Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The good news and the bad news


Good afternoon~
We just got an email from our social worker letting us know we are officially DTC today. DTC is an acronym for dossier to China. In essence, it means our dossier is leaving our adoption agency and being forwarded to the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) in China. We are thrilled of this news.
So, what now? Oh how we wish the news was good. Quite frankly, it is beyond discouraging. Once the CCAA receives our dossier, they will log it in. That log-in-date (LID) is what starts the clock for us. Right now the wait between LID and referral is approximately 24 months. That timeframe could increase or decrease but the wait has been increasing for quite a while now.
Here's a little background to give you an idea of how slow things have gotten. On April 15, 2005 (2.5 years ago and one day) our dossier was sent to China for Lindy. Our LID was May 9, 2005, our referral date was January 25, 2006, and we met her on April 3, 2006. We waited 8.5 months for a referral. Believe it or not, the CCAA is still processing dossiers from 2005. They are FINALLY into December 2005 LIDs. In the 18 months we've had Lindy, a little over 6 months of paperwork has been processed.
Why so long? That is the question often posed to us. That remains a great mystery and we don't think we'll ever know the answer during this lifetime. There are probably several reasons that the wait has increased so significantly.
As crass and awful as it sounds, a lot of it boils down to basic economic principles of supply and demand. In other words, there are more people waiting to adopt than there are available children. Now that doesn't mean there are only a few children in the orphanages--there are thousands. However, so many (NOT ALL) of prospective adoptive parents are requesting non-special needs children who are as young as possible and these days there just aren't as many. That could mean more biological parents are keeping their children--no matter the gender, it could mean they are opting to pay the steep fines to have more than one child, it could mean there are more special needs children, and, sadly, abortion could be on the rise. There are some other reasons such as many of the orphanages don't participate in international adoption and children are being given away to family members rather than being abandoned.
We're torn about how to feel about this. In our hearts, we hate the fact that there are children in any country who are orphans. We don't "wish" for a big surge of healthy abandoned babies in China so that we can finally have our daughter. We know God led us to adopting Lindy and He has led us to China again. So, we will wait...
We believe God can do anything. We believe in his power and might. While we don't have the answers or know the reason behind the delays, we know He does. Our prayer is that God will affect some change in China and allow for this process to speed up by leaps and bounds. We know He can do it if it His will. We pray for all the children and for all the waiting families that it is His will. We ask you to join us in that prayer, as well.
We also petition your prayers for our patience and for us to remain faithful and optimistic about this long journey. There will be discouraging and disappointing days and days where we will question our decision. We know this. Please pray those days will be few and far between and for us to diligently pray for our daughter's birth parents, caretakers, and her overall health and safety.
Thank you with love~
Don & Lisa

13 comments:

Leslie said...

Well, first of all congratulations on being DTC, that is a huge accomplishment in itself! One huge step closer to Mei Mei. We continue to pray for all of the families who are waiting, it is just heartbreaking. We were right on the edge of the beginning of the slow down, we were logged in on 5/31/05 and got our referral April 06, we got Myah on June 6. We thought we would have her by Thanksgiving 05. God has a plan for us all, his timing is perfect. Even though it is easy to question at times, remain faithful that your day with your daughter WILL come! We will be here for you when "those days" creep up! Celebrate today!

forever sisters... said...

Congratulations Lisa! Just remember, the wait will be well worth it!

Your panda pal
Carrie in WI

DiJo said...

Lisa and Don!
We are and will be praying for you and Lindy's mei mei! We hope that we can be as much as an encouragement to you as you were to us during our wait for Ruby! Somewhere in God's big plan for your family is a precious new child of His that has been selected just for you! We can't wait to welcome her home no matter how long it takes!
Love,
The Rouse Family

myra said...

Lisa & Don,

Do you ever think "God, we've got this waiting stuff done and don't need a refresher course." :)

You are both some of the most patient and peace-filled people I know. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to be in your shoes. But I'm so glad you have such a strong support system through the other Gladney families.

We are praying for you as well.

Much love,
myra, patrick & morgandy

Anonymous said...

DTC! Whoooo HOOO! The paperchasing is done :)!

Praise and Coffee said...

Congrats! The Lord has your precious daughter in HIS hands! It will all work together for good.

Blessings and prayers as you wait,

Sue

Heather said...

Congrats for DTC!! Yippee - don't think you shoulder this wait alone - now, we all wait with you! God can and does do anything and everything, He has chosen your daughter and will have your steps numbered accordingly. We pray we are a source of encouragement and love as Mei Mei becomes a reality in your family.

With love and best wishes,
Heather and Gang!

Steffie B. said...

Congratulations......now the real journey begins! ;)

Sheri said...

Congratulations on being DTC. That is an important and big day in the adoption process. Can't wait for the news of your LID. As you said, God can do anything. If that is speeding things up in China or granting you the patience you need for the wait, He will provide. I'll be praying for a speed up! ;) I feel privileged to follow along on your journey to Mei Mei. I can't wait to see the wonderful things God has in store for your family.

Karen said...

Congratulations on being DTC! We are recently LID (10-9-07). I know we have a long wait ahead, but I know it will be worth the wait (please remind me of that in a year or two :). Congratulations!

Karen

Kristi said...

Congratulations on being DTC!

I know the wait ahead of you is long but you're one step closer today.

Karen said...

Lisa,

Thank you so much for your kind words. I know we have a long wait but truly believe that God has a plan and in his perfect timing we will get the daughter that is meant for our family. I look forward to getting to know you more during our wait. Hoping you get your LID soon!!

Karen

Dawn said...

Congratulations!! You're on your way!