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A CHILD'S DESIRE ADOPTION AGENCY
The victims are neither the political activists nor the religious dissidents who dominate the international debate over human rights in the People’s Republic; they are orphans and abandoned children in custodial institutions run by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. This report documents the pattern of cruelty, abuse, and malign neglect which has dominated child welfare work in China since the early 1950s, and which now constitutes one of the country’s gravest human rights problems.
There are over 15 million orphans in China. Most are healthy young girls, abandoned due to China's one child per family law. Although there are some missionary ran orphanages in China which are very good, most orphans end up in an institution with the mentally insane or in a state ran orphanage. Evidence shows that doctors systematically mis-diagnose mental illness in order to move children into mental institutions where they are literally neglected to death.
Others are neglected to the point of death within the state orphanages. Human Rights Medical records and testimony obtained by Human Rights Watch/Asia show that deaths at the Shanghai orphanage were in many cases deliberate and cruel.
Child-care workers reportedly selected unwanted infants and children for death by intentional deprivation of food and water a process known among the workers as the “summary resolution” of childrens’ alleged medical problems. When an orphan chosen in this manner was visibly on the point of death from starvation or medical neglect, orphanage doctors were then asked to perform medical “consultations” which served as a ritual marking the child for subsequent termination of care, nutrition, and other life-saving intervention. Deaths from acute malnutrition were then, in many cases, falsely recorded as having resulted from other causes, often entirely spurious or irrelevant conditions such as “mental deficiency” and “cleft palate.”
Sandra Moats has worked in Chinese orphanages since 1998. "The village orphanages are the worse. I have been in dying rooms, and dying orphanages. It is a nightmare that no human should have to live through."
For a more detailed description of human rights abuse in Chinese orphanages visit HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE
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ABOUT US
A Child’s Desire is a non-profit charity that provides grants for families seeking to adopt hard-to-place children, children with special needs and children over the age of eight.
A Child's Desire, Inc. is a non-profit organization {501(c)(3)} in the truest sense of the word.
It is solely volunteer-based. There are not any salaried employees or board members. Overhead is kept to a minimum. This is to allow all resources to be used for the primary purpose of facilitating adoptions through financial support.
The average adoption cost $18,000 to $20,000 domestically and $20,000 internationally. These costs include among others court fees, immigration fees, social worker fees, fingerprinting, bureaucratic fees related to the dossier, medical bills, travel, and translation.
For many potential parents, these costs can require taking out a loan or running up credit card bills, which take away from the resources that could be spent on the child once it is home. Even worse, these costs are enough to deter some prospective families from undertaking adoption.
Our goal is to help these families with the high expenses of adoption, so that more children can find homes. Please note that if you can't make a donation, there are many ways you can still help. You could order or renew magazine subscriptions below and 40% of your subscriptions will support adoption grants.
Contact us at A CHILD'S DESIRE
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CHINA INTRODUCES TIGHTER RULES FOR ADOPTION
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In January 2007 the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) reported that it had approximately 24,000 dossiers from families waiting to be matched with Chinese children. Based on this large number of applications and fewer children being abandoned, the CCAA has changed its eligibility requirements for parents to adopt from China.
According to a letter from the CCAA, the following changes will take effect for dossiers registered/logged in by the CCAA after April 30, 2007:
* Married couples only.
* Couples must be married a minimum of two years, and couples with prior divorces must be married at least five years.
* Both spouses must be 30–50 years of age (up to 55 for families adopting children who are older or have special needs).
* Applicants must be "physically and mentally healthy" as defined by the CCAA. Any of the following conditions may disqualify an applicant:
o A body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more (see this online BMI calculator), for either applicant.
o Infectious disease still at an infective stage.
o Mental handicap.
o Blindness or severe vision impairment.
o Inability to hear or speak, unless planning to adopt a child with the same condition.
o Afunction or dysfunction of limbs or trunk caused by impairment, incompleteness, numbness or deformation; severe facial deformation.
o Severe diseases that require long-term treatment and affect life expectancy, such as cancer, lupus, kidney disease, epilepsy, etc.
o A major organ transplantation less than 10 years earlier.
o Schizophrenia.
o Taking medication for severe mental disorders, including bipolar disorder and anxiety disorder, within the previous two years.
* In addition to the requirement for the family’s income to exceed $10,000 per family member (including the child to be adopted), the family’s net worth must exceed $80,000.
* Each applicant must hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
* The youngest child currently in the home must be over 1 year of age.
* Applicants must have no criminal record.
All previous qualifications, such as no more than four children in the home, are still in effect. We will explore whether the CCAA will allow exceptions for families adopting waiting children.
We strongly encourage all families interested in adopting from China—and may be affected by the above criteria—to complete their homestudies and dossiers so they can be logged in with the CCAA before April 30, 2007.
In addition to the new requirements, the CCAA application fee has increased by $210 for dossiers logged in after December 31, 2006. This fee is invoiced after your homestudy is complete and you begin working with WACAP’s China adoption staff.
International adoption is often subject to change but always focused on the needs of the child. WACAP has been finding homes for children for 30 years and has worked in China since 1990. Fortunately, in most cases, WACAP and adoptive families can adapt to changes as they occur and successfully complete their adoptions. The WACAP staff is here to help you as you move forward in your plans to adopt a child who needs a family.
Please contact us if you have questions about these changes. For further reading, please review these online newspaper articles.
Seattle Times, Dec. 20, 2006 (WACAP CEO Lillian Thogersen is quoted)
New York Times, Dec. 19, 2006
New York Times, Dec. 20, 2006
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CHINA ADOPTION WITH LOVE
China Adoption with Love, Inc. was established in 1995 in response to the increasing need for adoption services from China. We are accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA).
We are a licensed child placement agency in Massachusetts, a 501(c)(3) federal nonprofit organization and fully registered with the China Center of Adoption Affairs. We are also now licensed in Florida, Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut! This means that we are able to conduct home studies and post placement services only in those states, however, WE ARE ABLE TO PLACE IN ALL 50 STATES!
Our mission is to find homes for children. Each placement is a beautiful story from which we learn and grow. Although the job is not easy, we love our work more and more when we see our children blossom.
To establish or to expand a family through adoption is an important decision. Adoption is about love. The adoptive parents will receive it as well as give it. We believe that adoptive parents should be an integral part of adoption and get involved in all decision-making processes. Adoption should be a pleasant and satisfying process, not an ordeal.
As our agency's name indicates, we only place children from China. With great appreciation of American and Chinese culture, our philosophy and practice combine the strength of both. While the best interests of our children are our utmost priority and principle, they do not necessarily work against the best interests of adoptive parents. The quality standards for our services are: Being effective and efficient, personable and affordable.
We believe that it is important for adoptive parents to learn and to respect the children's Chinese heritage. It not only helps with the bonding in family, but also helps the children grow up in our "melting pot" society. We provide home study, placement, and post placement services. Throughout our services, we encourage parents to read about China, to join parents support groups and to take part in local Chinese activities. Our agency organizes a Chinese New Year Party every year.
China Adoption With Love, Inc.
251 Harvard Street, Suite 17 and 19
Brookline, MA 02446 U.S.A.
Telephone: (800) 888-9812, 617-731-5756 Fax: (617) 232-8288
Email: info@cawli.org
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Staff and orphans from Home of Hope
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HOME OF HOPE ORPHANAGE
WHAT WE DO
The Home of Hope is one of a very few foreign-run orphanages in China. Through a remarkable series of events (you can read all about how it happened in the story archives) we have been given the opportunity to love and care for the homeless children of GongYi.
The need is great. Since January 2000 we have already located over 150 orphans, and we know there are many, many more. These little guys and girls come from all kinds of backgrounds and have experienced terrible tragedies and hardships in their short lives. Without our intervention they have little hope of a future. Their choices are very limited if they even make it to adulthood at all.
Our desire is to nurture these children in an environment that will give them the opportunity to become upstanding, productive citizens with a knowledge of right and wrong and with good character. Without our help many of these kids would never even reach adulthood; those who did manage to survive would be destined to pick and shovel coal out of the mountains or scavenge for things to sell or eat. It is thrilling to offer them a better life, and to teach them about joy and happiness and eternity.
FACILITIES:
We have moved into our own, new facility on the outskirsts of Gongyi in a village called Li Gou. The children enjoy a large play area with a combination Tennis, Basketball and Volley Ball court. There is an expansive grassy area with plenty of trees, plants and flowers. The living quarters are in one large building with the girls on the second floor and the boys on the first floor. This building also houses two large class rooms / study halls, a computer lab, the Home of Hope offices, laundry room, staff living quarters and guest rooms for visitors. There is a seperate building which houses the kitchen, dining room, indoor play room with Ping Pong and other recreational facilities, another class room / study hall, a store room for clothing and other necessities and a security room where our on site security guard lives.
THE FUTURE:
We are presently working with the government officials of two different areas in China who have asked us to concider starting Home of Hope number two. We plan to do this as time and finances allow. The need is great.
WHAT IT COSTS:
In our current facility, the monthly cost of support for each child is approximately $85.00 US. This covers the following:
* House Rent/Mortgage
* Utilities
* Children's Entertainment
* Food
* Child Allowances
* Medical Care
* Education Costs
* Clothes
* Personal Items (ie. toothbrushes, toothpaste etc.)
There are other needs that we know will develop on a continual basis; ie. maintenance costs, toys, recreational expenses, and lots more. There will also be special projects that will incur costs on a one-time or occasional basis. For instance, because of our past relationship with SIAS University of Business and Management in Xinzheng (we taught English there for two years), we are able to arrange for some of our more advanced, third year students to come and teach English, Formal Chinese and Math to the children on weekends. During the summer months we have several of the university students living here full-time and teaching the children.
YOUR HELP IS WELCOME!
We don't want to make a big issue of asking for money on this website, but if you feel you would like to help us with a one-time donation, monthly sponsorship of a child, special project etc., please contact us at HOME OF HOPE
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Staff And Babies At "Love Without Boundaries" -- China
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LOVE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
We are a group of volunteers around the world who have realized that people who have a pure love for helping children can truly make a difference.
We all donate our time and gifts in an attempt to brighten the lives of some of the world's most vulnerable children. We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
MEDICAL
In 2006 we helped heal 370 orphaned children, giving them the best chance of being chosen for adoption. Typical costs for these surgeries are:
* Heart surgery: $4,000
* Cleft surgery: $400
* Hernia repair: $500
* Corneal transplant: $1,000
* Anal atresia: $1,500
Love Without Boundaries also sends medical teams to China. Volunteers donate their time and pay their own travel costs to help children receive surgery. The most recent cleft trip included over 70 doctors, nurses and other volunteers.
EDUCATION
Inside every child is the potential to impact the world. Love Without Boundaries currently sponsors the education of almost 200 children and teenage orphans throughout China from preschool all the way through college. Sponsoring a child in our education program begins at $10 per month.
Our Preparation for Adult Life Program equips teenage orphans with life skills needed for when they age out of the orphanage. The cost of this sponsorship is $20 per month. College sponsorships are also available for orphans who have passed the National exams. The cost of this sponsorship varies by University.
Our general education fund is used to expand our programs as well as to build new schools, renovate existing schools, purchase supplies, provide teacher training and other education-related needs. These funds are not divided between the schools equally, but rather spent where the need is greatest.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Heartbridge Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit
Providing Special Care for Fragile Children. A nine-bed unit for pre- and postoperative children was created to help kids build strength and foster healing.
Mobile Medical Unit
A pilot program providing a mobile unit to visit orphanages throughout Anhui province to assess the medical needs of the children and to provide much needed Physiotherapy to special needs children.
Adoption Grants for Children
In 2004 we began offering adoption grants, not to prospective parents …but to CHILDREN from China's Waiting Child program. When we hear of a “waiting child” who is due to have their file sent back, we offer an adoption grant in hopes that it will increase interest in the child. The right family just might be one who cannot afford all of the adoption fees.
New LWB Store
Please visit our new store. All of the proceeds go to help orphaned children in China, by providing medical care, nutrition, education, and foster care to some of the world's most vulnerable children.
Art Auction
Again in May, Love Without Boundaries will hold our "Born In My Heart" art auction. This is our tribute to the miracle of adoption and a benefit for Chinese orphans with heart disease. Last year's auction raised $60,000 and helped heal the hearts of 25 beautiful children. Their lives have been changed forever, and we hope that many of them will soon know what it means to have a family of their very own. This year, we hope to help at least 30 children.
David King CD for $15
Love Without Boundaries is thrilled to recommend David King's CD, "Same As Yesterday." The artist has graciously offered to donate $5 from each purchase to our Tuan Yuan adoption grant program.
Note Cards
Created for us by two young girls wishing to help fundraise, these festive cards are blank on the inside so you can personalize with your own message.
New CCAA Pictures
Photos of the CCAA Matching Room & Building.
Chinese Summer Camps
In 2006, we sent 200 Chinese professionals to 10 orphanage sites. This year we are adding two new camp themes to those of last year, an English language camp and a computer skills camp. We are looking for physical therapists, occupational therapists, professional musicians and artists to join our teams. Please contact us for more details on volunteering or how you can donate to our camp program to make lifetime memories for a child in China.
Love's Journey Book
LWB is excited to announce that we are beginning work on the second volume of Love's Journey. The first book raised over $100,000 of essential funds that were used to provide surgeries to orphans in China, help start foster care programs, and support other meaningful orphan projects. Families around the world submitted photographs and prose describing their experiences both before and after their adoptions from China.
Visit the website: LOVE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
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