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...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
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..
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..
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
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...
Friday, April 11, 2008
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 :)
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 :)
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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.....
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.....
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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!!! :)
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!!! :)
Monday, February 11, 2008
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.
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.
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