Congrats again, and looking forward
First - another huge Congratulations!!!!! to all who got “the call” yesterday. And to those who shared your pictures and blogs, thank you very much. If you want me to add you to our Links Page please let me know. I’d love to follow you on your trip.
For those of you with referrals, have any of you heard anything from your agency about Travel Approvals being handled differently? Anyone in the U.S. hearing anything like this?
Just a few notes about this batch - lots of young babies, several boys (some going to families who did not request boys), and some referrals from Hunan province. That last bit isn’t that huge of a deal because we’ve been seeing them for Hunan all along, I just wanted to make a note of it.
And last, if you haven’t been to the Bright Outlooks site in a while you might want to take a look at their projections.
June 28th, 2006 at 2:45 am
So going to the Bright Outlooks site….doesn’t look too bright and cheery for those of us with LID in May of 2006…looks like it is guessing at a 2/2008 referral! yikes. one year and 9 months….going to sleep now….
Kath
LID May 15, 2006
June 28th, 2006 at 5:00 am
aaaaaaargh, with a 6/13/06 I’ve also been getting referral projections of 2008 based on recent referral times.
That’s including factoring in some increases in referral speed. I do remember they are only projections but what else is there to go on??? ;-(
4emily, where did you find this info on Bright Outlooks please? I looked there and can’t see it.[I don't want to look but I just have to.....]
June 28th, 2006 at 6:33 am
ps; I noticed in the link to the article about ultrasounds, an article about ’soaring’ infertility rates in China and an increase in the use of IVF for those who can afford it. The sharp increase in infertility rates is, at least in part, due to environmental pollutants according to the article in the link below.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-06/26/content_625493.htm
June 28th, 2006 at 8:29 am
Yeah, not too happy with the “Dim Outlooks” site:) With LID of 5/30, I am looking at early March 2008! Yuck.
With so many really young referrals this time, my DH commented that he thought this could be evidence of less paper ready babies because it seemed like as soon as the babies were ready they were being matched. What do you think of this idea?
June 28th, 2006 at 8:48 am
This is my first comment. With a L.I.D. of 7/18/2005 it says I could be next! I sure hope so. Do we all think this is possible. They would have to do three weeks. I hope they can pull it off.
June 28th, 2006 at 8:49 am
I’m sure I plugged in the wrong numbers but I got a projected referral date of 9/4/09 with 2/14/06 LID. The good news is I should be able to get the two oldest kids half way through college before I have to pay for the rest of the adoption… :)
June 28th, 2006 at 8:57 am
hey 06-ers! :)
take heart in that the Bright Outlooks thing (much like RQ’s polls) is better for short range speculations and predictions…not so much for down the road. They really don’t even get much into August and Sept on some of those ‘models’.
Don’t sweat it too much, I can’t imagine 06 LIDs not being matched until 2008 or 2009. Things will be turning around.
i did get a good chuckle drent, by your comment about being abot to get the older kids half way through college by the time you have to pay for the rest of the adoption. :)
June 28th, 2006 at 8:58 am
oops. that should say ‘I can’t imagine 06 LIDs being matched until…’
it’s early…not enough mt. dew yet.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Cheer up everyone…I feel VERY strongly that the projected referral dates for you 2006 LID’ers are NOT going to be as late as all that (2008). I have read WAY too many places that the CCAA is doing its very best to keep the wait from LID to referral at or around 12 months. They may only be matching 10-15 days at a time for now, May and June 2005 LIDs were large….plus has the CCAA even moved yet? If not, when they do, they will be in a larger facility with more volunteers….to keep up the pace. Believe me though, I know how you feel. When we first started the process, it was a 6 month wait….and as you know, it is now 12 and where’s my baby girl? Well, I REALLY am pretty confident that we will have our referral by end of August or end of September. No later. And for you May and June ‘05 LID’ers, keep your chin up…and start thinking of HOT weather in CHINA! You’ll be going there Summer/Fall ‘07. Really.
Best wishes to you all.
LID 08-08-05
http://www.caringbridge.org/nc/jhpollnow
June 28th, 2006 at 9:22 am
waitingforallie-
we’re hoping for a September referral (8.10 LID) instead of Oct which it could be if the CCAA doesn’t speed up alittle more. I personally am trying not to get hopes up for an August referral (and the DW tells me not to set myself up for disappointment) but if it came true, I have to say that an August referral would be WONDERFUL. :) September would be ideal …won’t have to re-do the I-171H then. hehe
June 28th, 2006 at 9:36 am
tg, i totally agree. i am hoping for our referral in august. although, your dw is down to earth. she is trying to help you. i can hope though, you can imagine what i am going to wish on my birthday next week…ha.
lid~8-8
June 28th, 2006 at 9:52 am
well i hope you pull out all the tricks in the wish book on your birthday :) I’ll do some wishing and praying as well. :)
at least the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter…
June 28th, 2006 at 10:11 am
we have a daughter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a special need baby was appointed to us today, I just got off the phone. She is nine months old, we will get the prictures tomorrow. I really can´t believe it.
June 28th, 2006 at 10:12 am
tg and jfkof3~
You are right; the August timeline is a stretch…but not TOO far off from possibility! I have really tried not to get my hopes up lately….and there is NO way that we will have to wait until October…I too am REALISTICALLY thinking, and holding onto September….my only 2 thoughts on the Aug thing are that the CCAA has not yet reached the 13 month wait mark yet….(I know, they’re about to with June 29-30 LID)…and secondly, we are in the beginning of the month, essentially. Hmm. Makes me wonder. But I’ll tell you what: I will stop talking about August referral and just wait for September. :-) Good news is: at least it won’t be 102 degrees and humid when we travel! :-) Happy Thanksgiving to us!
June 28th, 2006 at 10:16 am
dutch,
Congrats! That is awesome!
June 28th, 2006 at 10:19 am
dutchmomtobe: Congratulations!! That is wonderful news.
LID 9/26
June 28th, 2006 at 10:26 am
Congrats Dutchmom, That’s great news. I was wondering
I went to the Bright Outlooks Page, I wasn’t sure if I did
it right all I did was add my LID. Is this correct? I am
11/18/05 it came up 02/07 Can anyone tell me if this
is correct? I know this is not 100% accurate. NEMOMMA
BIG CONGRATS SEND ME YOUR EMAIL!!!
June 28th, 2006 at 10:26 am
dutchmomtobe ,
So very happy for you. Please post pictures as soon as you get them. We can’t wait to see your daughter. Do you have a name yet?
LID 8/30
http://www.babysites.com/sites/laureenmary
June 28th, 2006 at 10:27 am
Hi all,
The calculator in Bright Outlooks is more for people to enter their projections and see what would happen based upon their gut feelings.
I do like idea of coming closer to a full month this month though!
June 28th, 2006 at 10:34 am
I have to agree with the *Dim Outlooks* thing - I don’t like the projections for our 2/24/06 LID, either.
That just took the fun out of it….
Congrat’s to all the new parents!!!
June 28th, 2006 at 10:59 am
Dutchmomtobe, CONGRATULATIONS!!! Here’s hoping for speedy TAs for you and all the folks who received referrals the past few days!
June 28th, 2006 at 11:29 am
Congratulations Dutchmomtobe! I know all of us have waited a long time but I think you have waited longer than most for her! I hope you get to hold her very soon and that your travels bring your growing family home safe. It is so nice when families get to hold each other for the first time!! I am very excited for all who have referrals but especially for you! Your wait has been 4 years, if I remember correctly - I will be at three years in November. I figured if you could hang in there for a year longer, so could I.
I have a question now - how can you tell if your adoption agency is a big or small agency?
June 28th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Hi, first of all I want to congratulate to all the happy new mummies and daddies.
In Sweden where I live the families still have to wait a couple of weeks before they get to see the babies reports.
I wonder how can it be that in USA you get information as soon as the papers arrive to the agencies… are the reports sent in Chinese like they do to Sweden?
How is it in other countries?
June 28th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Yes, the referral packet is mostly in Chinese.
But a good part of it is in multiple choice questions for the orphanage and the caretakers, and each question and each choice is in Chinese and English. So we can read that part before it is translated. Also, the dates are done in numbers and not symbols, so you can figure out birthdate and that sort of thing before it is translated.
What most people get right away is the date born and orphanage she has been living and pictures. When their Fed Ex packet arrives (usually the next day) they see all of the multiple choice questions and they learn something of temperament and developement.
Most don’t get the medical information until the translation is available.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Yosue! I was an exchange student to your Sweden in 1981! Still have connections with my host family who live in Vetlanda (southern) and Hjo. They’ve adopted two from Korea. Wish that the US had the same maternity/family leave benefits!
Katri
LID 9/9
June 28th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
Dutchmom2be huge congrats on your daughter :)
Everyone else deep breath this too shall pass and we
WILL have our babies soon I hope. :)
June 28th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
4emily-
ahhh thanks for saying ‘deep’ breath…i’ve been holding mine for almost 11months and counting. :)
LID 8.10
June 28th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
*obviously that’s just referral wait time…not considering the years trying to have children, etc, paperchasing, etc.*
June 28th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Thank you very much RQ for your detail answer… We may have to wait still one year before one of this referal is intended to us but when that happen I will want to see those chinese papers as soon as they land in the country!
And YES KATRI Sweden still give us about a year in maternity leave… three of them are compulsory to the father, the rest to share between the parent… I just hope that the wait does not become so so long that this benefits disappair before we get to enjoy them…
June 28th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Has anyone else heard about parents requesting a girl & getting a boy? I was wondering if they specified a girl or said ‘either’? I’m sure those were isolated cases but I’m curious if anyone else has heard anything…
June 28th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
It happened to us in 2004.
At least one family had it happen this time around.
It is rare, but happens.
LID 8/24
June 28th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
dutchmomtobe, oh my…what a blessing. CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU !!!!
waitingforallie, in my mind i am reallly pushing for august. if you think tg is humorous now just think how funny he will be when he and dw receive their referral. my fingers/toes/legs/eyes are crossed.
lid-8-8
June 28th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
Stinky news! Today I emailed my Agency to find out if they think an August referral is even a remote possibility for us with a 7/25/05 LID. Our program director says she has no way of knowing but that she doesn’t want me to get my heart set on an August referral. I’m so bummed — I really wanted her to say that it looked like a fairly good possibility. I know that she doesn’t really have ANY information from China, none of us do. Oh well!
June 28th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
zoesmama, i believe your agency does not want to give you false hope, they prefer not to predict. they want to be ’safe’ (just my opinion) HANG IN THERE !!! you may be surprised. best wishes to you.
lid-8-8
June 28th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
zoesmama
i am with jfkof3 on this one. I have said it before and I will say it again…I think that very few..if any..of the agencies know any more than we do. For what it is worth I would suggest that there is at least a 20% chance of you getting your referral at the end of July and a 90% chance that you will get it no later than the end of August.
With respect to Bright Outlooks, remember that their models are simply using past data to project future events, such an approach would not have predicted the current slowdown..the corollary of which is that it can’t predict a speed up either.
June 28th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
Dutch mum (as you are these days), I am really happy for you, and for your daughter to have found a family. Congratulations!
June 28th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Zoesmom,
I feel for you — we’re LID 7/26. We so want to prepare ourselves for an August referral, but based upon what our agency says (and one prediction on Bright Outlooks), it looks like September for us. I know that there is conflicting data out there and that the data may change over time (hopefully for the better), but I still won’t let myself “count” on anything (ok, to be perfectly honest, I kind of am “counting” on September-at-the-latest at this point — now I hope I didn’t jinx anything).
It’s soooo hard being so close and yet so far. And, this rumor-light point in the referral cycle is pure torture! I think we’ll have a better sense of timing in about two weeks or so (at least I hope so).
June 28th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
tgredthread….I hear you on years of ttcing…we had 7 years of ttcing before we got our now 36 month old. Then we had another 29 months….4 IUIS etc…uggh WE all just need our babies home soon so they can learn what family life is all about….heres hopeing it is SOON. :)
June 28th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Reymim32….you were referred a boy and requested either or a girl…ahhhhh don’t tell me that, we have special ordered stuff with Emilys name embroidered on it. yikes! Plus all the girly stuff…Lee Middletons doll yi ling, uggh….:)
Kath
LID May 15, 2006
Mom to 2 boys and waiting on our daughter:)
June 28th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Reymin32….were you a July Dragonfly by chance?
June 28th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
i agree it’s tough to know us late July/early august LIDs are “sooo close, but yet so far (mr. bond) *sorry movie reference mode again.
I counted business days from 6/29 to 8/10 (our day) and it’s only 31 days. scary! but yet it could be another 3…maybe 4 more months. where’s that little remote control Adam Sandler has?
anywho…the DW and I are doing the Sept referral mantra…and throwing in a good round of “we think they can, we think they can” for the CCAA. and zoesmama-definitely agreeing with everyone about the agency ‘playing it safe’. maybe it’s all to ensure at least alittle bit of suprise with the referral process….???
June 28th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
I am not a statistician, but my dh is and I finally got his calm, cool, things will happen when the happen self to look at the data. He ran his own model and his forecast was for a September referral for our August 24 LID. I believe this is in agreement with some of BrightOutlooks forecasts, as well as RQ. I can say that we aren’t running out and telling grandma that she will see her grandchild in November after travel or anything like that. I didn’t want to get a lesson on stats … didn’t do well in that subject in college … so I didn’t ask dh details. I personally don’t think there is really that much viable data out there to run really good stat models for our referrals. My hope is that the CCAA tries for a 12 month referral timeline.
Just my very humble opinion on my dh’s prediction! I take it for what it is worth … just fun when the numbers are good and yuck when the numbers are bad!! My guess is as good as anyone else’s who doesn’t work for CCAA!!!!
Peace to you all.
June 28th, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Leia, also had my math whiz dh look at stuff, and he thinks with LID 8-9, the latest we would see referral will be October, but thinks more likely Sept or Aug. Hope they are right!
June 28th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
Leia, smalltowngirl, tg, see i told you all we have a GREAT chance for August. we’ll have to wait (there is that word again…wait) and see the cut off date….gulp.
Leia, i love your name. do you mind telling me if you pronounce that like ‘Leah’. it is so pretty. thanks.
June 28th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
it´s the middleof the night over here but I can´t sleep. tomorrow (today actually) we will see her picture. and you know what the miracle is???? she already has the name we picked for her!!!
her name is FU, that was the name at the top of our list. But I can’t believe it until everything is safe and sure, until we hold her in our arms.
with a November LID things went much faster than expected, but with special need you can never tell. The person that visited her 2 weeks ago said: she is lively, happy, smart, healthy and a bit cheecky. She misses her lower left arm, which is exactly what we wanted so she is perfect!!!!
thanks RQ, and all the sweet women on this site for supporting me over the past few months.
I am speechless……….
June 28th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Yes, I was a July Dragonfly in 2004.
I also had embroidered things in 2004, a painted nursery, closet full of clothes and more! It was an unreal time.
June 28th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
Thanks everybody! I really appreciate your comments! I know our referral is coming…I want it now! LOL :) I went through withdrawl this afternoon — we had bad storms and my hard drive was fried. Had to borrow hubby’s laptop for my fix! LOL
June 28th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Smalltown … another math wiz dh … they are everywhere!
JFKof3 — Leia is pronounced like Princess Leia from Star Wars. I love the name, but it is really the name of my cat. I was trying to be sly and sneaky on this board.
Dutchmomtobe — I send many hugs to you. How exciting and wonderful. Congrats!
Okay so secretly I am really hoping for a September referral!! SSshhhhh.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
dutchmomtobe,
You are one special lady!!! :) I can’t wait to hear more of your story!
June 28th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
Leia, I don’t blame you, I’ve often thought it would be fun to be a cat for awhile. Saw mine jump straight up six feet onto our fence and said gee I wish I could do that. Saw mine curled up in the sunshine by the window on the back of a chair on my way out the door to work, and said gee I wish I could do that….
June 28th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Smalltowngirl—that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time! My friend just made me a homemade, asian-print, diaper bag. I had it on my table and went to put it away….it was a little heavy…..my cat is curled up asleep… Gee I wish I could do that! I’m not laughing a little….you, my dear, are a hoot. Soooo funny.! I needed a good belly laugh.
Katri
lid 9/9
June 28th, 2006 at 10:42 pm
Dutchmom2be….I am SO happy for you. Congratulations and be sure to keep us updated here. I certainly love living through the referrals of others for now :0)
June 28th, 2006 at 11:38 pm
ReyMim32 - Please more details…
Did you request boy or girl, or just girl?
June 29th, 2006 at 4:46 am
Since recent changes in the Adoption Act, UK referrals are sent from the CCAA to the DfES (which is the one and only agency in the UK to deal directly with the CCAA). They notify the adopters of their arrival, but the documents are then forwarded to Social Services/agency. we then have to make an appointment to see our Social Worker where the referral is discussed and the medical passed by the medical Officer. If you are lucky you may persuade them to photo copy the documents prior to your appointment! Real nailbiting stuff for us over here!
June 29th, 2006 at 4:52 am
Dutchmom2be congratulations. Must be a real realief after all this waiting ;)
also Congratulations to all the others that just had or are about to have their pictures.
Yosue, about the papers. I have been thinking, that maybe USA gets their papers sooner as theirs are partly in English which is their language while ours has to be translated to the third language? (Iceland here). We also have to wait while ours are translated but it only takes days as the parents to be have been adding an extra presssure to have the papers as soon as they arrive here…
June 29th, 2006 at 11:14 am
We requested a girl only. We had no clue that by requesting a girl only we could be referred a boy. Needless to say, when the call came we were shocked! Our son has been home with us for over 2 years now. We are currently waiting for our next referral. We don’t assume anything when it comes to referral possibilities anymore.
LID 8/24
June 29th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
LADYBUGINNEBRASKA - I joined the forum, so I think we can communicate there. If you join as the same screenname, I can send you my home email address.
I have to ask: what do people think is the situation with older children being referred? I am wondering if our daughter maybe was in a pool for domestic adoption, but then with the “shortage” was moved into the international pool. We are thrilled, but have people asking us why wasn’t she referred sooner? I like to think she had to wait for us! Also, our agency provided a translation of the medical report, but in no way did it cover all the documents that we received in the Fed Ex. Several pages just in chinese with dates (immunization records? dates of exam?). Did anyone receive full translations?