CCAA Regulations effective August 1, 2001

CCAA Original Text

Evaluation

Questions and Answers Concerning Policies and Procedures

June 18, 2001

To the Adoption Organizations Concerned:

Recently, quite a few adoption organizations have written to and visited the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) and raised some questions concerning the policies and procedures in the field of adoption. Now we wish to answer the questions which have drawn general concern as follows:

1. Is there any age limit for foreign adoption applicants?

The Adoption Law of our country explicitly provides that the foreign adoption applicants must reach the age of 30; that is the minimum age limit for the adopters. Therefore, when submitting their applications to the CCAA, the adoption applicants should be 30 years of age. Where a couple adopts in concert, both the husband and wife should reach age of 30.

Although the Adoption Law of our country provides no upper age limit for the adoption applicants, proceeding from the principle that ¡°the adoption shall be in the interest of upbringing and growth of the adopted minors¡±, there shall be a reasonable age difference between the adopter and the adoptee. Practice has shown that the best adoptive age for the adopters is 30-45 years old. Adopters at such an age bracket are full of vitality, rich in experience of life, and rather capable of nurturing young infants. With this consideration in mind, the China Center of Adoption Affairs shall, therefore, give priority to the assignment of children around one year old to foreign adoption applicants under 45 years old; and assign, in general, children above 3 years old to the foreign adoption applicants who are within 50-55 years bracket. As to the foreign adoption applicants who are above 55, the China Center of Adoption Affairs shall refrain from assigning Chinese children to them for adoption, taking into account such factors as their physical status, their life expectancy and the reasonable age difference, etc. except for the adoption of step-children and collateral relatives by blood of the same generation and up to the third degree of kinship.

Both parents must be 30 or older, no exceptions.

Parents aged 30-45 will have first priority for infants.

Parents aged 45-50 are in a gray area, they may get infants if they are available but should be prepared for toddlers.

Parents aged 50-55 will likely get children aged 3 and up.

No referrals will be given if a parent is over 55.

It is not clear which situation applies if one parent is over 55 and the other is younger. I would guess, and this is only a guess, that no referral will be given. This situation needs to be clarified.

2. How many Chinese children can foreign adopters adopt at one time?

Foreign adoption applicants can only adopt one child at a time in China (with the exception of the adoption of twins or the siblings living in the same welfare institute).

Those foreign adopters who have already adopted one child and who wish to adopt a second Chinese child, may, in principle, do so only one year after the first adoption, by resubmitting adoptive applications and certified materials.

As has been stated before, only one child at a time, except for the rare case of twins or the even rarer adoption of siblings.

The second paragraph implies that parents must wait until one year after the first adoption before submitting a dossier for a second child.

3. Is there any limits to the foreign adoption applicants who have already had their own children to adopt children in China?

The CCAA shall give priority to the families who are childless or only have 1-2 children to adopt. As to the foreign adoptive families who have already had over 5 minors (5 inclusive) living together with their parents, CCAA shall not, in principle, make any arrangement for them to adopt children in China.

A newly documented limit for the number of children in the family. Families with five or more children need not apply for adoptions in China.

4. Can disabled foreigners adopt children in China?

The CCAA shall not assign prospective adoptees to mentally retarded and psychiatric disabled foreign adoption applicants. As to the foreign adoption applicants with other disabilities, the CCAA shall deal with each case on case by case basis. For those disabled who can look after themselves and have the ability of bringing up and educating the prospective adopted children, CCAA shall identify appropriate adoptive referrals for them.

CCAA will not refer children to a family with a parent with an active major psychiatric condition. The definition of a "psychiatric disability" is not stated.

My guess is that a condition that prevented a parent from working would fit this definition. How they would view a parent with, for example, mild depression being well controlled with medication, remains to be determined.

5. Can foreigners subjected to criminal punishment adopt children in China?

Whether or not foreigners have any criminal punishment constitute an important part for judging whether the adoption applicants have acquired the ability to raise and educate the adoptees. In general, the CCAA shall not accept adoptive applications submitted by foreign adoption applicants who have been subjected to criminal punishment. However, in the light of the circumstances, consideration may be given to those who have committed minor offenses and have really shown repentance and no longer committed offences ever since.

Any criminal record is bad. However if you got busted for a sit-in in the 60s and have a clean record since, you should be fine.

6. Can a single foreign adoption applicant adopt a child in China?

A single foreign adoption applicant meeting the adoptive conditions as set forth in China's Adoption Law, can adopt in China. But proceeding from the principle that adoption shall be in the interest of the upbringing and growth of the adopted minors, it would be best for the adopted children to live in a healthy perfect adoptive family with both parents. Therefore, the CCAA shall give priority arrangement to both foreign parents to adopt in China. We shall neither propose nor encourage adoption of children in China by single foreign adoption applicants.

In case of a shortage of children qualified for international adoption, CCAA will give priority to 2 parent families.

7. Can homosexuals adopt children from China?

The CCAA shall not identify prospective adoptive referrals for homosexuals. Legally, the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China recognizes only families formed by marriage of opposite sex and does not recognize the legality of homosexual families, and the homosexual families are, therefore, not protected by laws. From the Chinese medical point of view, the China Mental Disorder Classification and Diagnosis Standard classifies homosexuality as sexual obstruction, belonging to psychiatric disease of the kind of sexual psychological barrier. In terms of the Chinese traditional ethics and customs and habits, homosexuality is an act violating public morality and therefore not recognized by the society. In accordance with the principle that adoption shall not violate social ethics as set forth in the Adoption Law, foreign homosexuals are not allowed to adopt children in China.

This reiterates and expands the previously stated complete ban on adoption by homosexual persons.

8. Under what circumstances can foreign adoption applicants put forward their applications for expediting the process of their adoption?

Under one of the following circumstances can foreign adoption applicants put forward their application to the CCAA for expediting the process of their adoption through their governments or adoption organizations authorized by their governments:

1. Application for adopting sick and disabled children living in social welfare institution.
2. Application for adopting normal children above 3 years old living in social welfare institution by foreign adoption applicants under 45 years old.
3. Application for adopting normal children above 6 years old living in social welfare institution by foreign adoption applicants above 45 years old.
4. Application for adopting children of special needs referred by the CCAA.
5. One or both the foreign adoption applicants are Chinese of foreign nationality; or one of the couple is an overseas Chinese, the other, a foreigner.
6. Foreign adoption applicants who have continuously lived in China for more than one year for work or study.

To apply for expediting the procedure of their adoption, foreign adoption applicants shall submit their written applications through their governments or the adoption organizations authorized by their governments, which forwarded their adoptive materials.

These are easily understood although the difference between items #1 and #4 are not clear from this text.

Items #5 and #6 appear to be new categories for expedited referrals. It remains to be determined how CCAA will deal with a parent of mixed Chinese and *other* ancestry.

9. How does the CCAA handle an adoption application submitted by a foreign adopter?

After receiving the adoption materials of the foreign adopter, the CCAA shall accept and register the application, provided that all the materials for adoption are complete and the service fees are paid. It shall inform in writing within 30 days, the foreign government or adoption organization which have forwarded the adoption materials of the acceptance of the application.

This provides that agencies shall be officially notified of the receipt of a complete application within 30 days.

10. How long will it take approximately the CCAA from the time of accepting the adoption application to the time of issuing Notice of Coming to China for Adoption of Children?

The duration from the time the CCAA accepts the adoption application to the time it issues the Notice of Coming to China for Adoption of Children is restricted by various factors, such as the number of foreign adopters applications and the number of children who can be placed out for inter-country adoption; whether or not the adopters desire could be met; and whether or not the supplementary materials and the feedback of Letter Seeking Confirmation from the Adopters can be received in time, etc. At present, it will take the CCAA about 12 months from the time of accepting the adoption application to the time of issuing the Notice of Coming to China for Adoption of Children.

Answer: It Depends. As of summer 2001, about 12 months between arrival of the dossier at CCAA and sending of the permission to travel document.

11. How can a foreign adoption applicant apply to the CCAA for the suspension of adoption?

If a foreign adoption applicant wants to suspend the adoption procedures, the applicant shall notify the CCAA in writing through the foreign governments or the adoption organizations, which delivered their adoptive materials. The maximum period for suspension is 12 (twelve) months. If the suspension period has exceeded 12 months, the adoption shall be deemed as having been withdrawn.

A request for a suspension of processing must be made in writing by the agency. An application can be on hold for up to 1 year at which time it is reclassified as withdrawn.

12. How can a foreign adoption applicant manage to apply for withdrawing adoption?

To apply for withdrawing the adoption, the foreign adoption applicant shall notify the CCAA in writing through the foreign government or adoption organization, which have forwarded the adoption materials.

The written notice shall specify the full name of the prospective adopter, the time of submitting the adoption materials, the cause for the withdrawal, the number of the bank account of the adoption organization and the name of the account, etc. The notice shall be signed in person by the responsible member of the adoption organization or department. After receiving the application for the withdrawal of adoption by the foreign adoption applicant, the CCAA shall return the adoption materials to the foreign adoption applicant through the foreign government or adoption organization which have forwarded the adoption materials, and may return appropriate sum of the service fees according to specific circumstances of the management of the adoption materials in the CCAA.

A request for a withdrawal of an application must be made in writing and in detail by the agency. The dossier will be returned and a partial refund may be provided depending on the specific circumstances.

13. How to submit post placement report to the CCAA?

No matter whether an adopted child has been granted nationality of the adopter country, the CCAA requests the adoption organization to submit 2 (two) post placement reports on the adoptive family in the first year after the adoption of the child. The time for submitting the reports is one within 6 (six) months and the other, 12 (twelve) months after the adoptee has arrived at the adoptive family. In the case that the adopted child has not been granted nationality of the adopter's country within one year, the adoption organizations shall continue to submit post placement reports, once every six month, until the adopted child is granted nationality of the adopter's country.

Two post-placement reports are required, one at 6 months and one at 12 months post-placement, no exceptions.

For those countries where the child has not been granted citizenship in the new country within 1 year, post placement reports must be made every 6 months until the child is a citzen of the adopters country. This second section will not apply in the United States with one exception: If the traveling parent is a non-US citizen and the parent remaining in the US is a US citizen, citzenship for the child is not automatic until the child is re-adopted in the US. Reports must be made on this schedule until the readoption if finalized.

The above shall be implemented as from August 1, 2001.

To the best of our knowledge, dossiers received by CCAA before August 1 will be handled under the old rules. If you have firm information of exceptions to this, please email the webmaster (JimLWeaver@aol.com).