China Adoption

China Adoption Program Information

• China is a Hague Treaty country and is one of CWA’s most successful programs since China adoptions began there in 1993.
• Our China Program Director, Yu-Qin Jiao (Jane), is Chinese and has many years’ experience as a teacher, interpreter, and adoption travel specialist. She knows the Chinese adoption officials personally. Yu-Qin lives in China, which is a great asset to our China program, as well as to the families traveling there to bring home their children.
• CWA’s long-term experience and dedicated relationship with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has resulted in a stable, well-organized and dependable program.
• CWA provides humanitarian aid to China, including flood relief, orphanage assistance, clothing projects and more.
• The wait for a referral of a healthy infant girl is well over 40 months once your paperwork/dossier is received in China, and this wait time continues to grow longer.
• It is quicker for families of Chinese heritage and families adopting a special needs child, possibly 10-14 months total timing for these adoptions.
• For a non-special need, standard adoption, a governmental agency assigns referrals to families.
• With special needs or waiting child adoptions, families choose their child from our list of available children, our Hope Project photo listing of waiting children.
• Families can choose their child from the Hope Project list of children and then apply and begin the adoption process, or, families can apply with CWA, begin the paperwork process and then find their child.
• Post-adoption reports are required at 6 and 12 months after returning home, and must be prepared by a social worker.

Adoptive Parent Information

• Both parents in the age range of 30-49 can adopt non-special needs children.
• You can apply with CWA when the younger parent is age 29½.
• Parents age 30-54 can adopt special needs or waiting children.
• Parents age 55 or older can adopt older children age 8+ from our Hope Project list of waiting children.
• Parents must be married a minimum of 2 years if neither parent has been divorced.
• Parents must be married a minimum of 5 years if either parent has been divorced. No more than 2 divorces allowed per parent.
• China no longer allows single women to adopt, they make no exceptions.
• Family must have an annual income of $10,000 per person in the family, including the child to be adopted.
• Family must have minimum net worth of $80,000.
• China has very specific health criteria for adoptive parents that they strictly enforce.
• No more than four children in the home age 17 or younger. Exceptions made when adopting special needs children.
• China Adoption Questionnaire (pdf) »

Available Children Information

• Children are Asian, both boys and girls, ages 1-13.
• Non special needs adoptions allow girls to come home at 8-18 months of age. Youngest age is typically about 10 months of age.
• There are children age 1-13 with minor, with major, with already corrected medical issues, or with no medical issues on a secure, non-public website called Hope Project, here is our link Hope Project.
• CWA’s waiting child/special needs adoptions allows potential families to view the photo list of available children, submit family information to show eligibility, sign a confidentiality form, and then review a child’s medical information and photos for a set amount of time.
• Families can adopt one child at a time. With older children or more severe special needs families can sometimes adopt two Hope Project children at the same time.
• Children typically live in an orphanage, but foster care is becoming more common in some provinces, particularly for care of special needs children.
• Available children were typically abandoned, with the assumption it was due to legal restrictions on family size and/or a societal preference for boys.

China Travel: Plan A

Note: Plan A is required for all families doing their first China adoption. The only exception is if the family resides in China at the time of required adoption travel.

• $4650.00 for 2 adults traveling
• $2850.00 for 1 adult traveling

Additional people traveling are extra; more than one hotel room is extra. This fee includes 4-5 star hotels, most meals, ground transportation, most in country flights, guides, sight-seeing, airport taxes, and coordinator for official adoption process. Some waiting child /special needs child adoptions will require additional days in China and/or additional flights within China, which are not included in the above stated fees.

China Travel: Plan B

Note: Plan B is an option ONLY for families that have completed a prior China adoption OR for families that reside in China at the required time of adoption travel.

• $1000.00 fee for adopting from Guangzhou.
• $1200.00 fee for adopting from any other city.

This fee includes:

• Arranging the appointment with the Civil Affair Office for the adoption registration.
• Assisting the adoptive family with adoption registration at Civil Affair Office.
• Contacting the Children Welfare Center and arrange the time and place to meet the adopted child.
• Assisting adoptive family with notarization work at Justice Department office.
• Assisting adoptive family to acquire passport for adopted kid.
• Assisting adoptive family to complete required paperwork submit visa paperwork to Guangzhou American Consulate.
• A guide which will escort adoptive family to American Consulate to attend Oath Ceremony.
• A guide which will pick up adoptive child's visa from the Consulate the next day and deliver it to the family.
• An English speaking guide to do all oral translations during the adoption procedure and sending all adoption paper work to adoptive parents when it is done.
• Transportation to all government offices, pick-up will be from the hotel which the Beijing Woman Travel agency books for families using Travel: Plan A. If adoption happens in any city other than Beijing, the pick-up hotel site must be within the city. This transportation is only for adoptive parents or two adults and the adopted child. This transportation does not include others traveling with the family on the adoption trip.

Note: Adoptive family will be responsible for making their own arrangements as well as for the costs for their hotel, all meals, all sight-seeing, all in China air travel, all airport taxes, and all non-adoption related travel. If they choose to, adoptive family can arrange with Beijing Woman Travel (BWT) for help with bookings and can make arrangements directly with BWT for in China activities and guides.

Post-adoption Reports and Re-adoption

All foreign countries have a specific process regarding the number and frequency of legally required post-adoption reports. Most families choose to use the same social worker that writes the home study to write the required post-adoption reports. Currently, China requires that you submit at least 2 post-adoption reports, one about 6 months after coming home, and the second about 12 months after coming home. CWA post-adoption staff will be glad to work with the family and the social worker for directions and instructions on preparing these legal reports. Post-adoption reports are forwarded to CWA for submission to China, and this service is covered by the post-adoption administration and translation fee paid to CWA. Our post-adoption staff can help guide you on the re-adoption process, or check with your home study provider. Post-adoption reports and re-adoption are two issues to consider, to discuss with your home study provider, and to plan for in your adoption budget.

Estimated Expenses & Fees

For a list of all adoption expenses and fees associated with a China adoption, please click here »

Note: Due to the nature of international adoption, all information, contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Revised Feb 2010.