China
1. What are the eligibility requirements?The United States Department of State website posted the following requirements for inter-country adoption from the Republic of China, which take effect on May 1, 2007.
- Adoptive parents must be married for at least two years (marriage is defined as between a man and a woman).
- If either the husband or wife has been divorced, the prospective adoptive parents must be married for at least five years. You may have no more than two divorces.
- Adoptive parents must be at least 30 years old and under age 50.
- Adoptive parents must be physically and mentally fit and must not have any of the following conditions: ADIS; mental disability; infectious disease that is actively contagious; blind in one or both eyes; hearing loss in both ears; non-function or dysfunction of the limbs or trunk caused by impairment; severe facial deformation; severe disease; major organ transplant within ten years; schizophrenia; on medication from ore thatn two years for severe mental disorders such as depression; and a body mass index equal forty.
- One of the adoptive parents must have stable employment.
- The family’s annual income must be $10,000 for each family member in the household including the adoptive child.
- The value of the family’s assets must be $80,000.
- Adoptive parents must be high school graduates or have an equivalency.
- The adoptive parents must have fewer than five children in the family under the age of 18 years, and the youngest one should be at least one year old.
- Adoptive parents may not have a criminal history.
- Adoptive parents should not have any history of domestic violence, sexual abuse, child abuse or drug addictions.
- If there is a history of alcohol abuse they must show they have been sober for at least ten years.
2. What are the ages of children available to adopt?Chinese law allows for the adoption of children up to and including age thirteen. Generally, the youngest age is a toddler.
3. What is the time frame to complete an adoption?It is difficult to predict. We estimate between one to two years. Adoptive parents must travel to China to complete their adoption. If travel is an issue, only one member of a married couple must travel. The average length of stay is approximately three weeks.
