I know you love pics...

No adoption news. File is still in Australia. The new China officer started with the Department and sent us an email to introduce herself. Who are these other couples we are waiting for? PLEASE HURRY UP! Every week the file stays here could potentially add months to the wait. I've even had a few fleeting thoughts of trying to have a baby in the meantime. Don't get excited, there's been no serious contemplation, just fleeting thoughts as I ponder the extending wait and my age.

To more positive news, the IAFQ 30th Anniversary picnic was held three weeks ago. That's how long it has taken me to make the time to get the pics of my camera and write about it.

Official reports are that there were about a hundred attendees.


Country flags flapping in the wind.


Lainie, my adoption blogging sista, and I.


The patient couple.

Telling the kids

How gorgeous is this:

An update, for what it's worth!

The latest info is that there are two dossiers ready and waiting (ours and another). The Dept will only send dossiers to China in batches of five. Apparently there are three more 'not far behind' that the Dept was going to follow up this week. A new officer for the China program has been appointed and starts on the 28th April. I never would have imagined that we'd get to May and still not be DTC (dossier to China), but it's starting to look that way!

Something? Anything?

Working for the Intercountry Adoption Unit (which I just always refer to as 'the Dept' because it's part of the Department of Child Safety) must be a tough gig. We've seen three coordinators for the China program come and go.

Right now there is no dedicated coordinator until they appoint a newbie. The team leader is looking after the China program, but she's a hard lady to catch. She only works Mon, Tues and Wed. I rang on Wednesday and was told she didn't start work until 1pm. I left a message asking her to call, but I guess she's snowed under. I'm not an annoying stalker. I've probably phoned the Dept twice in past two years (and if I hadn't, our file would still probably be on hold for no valid reason).

I would like to know whether there are any other files ready for our batch! I'd like to know an estimate of when our dossier might finally leave these shores. Actually, I'd just like any information at all. And I'd like to suggest that they might update their dossier paperwork so they're not still telling people it's a 14 month wait for a referral from China.

This probably sounds like a rant, so I want it to be known that I respect the team working at the Dept and I hold them in high regard. They do a good job under difficult circumstances and like most Government agencies are probably understaffed. So they should give me a job there to come and look after the China program :-) I'm a fully qualified hoop-jumper and box-checker. And I return phone calls. Sometimes. (Ok, I can work on that one).

One Child Policy to Continue

There has been speculation recently about whether China's family planning policy (commonly known as the One Child Policy) would change or continue. Earlier this month, China's Family Planning Minister announced that the policy would continue for at least another ten years.

While the policy is commonly deemed successful in curbing population growth, there have been massive social, economic, environmental, ethical and other implications and consequences as a result of this policy, directly and indirectly, including

• child abandonment, especially girls
  
• female gendercide
  
• child trafficking
  
• wife trafficking
  
• forced abortions / forced sterilisation
  
• gender imbalance
  
• 4/2/1 dependency ratio
  
• declining birth rate, hence declining population replacement rate
  
• aging population
  
• little emperor syndrome
  
• hugely disproportionate number of marriageable age males without female counterparts
  (this list is just a quick brain-dump and is by no means exhaustive)

The One Child Policy is not a blanket policy imposed on all families. In fact, the current birth rate in China sits at around 1.8 children per family (not down to 1 per family but certainly a shift from the average of 7.5 children per family in 1963). Here is some information about the policy:

• families are allowed to have two children if the first born is a girl or is disabled (resulting in second and third born females being abandoned)
  
• rural families are permitted to have two children
  
• if the mother and father are only children themselves, they are allowed two children
  
• the policy is enforced in different ways in different provinces
  
• ethnic minorities (the 55 different Chinese ethnic groups, ie. non-Han Chinese) may have two and sometimes three children
  
• breaching the policy can result in fines, withdrawal of family allowance, demotion or discharge from jobs, social rejection

I wonder what the Chinese would think of the policies of my nation's Government; we are paid to have children and encouraged to have larger families in an attempt to increase the fertility rate.

Similar/related earlier posts: The right to live, Family planning slogans, Population stuff.

Update on Aussie adoption petition

A quick update on my post earlier this month about the adoption petition for the Australian Federal Government. There is a new link to the online petition -
http://www.adoptionaustralia.org/

There are eleven initial changes that the petition targets. Most interesting is the need to provide potential for NGOs to facilitate adoption services, rather than the current requirement of working with government departments only. Also a push for Australia to open up new country programs and to reduce waiting lists.

Please join with me in signing the petition - and please share the link with your networks. The link also provides a draft letter that can be sent to your local MP (for those in Australia).

It's everywhere

Is adoption increasingly prevalent, or is it just that I'm more aware of it..? Last week I returned from a work trip to the US and there were three (count 'em, THREE) movies on the plane featuring adoption. This was right after I watched December Boys the previous weekend which makes strong reference to adopting.

I managed to catch Juno (loved it) and August Rush (liked it), but didn't watch Martian Child cos the write up was average.

Pics from the trip:

Seattle Sky Needle
At an NBA game baby!
Doing my thing

(more photos here)

Initiating change

**ETA: Not sure why the petition link is down... hopefully it will be back up again soon! Hopefully it's collapsed from too much traffic!

Australians wishing to adopt from overseas have limited options due to the small number of inter-country agreements. An online petition has been developed to present to the Federal Government to accelerate the opening of new programs as a matter of priority.

Please join with us and sign the petition .

Taggedy shmaggedy!

I run but I can't hide! Kristen tagged me to post seven weird/strange things about me. I think I did a 'random facts' post last year some time, so I sat here thinking for ages about seven different things I could write and couldn't come up with anything. For this reason I'm going to post seven websites I can't get enough of (maybe one of my random facts should be that I'm a rebel and can't follow instructions!)

Here we go...

1. Post Secret. Who doesn't love reading other peoples' secrets?

2. Perez Hilton. I have no idea why I go here. I don't especially care about celebrities, but I keep going back.

3. My local Weather forecast. I am a weather freak. I can't cope if I don't know the weather forecast. Even when I lived in Mt Isa where it was HOT and DRY 360 days of the year, I still needed to check the forecast several times a day.

4. Xinhua Chinese news. Gotta keep up to date with all the propaganda news from the Middle Kingdom!

5. Bloglines. I don't know how I could ever keep up with all the blogs I read without this baby!

6. Indexed. Random amusing scribbles by a witty chick.

7. Ummm... I'll make number 7 your chance to ask me a question. Ask away! Or just share a website in the comments that you can't get enough of!

Goodbye twenties!

A year ago today I wrote about being desperate to turn thirty so our file could go to China. Well, the day has arrived! I'm thirty! Unfortunately our file isn't going anywhere until we've completed the dossier and there are four more couples at the same point, but I'm still very excited! This is the biggest box to check yet!

I had a super fun weekend with a couple of quiet, last minute get-togethers with the excuse of my birthday, and there was a certain theme to my gifts... a jade bangle - my parents organised a friend in China who went shopping with an ex-jade dealer to select it, green tea caraffe, stunning Chinese cookbook and story, beautiful adoption book , red eggs (my cousin and her family are so awesomely thoughtful!), a red packet, a gift voucher and a cute shirt that says 'my heart is in China'. I also received a big slow cooker which I'm looking forward to using, and Aaron bought me a stunning diamond and gold locket pendant for my belcher bracelet.

The pic is from my fourth birthday.