23 July 2010: China update

The Department has been advised by Bridge of Love Adoption Service (BLAS) that there has been a fee increase. The donation to the orphanage should be 35000 RMB. The registration, notarisation and passport fee amount is different in every province, but the total amount of these three items will not be more than 5000 RMB. Regarding the visa fee, you can check this on the UK in China website or call 40088 55899. For further information you may wish to download the information sheet on adopting children from China from the associated resources on this page. 

18 June 2010: China update

The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) introduced a new online system for its Special Needs programme in 2009. The new system requires the adoption agency in the state of origin to facilitate the matching process, although we understand that the rest of the adoption process remains unchanged. The adoption agency must first be registered for the Special Needs programme with the CCAA. The Department has discussed the new system with the CCAA and a number of voluntary adoption agencies and local authorities. At present, no agency is in a position to undertake this function and register to operate this programme. The Department is not an adoption agency and cannot undertake this function. As such, the China Special Needs programme is not available to UK adopters at this time.

12 November 2009: Departmental meeting with the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) on 15 October 2009

Following a positive meeting with the CCAA in April 2009, the Department met the CCAA again on 15 October to continue to discuss a number of areas of work and outstanding issues.

Key issues:

  • The CCAA confirmed that the number of domestic adoptions in China is increasing. This is thanks to the country’s rapid economic growth and Government intervention with plans for the treatment and rehabilitation of children with special needs.

  • The CCAA confirmed that at present there are 30,000 families awaiting a match in China and, because of the decrease in the availability of healthy children, some of these families are transferring to the special needs system waiting list. It is unlikely that the waiting time for the main list will reduce.

  • The change to procedures on the timing of the issue of the 17(c) agreement came into force on 23 October. If your application is affected by this change, the casework team will explain this to you and your agency. It means that the 17(c) agreement can be issued before you travel to China to meet the child, but you should still continue to liaise with your agency when you have met the child, and confirm whether you wish to proceed with the adoption.

  • The CCAA confirmed that they recognise that occasionally a match is not satisfactory. If the prospective adopters decide not to go ahead with the adoption once they have met the child, they should notify their adoption agency immediately to notify the CCAA. The CCAA confirmed that in these circumstances they would usually put forward an alternative suitable match.

  • The CCAA has requested that post-placement reports are written and submitted by the social worker and not by the families, and that the reports have to comply with the standards set by the CCAA. For more details, please visit the CCAA website. The Department is following up outstanding reports with agencies.

20 May 2009: Outcomes of Departmental meeting with China Centre of Adoption Affairs

Department officials met with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) on 2 April 2009

The meeting was positive, and valued by both the Department and the CCAA. As a result, we believe we are making progress in reaching agreement with the CCAA in a number of areas on the process of adopting from China for UK prospective adopters. These are set out below.

Waiting times for referrals and access to CCAA system on case progression

The CCAA confirmed the information held on their database that the waiting time for an application to be matched with a child is currently 36 months. The CCAA is aware that waiting times are a concern for prospective adopters in the UK but cannot predict whether or not this will change as the waiting time will depend on the numbers of prospective adopter applications in the system and the numbers of children available for adoption. The CCAA also confirmed that the number of domestic adoptions within China is rising.

However, the Department has negotiated access to the CCAA database and will be able to provide updates on the timescale for UK prospective adopters on this website.

In addition, full access to the CCAA database has been negotiated. This will enable the Department to notify prospective adopters on an individual basis of their login dates. Please note that this service only applies to those applications sent to the CCAA from November 2009 or thereafter. We will contact prospective adopters individually as soon as the facility is operational.

Children with special needs - CCAA online system

The CCAA has introduced a new online system for matching children with special needs, having completed a pilot of the system with selected overseas agencies in March 2009.

The CCAA confirmed that the previous system, whereby prospective adopters could directly specify a wish to adopt a child with special needs, ceased in March 2009.

The CCAA explained that, under the new programme, children are identified that may be ‘older than 6 years and/or have mild or severe health difficulties’. Information is given to adoption agencies who propose families for matching to take place.

The CCAA indicated that, as a result of the March pilot, there are currently no children with ‘mild disabilities’ available for adoption.

The Department is currently exploring the feasibility of negotiating access to this system (for which there is a fee) and how it can be made to work in practice, as the process is different. We expect to consult shortly with adoption agencies for prospective adopters who have been approved as suitable to adopt a child with special needs from China by their agency.

We are also seeking clarification about what this means for those applications already registered before March 2009, and will contact those prospective adopters who are affected by the change.

Tainted milk

The CCAA confirmed that in 2008 they conducted research with the orphanages they work with and found that very few of the orphanages had used the affected milk products. The Chinese government had also provided free medical checks for all children. As a result of these checks, the CCAA is able to give assurance that children available for adoption have not been affected by tainted milk.

Post placement reports

The CCAA attaches great importance to the provision of post-adoption reports, and asked us to clarify for prospective adopters and agencies the format and order of the reports as set out in the post placement report template and on the CCAA website. The CCAA noted that the final report is often not sent, or sent late, and asked us to remind adopters and agencies to submit these promptly.

Bridge of Love Adoption Service (BLAS)

The Department also met with representatives of BLAS, who asked us to inform prospective UK adopters of the services they offer, including the provision of the ‘root-seeking groups’ of events for Chinese children adopted overseas. More information is available on the BLAS website.