This came though from IAAP along with their latest listing of special needs kids from China, and I thought I should share it:

We know the desire of all families to get updated information on their children and to know where their dossier is in the approval process. We share that desire with you and pass along any information we receive to you as soon as we have it. However the CCAA is making it more difficult to receive any updates or other information about a specific case.

The CCAA recently stated the following:

1. They will not give any family an update on their child if the child's medical... more

There's adoption-related international news from all over, so here's some of it ...

Last week saw "Adoption Consciousness Week" observed in Philippines, and Holt International worked with the Department of Social Welfare's InterCountry Adoption Board in getting information out and about.

Hopefully, the Philippines will realize the need to immediately provide nurturing families for starving children rather than allowing their delayed development and consequential retardation in horrifying orphanages, hazardous streets and contaminating prisons. As of the... more

This year's Academy Awards will shine more than one light toward the plight of the world's children. As always, the "Best Documentary Short" category offers some of the best films made. "Recycled Life", the story of Guatemalans living in the garbage dump there is a nominee, and "The Blood of Yingzhou District" appears to be a worthy contender for the prize,... more

Reporters Without Borders has released their annual reports on press freedom in countries around the world, a clear indicator of what life is actually like in places from which we often only see glossy, sanitized and premasticated versions. This information gives a clue as to how accurate a picture we're getting of what's going on. Many countries and all regions have been looked at, but I'll concentrate here on those I know readers have adopted from ...

Starting,... more

If the new regs coming into play in adoptions from China impact your family, you may be interested in joining this new Yahoo Group.

They've been having some trouble agreeing on a name, but have settled on "People Redirected from China". Here's their self-description:

Ineligible to adopt from China? Welcome. Already have Chinese children but no longer orphan eligible? Again, welcome. Where ever you live!

From where... more

Continued from here ...

Astoundingly to me, the situation that has developed, one in which there are now far more men than women ... see this al Jazeera report for an idea of the present imbalance ... has not increased the value of females. One would think ... okay -- I think ... that with so few potential mates for heterosexual... more

Continued from the previous post ... Wondering about any possible foundations for circumstances that could lead to dying rooms and/or a shortage of girls, a glance at history was revealing. This is from the ancient Chinese "Book of Songs" and dates back to between 1000 and 700 BC:

When a son is born, Let him sleep on the bed, ... more

(Yesterday ... actually still today in some parts of the world ... 27 January, has been designated by the UN as Holocaust Memorial Day. I won't use up this space to rant over the fact that genocide is happening at this very moment while the UN scratches its collective butt and tries to come up with yet another snappy slogan instead of doing anything that would stop mass killings and horrendous suffering, but I will publish a blog I've been working... more

Continued from here ...

With demographers agreeing that as many as 60 million girls are presently 'missing' from the Chinese population, shouldn't everyone be asking: Where have they gone?

... demographers in China found a ratio of 117 boys per 100 girls under the age of 5 in the 2000 census. Thanks to China’s one-child policy, put into effect in 1979 in order to curb population growth, and a strong cultural preference... more

An opinion piece in the New York Times hits the nail on the head in regard to the proposed new adoption regulations coming up in China, supposedly imposed in response to a drop in the orphan population. While it's all well and good to want to think that a nation of 1,313,973,713 people would have the welfare of its small citizens at heart, this may not be the case on a planet we inhabit, and it could... more