
Post-Adoption Report Day!
POSTED MAY 10, 2017 BY NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION
The Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State has declared May 15th Post-Adoption Report Day. It’s an opportunity to highlight the importance that parents who have adopted through intercountry adoption keep their promises and submit post-adoption reports as they committed to during the adoption process.
Here are 3 simple reasons NCFA believes Post-Adoption Reporting matters!
– You promised!
As a part of the adoption process, you were entrusted with the care of your child and promised to share about their future experiences. While it is easy to forget about extra paperwork in the important work of caring for your children, we think keeping your promise to report back on the wellbeing of your child is critically important.
– It’s a great opportunity for reflection.
Post-adoption reports are a good time to do some reflection and assessment. Consider your reporting dates an opportunity, not an obligation. You can review and celebrate progress and milestones. Take a moment to consider what types of support might help your child (and you!) to grow and thrive. And consider what your goals are for your child and your family between now and the next reporting date. It’s also a terrific time to touch base with your adoption agency or other adoption professionals if you need any support. For some countries, you’re required to connect with your agency at this time anyway. It’s a natural and convenient time to touch base about any questions, concerns, or supports your family might find valuable.
– You’re helping to support future adoptions.
Post-adoption reports are one of the ways countries assess whether children are healthy, safe, and loved as a result of intercountry adoption. This information can be critical to deciding whether future children will have the option to join families through intercountry adoption or might otherwise languish in institutions or other impermanent situations.
So, what exactly is a post-adoption report? While the number and timing of reports required varies, generally the report’s goal is to discuss the child’s development and adjustment to a new family, home, and country. It’s important to pay special attention to the specific requirements in the country a child is adopted from. The type of information, how it should be assessed (through an agency or by parents themselves), and how it should be submitted can vary widely from country to country. Below, we’ve listed some basic information on several countries reporting requirements. If you have specific questions about what your reporting requirements are, we encourage you to reach out to your adoption service provider to learn more. Department of State also provides country specific information and can be contacted if you need more information.
Post-Adoption Report Requirements
We aren’t listing in detail all the country requirements, but wanted to give examples of some common countries of origin and their general guidelines, we’ve also linked through to more specific information at Department of State for each country. Of course, the best way to get information on what is required for your adoption is always to contact your adoption service provider and confirm what was required by the country at the time of your adoption and any other requirements the agency might have that you agreed to during the adoption process.
Bulgaria: 4 reports required. One every six months after adoption for first two years.
China: 6 reports required. Six months after adoption and at 1,2,3,4, and 5 years after adoption. First 3 reports must be prepared by the social workers who prepared the homestudy. Families may write last three reports themselves.
Haiti: 7 post-adoption reports are typically required. The first 4 must be completed with the adoption service provider at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after adoption. The last 3 reports at moths 36, 48, and 60 may be submitted directly to IBESR by adoptive parents.
To find the requirements for the country you’re working with, you can search here or contact our adoption specialists today!
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The Day I Met You: Caseworkers Watch Adoption Journeys Come Full Circle
Meeting the Children of GWCA and CAN
When working with children that need our advocacy, meeting them in person is truly one of the most life-changing experiences. From the moment that you hold them in your arms, your heart breaks for them and you know you have to do everything in your power to help them find the love of a family. Every day GWCA and CAN’s matching specialists advocate for kids, many of whom they have never met before. While it is always incredible to help a child find their family, nothing can compare to the moment when you see the same child you held in your arms in an orphanage finally uniting with their Forever Family.
We asked our matching specialist, Hilary, Meredith, and Heidi to reflect on a few of the incredible moments that they experienced while watching the adoptions of children they met come full circle.
GWCA and CAN are currently advocating for many Waiting Children who are in need of loving families. If you’re interested in learning more about these incredible kids or finding out how your family can be matched, visit our Waiting Child photo listings or contact our matching specialists today!
Visit GWCA’s Waiting Child Photo Listing!
From Haiti to Home
There are not many moments in your life where you truly feel the ground move beneath you. And, there are not many moments in your life where you can say that you directly impacted someone’s life and changed it for the better. As a matching specialist that is a feeling I often get to experience and it is nothing short of incredible. However, there are also moments when you get to meet a child face to face in their country and later see that same child come home with their forever family, and that feeling…well that is a feeling like no other. It is honestly indescribable.
I recently got to experience this feeling when one of my kiddos from Haiti came home. I met little E about a year ago and she was the caretaker of her creche. She loved to give everyone hugs and check on her crying friends. After spending a short amount of time at the creche little E quickly became one of my buddies. She would grab my hand and drag me from room to room and even jumped of my back for a photo op. This sweet little girl was full of personality and at the time was soft matched with one of my families. I could not wait to get back to Texas and call her mom to tell her exactly what her precious girl was like! Time passed, documents were approved, and I finally got to make the call that we as matching specialists love to do, “This is it. This is the call. You can go pick up your girl!” And, just like that, little E finally came home.
Once they were settled her mom called me to update me on how they were doing and that phone call went something like this, “Can you say hi Hilary?”, “Hi Hilary” in the tinniest and cutest little voice. It was little E on the other end of the phone. The sweet girl I met so long ago and now in her home with her forever family. I LOST IT.
International adoption is not easy. It is not easy for anyone involved in the process whether you are working on the adoption or adopting. But, these moments are what keep me going. These are the reminders of why I do what I do.
Meeting Lottie
Last summer, I had the amazing opportunity to fly to Chicago to meet the summer host kiddos that were flying in from Beijing. I will never forget the feeling of waiting at the gate with all of the families eager to meet the children they would be hosting for the next four weeks. For the kiddos that were going to be advocated for, I had the amazing chance to spend time with the kiddos at the airport to learn more about their sweet and incredible spirits. One little girl in particular, Lottie, captured my heart completely while we were waiting for her connecting flight. Even after a long and exhausting day of travel for the kiddos and the chaperone, she brought such joy and mischievousness to our little group. During the hosting session Lottie’s host family and I worked closely to find her a forever family, and now I am overjoyed to say that her family will be traveling to bring her home soon! I can’t wait to see photos of Lottie again, this time with a family to call her own.
An Indescribable Feeling
What does it feel like to meet a child in China who doesn’t think they’ll ever have a mom or a dad, brothers or sisters, a home, a family to call their own? What does it feel like to give them hope that one day you might help them find what they’ve always dreamed of? What does it feel like to talk to a family who wants that child they have seen on a photo listing, to help them start the adoption process, to see their family work for months and months and finally get to go pick them up?
I got to follow their journey, I got to see pictures of their Gotcha’ Day, and even better, I received a phone call from the family telling me that the child I had met one year before was on the other end of the line asking to speak with me.
What does that feel like you ask? It is indescribable! There are no words to describe that feeling. It takes your breath away. It punches you in the gut, but in the best way possible. You want to run and jump and laugh and scream with joy, but you also want to fall to the ground and cry because of how big, how huge that moment is. How can you describe being the catalyst for an orphaned child’s life being changed forever? How can you describe someone telling you that the photo or video you took in China is what made them fall in love with a child? The sheer weight of that knowledge is almost too much to bare! And yet it’s one of the most amazing feelings a person could ever experience!
A moment of silence. Then you hear the child pick up the phone. And then, “Hello Heidi? It is…” Breathless. Speechless. Silent tears stream down my face. There are no words to describe this moment. And there never will be.
*Note: For privacy purposes, the kids shown in the image above are not the kids featured in the post.
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Christina Has a $2,000 Grant!
Meet Christina, GWCA’s Sponsored Star for May!
Christina is an awesome little girl from China that is 7 and a half years old! Christina has cerebral palsy that appears to be pretty mild and only seems to affect her lower limbs. Christina can walk just fine by herself and can play just like any other child. She has good fine motor skills and her upper body and limbs work normally.
Christina’s cognitive abilities are at the same level as the other children in the orphanage. Her language is delayed and she can only speaks in short sentences. Christina does understand what other people are saying to her and she can follow directions when they are given by her caretakers.
Christina is very sympathetic to other children and when they are upset she will go to comfort them and try to help them calm down. Christina does get along well with other children and likes to play games with them. Christina is very outgoing with people she is familiar with, but she gets quite shy around strangers.
You can contact the China Home Finding Team at Great Wall if you would like to learn more about adopting sweet Christina. We hope we are able to find Christina her Forever Family soon!
As our Sponsored Star, Christina has a $2,000 grant available towards her adoption fees! If you are interested in seeing Christina’s file or learning how you can be matched with her, visit our China Waiting Child Photo Listing or contact our China adoption specialists today!
What is a Sponsored Star?
On the 1st of each month, Great Wall China Adoption will feature one of the kiddos from our Orphanage Partnerships as our monthly “Sponsored Star!” As our Sponsored Star, that child will be provided a $2,000 grant towards their adoption fees! Each of the kiddos selected will be a Special Focus child, meaning they have not found their Forever Family yet due to their age, or the degree of their needs. Together, we can find loving homes for these amazing kids!
We encourage any families interested in learning more about our Sponsored Star of the Month to visit our China Waiting Child Photo Listing, or contact our China Matching Specialists to learn how you can be matched today! Check back on the first of each month to meet the newest featured child!
Watch Christina’s video:
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Forever Family Found
Hooray! This #ForeverFamilyFriday we’re DELIGHTED to announce that a family has begun submitting their paperwork to bring this sweet girl home forever!
GWCA received this beautiful little girl’s file from one of our Orphanage Partnerships and were able to find a family that was ready to move forward with her right away. We are so happy that she is now one step closer to her Forever Family, and we are eager to continue following her journey home. Congratulations to her and her new family from all of us at GWCA and CAN!
China Waiting Child Adoption
Our China adoption program allows families to be matched with Special Focus children at any point in the process, making the adoption journey as a whole relatively quick! We receive new children’s files each week, both from our orphanage partnerships and from the Shared List, which provides our families with the opportunity to review multiple files until they find a child that they feel would be a good fit. Contact our China matching specialists or visit our photo listing to learn more about the kids that we’re currently advocating for!
Resources:
– Contact GWCA’s Adoption Specialists
– Learn more about GWCA’s Orphanage Partnerships
– Visit GWCA’s Waiting Child Photo Listing
– Learn more about adopting from China

Adoption Tax Credit
For many families, the cost associated with adopting a child or sibling group can be very discouraging. Even for families with the best of intentions and the purest of hearts, a lack of finances can mean the difference between providing a orphan with a loving home and turning a reluctant cheek to the overwhelming need. The Adoption Tax Credit has done so much to bridge this gap, and for that we are forever grateful!
With Tax Day quickly approaching and the issue of tax reform up for discussion, the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group has launched a “Thank You” campaign to remind members of Congress about the importance of the Adoption Tax Credit and the change it has brought to countless families. Click the link below to add your voice to their campaign to help get their message across!
“Did the Adoption Tax Credit help you build your family? Use our form to send a thank you letter to your Members of Congress for supporting the ATC!: https://secure2.convio.net/res/site/Advocacy…“
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Matching – We’re Here to Help!
Did you know? In China’s Waiting Child adoption program, families can be matched with a child at any point in the process. That means you can start submitting your paperwork for a specific child as soon as you’re ready to begin your journey!
Does this mean that you should wait to get started until you’ve found your child? Not necessarily! While there are many children listed on agency’s photo listings and advocacy sites, the reality is that we receive children’s files in a variety of ways, and many children will be matched prior to being listed publicly!
Whether your family is waiting to be matched with an LID child once your dossier is logged in or you’re looking for a specific age range or need, speaking with an adoption specialist and getting started may be the quickest way to find your child.
Once you’ve started your adoption journey and discussed what you’re open to with a China adoption specialist, we’ll keep you in mind every time we receive new files from an Orphanage Partnership or when requesting files from China’s Shared List. Since our Orphanage Partnerships send us files that they’ve just finished preparing, you may receive a file that has never been reviewed by a family before. That’s how the beautiful girl pictured in this post found her family!
Are you ready to speak to an adoption specialist about finding your child? Contact GWCA today!
Resources
– Speak to a China Adoption Specialist
– Visit the Waiting Child Photo Listing
– Learn more about the China adoption process!

New OP Files Coming Soon!
Spring is here, and that means NEW kiddos’ files!
Every year during spring time, GWCA’s Orphanage Partnerships summit NEW files of younger kiddos with more minor needs to our agency, and we are so excited to announce that we are expecting around 25 NEW files within the next month or so! While the majority of the needs that these children have are more minor, we typically see a variety of both Special Focus and LID files. Families that are interested in being matched with one of these younger kiddos with more minor needs should go ahead and contact our China Home Finding Team to find out how they can start the China adoption process.
If your family has already applied and started the adoption process with GWCA, you may be able to be matched even faster! These kiddos usually get matched very fast, so the sooner you get started with the adoption process, the sooner you can get matched with an adorable child who needs a loving Forever Family!
For more information on how you can be matched with one of the kiddos from our Orphanage Partnerships when we receive their files, contact our matching specialists today!
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5 Kids Home Today!
After two weeks of bonding with their new families and finalizing their adoptions in China, we are so excited to share that these five kids are coming home TODAY! This is the moment that these kids have been waiting for for as long as they can remember. It’s the moment when they are no longer identified as an “orphan” and they come to know the love of a family. Today these kids will step off of the airplane and start the next leg of their journey through life with their Forever Families.
Congratulations to all of these incredible kiddos form all of us at GWCA and CAN, and welcome home!
If you’re interested in learning how your family can be matched with a child through our China Waiting Child adoption program, visit our photo listing or contact a China matching specialist today!
Resources:
– Visit the GWCA Waiting Child photo listing
– Contact a China matching specialist
– Learn more about China adoption