China

Overview

West Sands Adoptions is dedicated to finding families for orphaned children in China. We are one of the few agencies that are registered directly with the CCAA, and we have been placing children from China for 15 years. We are a full-service agency. We are available throughout the process to answer your questions and help you complete your dossier. Please don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions. We also encourage you to watch our China Adoption video, look at our China Adoption Trip photos, and read about the services we provide.

West Sands Adoptions can now place children through the China Special Needs Adoption Program! Read more below.

Adopting 2 Children: NEW!

The China Center of Adoption Affairs is seeking parents who are ready to open their home to 2 children, including at least one “special focus” child. A “special focus” child is a child who has been waiting for more than 2 months to be matched for adoption, or a child who is older or who has moderate to severe special needs. Parents could potentially adopt a healthy child and a special focus child, or a special focus child and a child with more minor special needs, or even 2 special focus children at the same time. There are hundreds of children in need of homes. Please let us know if you are interested in adopting 2 children at the same time.

Adopting a 2^nd Child with your Original Dossier: NEW!

The China Center of Adoption Affairs now allows families to use their original dossier for a 2^nd adoption, as long as they are matched with a child from the shared list of special needs children within a year after their first adoption was complete. Using the original dossier lowers costs and prevents having to re-do time-intensive paperwork. If you have adopted from China through West Sands in the last year and are interested in adopting a special needs child (most likely a “special focus child”), please contact us about this option.

China Special Needs Adoptions:

West Sands Adoptions is pleased to be able to offer our clients high-quality adoption services in conjunction with China’s special needs adoption program. Although wait times for healthy children from China continue to rise, the wait time for a child with special needs can be six months or less if your paperwork is already ready. Boys and girls are both available in the age range from about 1 year to about 12 years. Children with all kinds of special needs are waiting for adoption. Common special needs include cleft lip and palate, heart conditions, vision and hearing impairments, missing fingers and/or toes, other limb deformities and other diseases and conditions. Some of the needs are fairly minor, but parents should be prepared to handle at least some type of special need. Please contact us for more information about this program at trina@westsands.net.

Requirements for all China Adoptions

Who can adopt from China?

• Only couples may adopt. All parents must be between 30 and 50 years of age when their dossier is sent to China.  For special needs adoption, parents can be no older than 55.
• Couples must have been married to one another for at least 2 years (5 years married to each other if either has a previous divorce).
• Couple must both have at least a high school diploma.
• No one with a criminal record can be considered.
• A couple can have no more than 4 minor children already living in the home.  However, for special needs adoption, the CCAA may allow you to have more children, as long as your family meets the income and financial requirements.
• The family’s youngest child must be older than 1 year old.  However, this is not as big a factor if you are choosing to adopt an older child or child with special needs. Generally, the CCAA prefers for there to be at least a year in age between children in the family.
• Both applicants must be healthy by CCAA standards (neither is taking anti-anxiety medication, neither has a body mass index of 40 or higher, and neither has a history of cancer).
• Families can potentially adopt 2 children at the same time, as long as one of the children is a “special focus” child, meaning a child who has been available for adoption for more than 2 months, or who is older, or has moderate to severe special needs. There are many children available! Families need to understand that if they choose to adopt 2 children at once, those would almost always be non-biological siblings. The CCAA requires payment of registration fees, orphanage donation, and local provincial governmental fees twice when adopting 2 children. However, a family may save on travel costs by adopting 2 children at once. Families could also choose to adopt one child and then be matched with a 2^nd child within a year of adopting the first child without having to submit a new dossier to China.
• China requires a minimum annual income equally $10,000 per person living in the home, including the child you are adopting. Example: If you are a married couple with 2 children already in your home, you must make an annual income of $50,000. Families with incomes below $40,000 cannot be considered.
• A family’s net assets must equal or exceed $80,000.
• All applicants must wait 1 year from a previous adoption before submitting a dossier to China.   However, the CCAA now allows families to use the original dossier a 2^nd time within a year of the first adoption, as long as the family is adopting at least one “special focus child.”
• Families who already have a dossier in China through West Sands Adoptions may choose to have their dossier transferred to our special needs adoption program. At this time, the CCAA has asked West Sands to limit new China applications to Utah families only, where we can also provide the home study for new cases.

The Children

• Children in China’s special needs program range in age from just under a year up to about 13 years.  You can request a child “as young as possible”, but please keep in mind that that you may need to be willing to accept a child a little older than you requested.
• West Sands Adoptions is no longer accepting new applications for families hoping to adopt a “healthy child” from China.  If you are open to a child with any special needs, please let us know.
• Most of the children that are available for adoption in China have been abandoned. There is no record or trace left behind by the birth family. These children are raised in welfare homes and some of them are put into foster homes.
• The stereotype is that most of the children adopted from China are girls. However, many boys are currently available.  Please let us know if you would be interested in adopting a boy, ages 0-13, with minor or correctable special needs.

Homestudy

Every adoption requires a homestudy. We have more information at our Adoption Homestudy Information page.

More China Resources

You can find many more resources about adoption from China at our China Adoptions Links page.

West Sands and Cooperative Agreements

Although in the past West Sands Adoptions has partnered with several other agencies to make programs available through your local agency, we are no longer able to do so. Any future adoption programs offered through West Sands Adoptions will be offered independently.

At your request, West Sands Adoptions will gladly make available the following information: (a) the number of our adoption placements per year for the prior three calendar years, and the number and percentage of those placements that remain intact, are disrupted, or have been dissolved as of the time the information is provided; and (b) the number of parents who apply to adopt on a yearly basis, based on the last three calendar years. West Sands Adoptions places “Waiting Children” through China’s program of adoption for special needs and waiting children. However, we do not have our own list of waiting children at this time. Parents who apply for adoption through programs with West Sands Adoptions will not be referred a child for placement until a child becomes available through the appropriate Central Authority in the child’s country of origin.