Today is July 7, 2017. Two days ago China issued a statement from the government authorities that control international adoption in China. The statement was a list of restrictions regarding who could adopt a child from China. Earlier this year they declared that NO WAIVERS would be granted- for any reason. A few weeks ago they announced that they were dissolving all orphanage partnership with U.S. adoption agencies. (our agency had 13) And now, this. The restrictions dealt with prospective adoptive parent’s financial situations, health, size of family, marital status, educational background, age of current children in the home, timing of previous adoptions, moral character, and other things relating to adoption experience and adoption paperwork. These restrictions were on top of an already detailed and restricted list of criteria for any person wanting to adopt a child from China. This was declared on July 5th and said to be effective immediately. As in, July 6th. No exceptions, no waivers. No time to phase into these new realities. Immediate.
The last 2 days have been very anxious and emotional days for the China adoption community. Many families in process sat on pins and needles waiting to hear if these restrictions were going to be applied to them. They sat wondering if they were far along enough to be somehow “grandfathered” in. Some knew immediately their dreams of adopting a child from China were over. Some of those people already know the child they were pursuing but because they have too many children at home they no longer can bring that child home. And they will live knowing that child will likely live out their childhood in an orphanage- never knowing the love of a family and what it means to belong. There are many families who are not in process but grieve this new reality- this closing, just a bit more, the door to China adoption. They grieve the children who will not ever have a family as a result of these decisions.
I have been an the edge of fear and panic for these 2 days for what this might mean for us. And grief for all that can no longer be for so many children. When we read these new restrictions we were in clear violation of one of them. The new rule says that the youngest child already in the home must be 3 years old. Well, Noah is only 2. He will not be 3 until March. Also there were a couple of paperwork questions, and it has not yet been a year since our previous adoption. (it will be by travel- but it’s not now). So I followed every post all over China adoption Facebook, emailed by caseworker multiple times, cried, prayed and waited.
We got the official word today: we are being “grandfathered” in. We are moving forward. Why? Well basically because we have PA (pre-approval) and we are LID (Logged-in the Chinese system).
The real reason for this post is this: I want to have a record of the events that led us to being “grandfathered” in. The small details that turned out to the the foundation for this adoption being allowed to continue and Judah coming home.
The last week in May our caseworker sent me an email and said, “I have a file of a little boy with thalassemia. You said that you “may consider” thalassemia in your special needs consideration list. Would you like to see his file?”
To which I replied, “sure.” This wasn't really in our plans. We were working toward getting matched in the same way we did with Noah. Getting logged in and then waiting for a more minor needs child to be presented to us. At the absolute earliest we thought we might be shown a file by this fall to consider. But we were actually considering specifying a girl and that would have change our timeline a lot. We would likely not have been given a referral until sometime in 2018. So when she sent me the file, I assumed we would likely think the special need was bigger than we could handle. But nothing could be further from how we actually felt reading his file. When I opened the file and saw his face, I knew, I was looking at the face of my son. As I read the file and researched thalassemia I felt peace, complete peace. We asked hard questions, we researched like crazy, we consulted with medical experts and still, peace. We knew this was our child and moved forward quickly. A few days after receiving the file we accepted it excitedly and sent an official letter of intent for our son.
We received pre-approval from China June 16th.
Our Dossier was sent to China on June 22nd.
We were logged-in on July 4th.
On July 5th China announced their new restrictions.
And we are safe. Our adoption will move forward. Even though we do not meet the new criteria our Judah is going to come home.
I believe that our God has sovereignly worked in every single step and the timing of each. This unexpected file, this rapid pace we are suddenly experiencing is no surprise to our God. No, it was his perfect plan to bring us to Judah and that sweet boy to us.
Isaiah 43 is impacting me deeply today. Just listen to some of the things God says in this one chapter of the bible:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine.” (vs 1)
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west…” (vs5)
“Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (vs 6,7)
“You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, that I am God. Yes, and from the ancient of days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” (vs 12, 13)
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (vs 19)
And Psalm 33 brought me comfort yesterday:
“The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” (vs 10,11)
At this point our best guess is that we will travel this fall. As early as September but likely sometime in October. I submitted our application on February 14th of this year. If we travel in October our entire adoption will have been 8 months from start to finish. That was not our plan. But we are learning in every single step of this life journey with our Lord that his plans far far greater than what we can dream up for ourselves.
I write this post to document God’s sovereign hand and miraculous working to bring Judah home. I want Judah to be able to cling to these facts but more than that I long for him to cling to the one who has always had his life held firmly in his hands. God formed Judah in his mother’s womb and has firmly and gently held his life secure for every moment since and will carry him until his final breath. We are rejoicing today that the Lord’s plans stand firm forever. We rest believing that no nation, or decree, or will of man can ever stand against the good purposes our Lord has for our little boy.
