As the wait in China adoption builds, and builds, and builds, families become ever more frustrated and confused. What causes a program which typically took under a year to catapult to such extreme timeframes? This is the question that kept me awake at night as we waited for our daughter to come home. Perhaps my interest has resurfaced in the last few months, because there seems to be no end in sight. I still pay attention, because I feel heartache for families in process. There is no way to find a reason with absolute certainty.
The CCAA indicated a few years ago, there is a decreased number of available children in orphanages as a result of “the development of Chinese society and an increase in domestic adoptions.” Such factors combined with a large number of dossiers have decreased the number of available children. I have several personal theories. None of these theories equate to a decrease in the number of available babies when considering the one child policy, a large gender imbalance, a widening gap between wealth and poverty, and traditions dating back thousands of years. Is it really feasible that a centuries old mindset will suddenly change in a span of five years? Yet, there are families who seemingly buy into this notion, contending the best place for a child is their native culture. This is a wonderful notion however is probably not based on reality.
Perhaps this wait has occurred because we are supposed to see a higher number of special needs children reach their full potential. Certainly a decade ago, three fourths of China adoptions were not special needs. I also constantly remind myself that any child saved, as small as the number are compared to previous years, is a life which will be allowed to reach its full potential.
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