna has added a Malawian baby to her brood. But if stars make international adoption seem easy, the reality for Australians is very different. Melissa Field reports on our heartbreaking policies.
In an orphanage in Cali, Colombia, a couple sits nervously, clutching each other's hands as the director shuffles papers on his desk. The air is heavy with humidity and cicadas hum rhythmically outside the open window, a tattered curtain blowing listlessly in the breeze. On the other side of the closed office door, a 15-week-old, chubby-cheeked boy is being carefully dressed by his Spanish-speaking carer, her hands gentle as she eases him into a brand new Bonds jumpsuit. The clothing is a gift from the boy's new parents, the couple who are anxiously anticipating his arrival with repeated, surreptitious glances at the door.

Buttoning the last press-stud with a snap, the carer's young charge is now ready to leave the only home he has ever known to begin a new life on the other side of the world. He gurgles happily, unaware that his life is soon to undergo a profound transformation.

At last, there's a tap at the door and former high-school sweethearts Kylie and Peter Fitzgerald glance at each other, tears shining in their eyes. The small boy is carried into the room and gently placed in Kylie's outstretched arms, while an aide captures this life-changing moment on the couple's video camera. The date is August 31, 2004. "This is Julian," smiles the orphanage director. "Please, allow me to introduce you to your new son."

For Sydneysiders Kylie, 34, and Peter, 35, this moment is the culmination of a two and a half year battle to adopt a child – a journey that has cost them thousands of dollars and hours of heartache. Contrast that with the experience of celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Madonna, who seem to adopt children from overseas with ease. Jolie has even claimed she wants to adopt a "rainbow family" of children from different countries and cultures. The difference is that celebrities who adopt from overseas aren't working within the Australian system, points out Ricky Brisson, chief executive officer of Australian Families for Children, a non-profit organisation that supports couples seeking to adopt and helps facilitate overseas adoptions. In the US, adopting a child from overseas might take just nine months; here, it can take as long as six years. In NSW, couples can expect to spend about $40,000 in the process.

While few would disagree that rigorous background checks are needed to protect children from predators, the adoption process seems mired in bureaucracy, believes psychologist Trudy Rosenwald, who specialises in adoption issues and is herself the mother of two adoptive children from overseas. "Everyone accepts that safety measures have to be in place to ensure that children are placed in suitable families," she says. "The problem here is that the process is often so ambiguous it seems to many prospective parents as if the government agencies responsible are screening out families, rather than screening them in. In principle, it seems like you're deemed not suitable unless you can prove otherwise."

In late 2005, a report by the House of Representatives's standing committee inquiry into the problem, Overseas Adoption In Australia, stated, "Australia's adoption rate is low and the weight of evidence of delays and hostility faced by the adoption community is too great to ignore." But its many recommendations – including the establishment of an intercountry adoption peak body regulated by the attorney-general’s department – have been slow to come into effect. The Rudd government has announced plans to streamline the process, and advocates are lobbying hard to persuade politicians to put those plans into action.

Chief among those advocates is Deborra-lee Furness, wife of Hugh Jackman, with whom she has adopted two children from overseas, Oscar and Ava, now 7 and 2. "This is a humanitarian issue, and Australia has to step up to the plate and take its share of responsibility for the millions of orphans needing homes in the world," insists Furness.

"Currently, our record is less than stellar on this. As it stands, Australia is the second lowest country in the world in terms of the numbers of intercountry adoptions we process each year. That fact alone infuriates me."

How you can make a difference

Deborra-lee Furness, Australian Families for Children and other agencies believe intercountry adoption needs to be streamlined and improved. They recommend the following:

A federal peak body for intercountry adoption in line with recommendations made to parliament in 2005.
The introduction of national, uniform procedures for intercountry adoption, so the process is the same for all Australian families.
Tax relief for families who adopt children from overseas.
Sign our petition
If you'd like to lobby the federal government to act on this issue, sign our petition, and we'll forward your responses to the new Minister for Families, Jenny Macklin.

Approved!!!

1 year, 1 month, 2 weeks and 5 days for approval

Got the telephone call yesterday from ICAS.. We are approved Yippeeee....

Once step closer to being a family. Now we need to compile a list of documents, and have medicals, police checks and finger printing done and then write lots of cheques????
Once ICAS has the completed documents (dossiers),there needs to be a minimum of 5 couples with files ready to go to China. These are batched together (given a number) and sent to China, where they review them and if happy log them into their system.
I think we will be victorian batch 45.

Scary to look back and see that so far in Victoria they are only up to batch 45!
Batch 45 sent there files on the 30/11/05 !!! and were allocated their children on the 10/12/07 just shy of 2 years..

So we are still in for a wait, but will probably feel like it is all the more real once we are logged in, in China.

Bai Jia Bei: 100 Good Wishes Quilt

To welcome and celebrate a new life, it is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei: a 100 Good-Wishes Quilt. The custom is to invite family and friends to contribute a square of fabric and a wish for the baby. Most of the square is sewn into the quilt, while a smaller piece goes into a creative memory notebook with the wish for the child. The quilt contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a square of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

I havent organised anyone to be a part of my quilt yet, will wait for approval and log in (in china) and then start

The Red Thread

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break. –Stefani Ellison

Many in the adoption community believe this to be an ancient Chinese legend, and that is partially correct. The actual Chinese tradition posits that people who become husband and wife do so because the gods tie an invisible red string around their ankles at birth, and that this red thread will eventually bring the two together.

The cherished adoption quotation above actually only dates back to 1996, and owes itself to Stefani Ellison. At the time, the organization that would become today’s CCAA was in the process of being formed. During the restructuring, many adoptive families found themselves in jeopardy of losing their referrals due to stricter implementation of the adoption rules. It was a precarious and anxious time for adoptive parents. One small online community of adoptive parents, the APC, decided that the only way to survive the uncertainty was to accept that things would all work out as they should in the end, whatever that end should be.

The group started talking about the Chinese belief of an invisible red thread connecting people at their ankles and that no matter what, they would find each other because of that connection. While the ancient tradition was generally in terms of marriage, APC members felt that this was symbolic of adoptive relationships as well and wove that same imagery into their own situation. Stefani Ellison, one of the anxious mothers, sat down and played with the idea, eventually crafting the famous quotation above.

The imagery of Stefani’s idea struck a cord, and has since taken on a life of its own, giving hope to adoptive parents all over the world.

Ladybugs

Among the China intercountry adoption community, everyone seems to know the tale of ladybugs being "lucky.” Interestingly enough, this “legend” does not appear to have any roots in Chinese culture.

In the late 1990's the international adoption programs began growing rapidly. One fall season the ladybug population grew unusually large in Guangzhou, China. Guangzhou is a necessary stop for all Americans adopting from China, as the city houses many Consulate-General offices. This large ladybug population (possibly comparable to a 17-year cicada invasion) was thought to be a lucky charm for those adopting families. So now, whenever ladybugs are seen, people say that more beautiful children are being referred to wonderful, waiting families. Those in China are probably not familiar with this tale unless they are also familiar with the international adoption community.

Regardless as to whether it has any ancient Chinese roots, ladybugs have become a very fun, sweet tradition for many families adopting. Through the years, several touching children stories have been written that feature little ladybugs as protectors that go out into the world to find forever families for each orphaned child.

i want some of these !!!

http://www.erinnolenphotography.com/chambers/

i have been watching these guys since they came home on their blog site, so cute!! see my link in the right side to Lily and Kate..

Shared Feelings

I read this little insert in some ones elses blog! it is so like i feel, nice to know i am not on my own.

As the wait gets longer and longer for our first child, the old demons of failure, desperation and utter sadness also have time to haunt me again. I don't want to go back to that dark, dark place I was in during IVF, but occasionally I find myself so overwhelmed with grief. Grief for my lost dreams, our lost dreams.

I do think that (some) people assume that because we are now adopting, the pain, sadness and grief of years of infertility, IVF and loss has magically disappeared. For me, not only has it not disappeared, I am still reminded, in some way, every single day of what we don't have, what we have lost, and what we so, so want. Today I couldn't buy the newspaper, as the headline story on the front page was "Triple the fun as city goes baby crazy" (which referred to a story of a woman giving birth to triplets). Who would have thought buying the Saturday paper could be so traumatic?

Don't get me wrong, we are both over the moon about eventually meeting our daughter who will be born half a world away - she is already the absolute love of our lives. And now we are on this path, know this is the way it was always meant to be. But that doesn't make the pain of loss any less.

This wait is hard...

Home Study is OUT!!!

Darren got home last night to find that our Home Study report was in the mail , we were not expecting it until the 24th so a nice suprise to find it 3 days early.. This is the report that the social worker write about our lives, relationships and in her opinion our ability to parent an adopted child. Thankfully we have been provisionally approved pending our approval and sign off from the Big Kahona in at ICAS.
Yippeee one step further along the line

Higher fines for stars breaking China's one child rule!

In China is costs around $13,800 to pay for the 2nd child (100,00 Yuan) apprently this is not a problem for wealthy Chinese and the government is planning on changing the penalty amount for the wealthy ....
Interesting ....