The Children Who Need Families: Each waiting child has an identified special need(s) or is an older child.  A profile of each child is available and generally includes: photographs; available medical and developmental information; and specific information regarding the special need(s).  Whenever possible, we also attempt to obtain additional information regarding the child's need, developmental history and other relevant information.  If you or your medical professional wishes additional testing or other information, we will make every effort to obtain the information.  Please click here for all available information about the children who wait.  Here you will also find links to all necessary applications and other paperwork necessary to apply to adopt one of the children.   Please contact Amanda Young at 610-688-8008 with any questions you may have.

General Health of the Children:  In addition to the identified special need(s), all children are at risk for minor medical conditions such as colds, respiratory or ear infections, and rashes.  Hepatitis B is common in Asia and national statistics show that approximately 5% of Asian children adopted by U.S. citizens have later tested positive as carriers of Hepatitis B.  Additionally, as with any internationally adopted child, there may be emotional, developmental, medical or other challenges that face the child and family outside of an identified special need(s).  Most children who receive the attention of a loving family and appropriate nutritional, medical and developmental care, can usually catch up quickly and thrive.  La Vida provides comprehensive health and developmental resources to all families and encourages each family to extensively research health conditions, both general and specific, and to utilize medical experts and professionals to guide in all decision making.

Family Eligibility:  Due to CCAA's policy, we are only able to work with families who do not yet have a dossier submitted to China through an agency other than La Vida.  China has been the country placing more children internationally for adoption than any other foreign country and the number of adoption applications has been rising dramatically over the past years.  As a result, the waiting times for the adoptive placement of a child in the non-special needs program have risen steadily.  In an effort to reduce the number of adoptive parent applications, the Chinese government, is now more carefully screening and evaluating all prospective adoptive parents in an attempt to select what they believe are the most qualified parents possible to adopt children.  "Preference" or "priority" is now given to prospective adoptive parents who meet China's adoption regulations and who also fall within published additional evaluative criteria and qualifications.  The date when the higher level of scrutiny took effect was May 1, 2007.  At this time, we can only accept new applications in the Special Waiting Child Program from families who meet CCAA's new parent eligibility criteria. 

The Adoption Process: With the help of La Vida, families identify a child or children in whom they have a preliminary interest.  After receiving child-specific profile(s), pictures and health information, families are required to consult with their own medical professionals to better understand the child's health status. As soon as a family wishes to pursue the adoption of a specific child, a formal application is made to La Vida and La Vida will assist you in submitting an application for pre-approval by the foreign country. 

While you await approval of the child specific preliminary application you will be working in parallel to complete a dossier (country application).  The general steps in creating a dossier  involve making application to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); participating in a home study process; and compiling documents for a dossier (country application).  The last step in the preparation of your dossier is to obtain certification and authentication of each dossier document, which La Vida will do for you.  For a family that has not begun any of the above steps, obtaining the appropriate approvals and compiling a complete dossier generally takes between 4 and 5 months.  Travel permission is then generally issued 3 to 4 months after the submittal of your dossier to the child's country.  

As soon as final paperwork has been received by the foreign country, La Vida will schedule your trip to travel to complete the adoption of your child.  Your adoption will be legally finalized in the foreign country and it is fully recognized here in the U.S.  If you are married and only one spouse travels to complete the adoption, a simple re-adoption in the U.S. will be required.  After you return to the United States, 2 post placement visit are required which are detailed below.

Because an identified child is waiting, families in this program will be required to adhere to reasonable time frames for completing paperwork which is within their control. 

Time Frames: Upon identification of a child and acceptance of your preliminary application by the foreign country, the time frames depend upon the status of your dossier.  Families who do not yet have a dossier completed will require 4-5 months for dossier compilation.  As soon as your dossier is received by the foreign country,  it is estimated that within 3-4 months all necessary paperwork and processing will be completed and travel permission can be issued by the foreign country.  Families who do have a dossier which has been completed but not yet through the "review" process at CCAA can expect to wait 1 to 2 months for approval of the child specific preliminary application and then 3 to 4 months for issuance of travel permission.  Families whose dossiers were submitted by La Vida and which were through the review process at CCAA, have waited as little as 6 weeks to receive travel permission (from submission of a letter of intent to adopt).

Travel to Adopt Your Child: Travel to the foreign country by at least one parent is required.  Friends or family may accompany the adopter(s).  Children of adopters are always welcome to travel with parents.  The length of stay is usually about 10 days.  In general families in this program travel individually and are fully guided during the in-country trip.  La Vida makes all travel and accommodation arrangements and all families are escorted and supported through the in-country process by our representative and local guides whether you are traveling with a group or not.  La Vida provides families with full preparation for travel including what to expect each step of the way, general information about international travel, the culture in your child's country, your child's adjustment, and what to take along with you.

La Vida's Representative in Asia: La Vida has experienced representatives in Asia who are managed by our primary facilitator.  He has been helping families to adopt children from Asia for over 15  years and during this time he has guided well over 2,000 families during their trip to Asia.  Our representative and those who assist him have established working relationships with foreign country authorities and expertise in the adoption process.

Post Placement Requirements:  Two post-placement visits at approximately 6 and 12 months after return to the United States are required.  The purpose of these visits is to offer support to your family if it is needed and to gather basic health, development and adjustment information about your child.  This information is sent in a report to the Asian adoption officials to assure them that the children who have come to the United States are healthy, happy and thriving with their new families.   Additionally, because of the importance of the child's special health condition and requirements of the foreign, each family is required to provide information about the child's general adjustment, health status and photographs for an annual report due during the year that the adoption is completed. 

Program Fees:  Fees to adopt a child through the Special Waiting Child Program generally follow that of a regular international adoption program.    Please click here for a current fee schedule.  Adoption of a child from Asia is one of the least expensive international adoption programs available today. 

How Do I Apply To Adopt A Waiting Child?: After reviewing all available medical information provided by the child's country of origin and consulting with an appropriate healthcare provider (required), your application may be sent to La Vida.  A standard agency application, a supplemental (child specific) application, two executed service agreements, a completed certificate of financial status and an initial fee of $2,500 is required.  If for any reason your application is not accepted, your initial fee of $2,500 will not be charged to your credit card or, if paying by check, your check will be promptly returned to you.

Applications are considered in the order that they are received and our primary goal is to unite a child with a family as quickly as possible.  If multiple applications are received on the same day, all will be considered.  Children cannot be held for families considering making application.  Your application will be promptly reviewed (usually within 2 business days) and a decision will be sent to you the same day.