Official IAFQ Members / Process of Application

Last month I wrote that we sent off our application and cheque to join IAFQ. I received a welcome email a couple of weeks ago, and then yesterday we received an official letter and a copy of their March magazine. It was exciting reading through the magazine, as a large portion of it is devoted to couples and families sharing their adoption stories and journeys. I cried a few times as they spoke of receiving 'the phone call' and then again when they described meeting their child for the first time.

I must admit it was a little disheartening to read the waiting times for many of the couples - 5 years, 7 years.... None of the stories were about children from China, so I can only hope and trust that the reply I got at the Dept session was correct - I asked if it was reasonable to allow 2-3 years from application to hand over and was told that was correct. Unlike other countries, China doesn't have a quota for how many babies will be available for adoption in Australia. However, because it is Qld's largest unit (ie. most number of applicants are for China and this is also increasing), everywhere I read seems to say that the waiting time is only set to increase.

We really need to get a wiggle-on and get our expression of interest officially in. Applications are processed chronologically - unlike last time the Expressions of Interest window opened and they waited until the end and then sorted through them all. Once the application is in and our eligibility has been determined, we are sorted into different categories of priority. Firstly, couples who are of the same heritage as the child they wish to adopt are given first preference to progress their application. Secondly, parents who have already adopted a child inter-country are processed. After that, couples who have experience working with children are processed, followed by everyone else. Apparently the great majority of applicants fall into the third category, which is where we fit.