Adopting a child from China is a complicated process. The outcome, however, certainly justifies the time and effort involved. This page will give you some valuable information on how to adopt from China.

Every year, thousands of children are adopted from China by American couples. In recent years, this number has fallen due to stricter Chinese restrictions on who can adopt Chinese children as well as an increased number of Chinese couples adopting the abandoned children in their homeland.http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1894333,00.html However, adopting a child from China remains a popular and viable option if you wish to become a first-time parent or expand your already-existing family.

In order to adopt from China, you will need to be aware of the following:

1. Adopting from China costs between $15,000 to $20,000.
2. The adoption process is a lengthy one, taking anywhere from nine to 36 months (though some forecasts say that it could be as much as eight yearshttp://chinaadoptionforecast.com/) to complete depending on the backlog of applications at the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA), the Chinese agency that processes all international adoption applications.
3. You will need to be able to travel to China for at least two weeks in order to pick up your child and complete the Chinese adoption requirements.
4. 91% of the children available in China are girls, and most of the available boys are special needs. About half the children are above the age of 1 at the time they're adopted.http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/china_adoption.php
5. In May 2007, China enacted much stricter guidelines for who qualifies to adopt in China. These guidelines state in part that:
   1. All potential adoptive parents must be married, and have been married for at least 2 years. You can not have been married more than 2 times previously, and if either prospective parent has been married before, then the current marriage must be at least 5 years old at the time of application.
   2. Both husband and wife must be between 30 and 50 years of age, though exceptions can be made if you are willing to adopt a special needs child.
   3. The household income must be a minimum of $10,000 annually per person, including the child to be adopted.
   4. The prospective parents must have completed high school or the vocational training equivalent.
   5. Both potential mother and father must be healthy, with BMIs under 40 and having not taken anti-depressants within the 2 years prior to the adoption application.
   6. Existing children in the household under the age of 18 cannot be more than 5, and the youngest child has to be at least 12 months.http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=891

If you and your spouse meet all of the requirements and have the necessary resources, the next step is to find an adoption agency to walk you through the process of adopting a child from China. The CCAA only accepts applications from registered agencies, so you will want to make sure that the agency you select is registered and experienced in Chinese adoptions. Research fees at different agencies and seek out people who adopted via that agency in the past to find out about their experience.

In order to proceed with your adoption from China, you will need to have a home study completed by a licensed social worker in the employ of a registered Chinese adoption agency. Home studies are lengthy and complex, and typically involve four meetings with the social worker, at least one of which is in-home.

The CCAA requires an application and a long list of suuplementary documents, including health documents, background checks, tax documents, pictures of you and your home and various other documents. Your agency should walk you through each of these documents, and ensure that you submit them correctly. All documents must be notarized, certified by your Secretary of State and then authenticated by your Chinese Consulate. All documents must also be translated into Mandarin before submission to the CCAA.http://www.wikihow.com/Adopt-a-Baby-from-China These documents can take quite a bit of time to collect and certify, so you should start on them fairly early in the process.

Concurrently with compiling your application and dossier, you should complete an I-600A form for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This form grants preliminary approval for you to bring your child into the U.S. and can take some time to process, so you will want to do it promptly.

After all of your paperwork has been completed and submitted to the CCAA, you will have to wait for the agency to process your application and then send you a referral. The referral will include several pictures of your designated child along with a medical report. After you review this information, you send your acceptance notification to the CCAA via your adoption agency, and get ready to travel to China to meet your child.

Your adoption agency should arrange your travel to China. There are a variety of happenings you should be prepared for:

1. If only one parent is traveling to China, he or she must bring a power of attorney from the other parent authenticated by the Chinese Embassy or one of the Chinese Consulates General in the U.S.
2. After you meet your child in China, you will need to travel to the Provincial capital to complete and process the final adoption paperwork, then on to Guangzhou to have your child undergo a medical examination and processing by the U.S. consulate.http://www.ocdf.org/adoption/howtoadopt.htm
3. The orphange or institution that has cared for your child since its birth will most likely charge you fee for their costs of raising the child thus far, usually between $3,000 to $5,000. This is a customary fee.
4. Remember to apply for a new birth certificate in order to get a passport once you are back in the U.S.
5. You will also need to get a Chinese passport and exit permit.
6. Apply for a U.S. immigrant visa for your child.
7. Once you get the new birth certificate and passport, apply for a U.S. visa from the U.S. embassy. As soon as the adoption is granted by China, you will need to visit the embassy once more to get final approval of your previously submitted I-600A form and a visa for your new child.http://adoption.about.com/od/international/ss/walkthroughchin_7.htm

Once you are home with your new child, it is time to enjoy! However, you should also determine whether you will need to re-adopt your child through the U.S. courts. This is necessary only in some states and some instances, and your adoption agency should be able to provide you will all pertinent details.

For couples eager to share their homes and hearts with a child, adoption from China is a wonderful solution, as long as prospective parents are aware of the time and paperwork commitment involved.