Lifeline is excited about the tredemdous interest of our China Special Needs Program (China Waiting Children). We have a seasoned team of adoption specialist, that have themselves adopted through this program, and they are ready to partner with you on this exciting journey!  Your first step is to review our basic requirements and complete our initial application paperwork (including: the Family Information Sheet & Christian Questionnaire). When submitting this paperwork, you will have the opportunity to place a specific child on what we call “hold”. A “hold” allows you to have the opportunity to consider a child without the pressure of other families also considering that same child. We allow families to place a child on “hold” to give them an opportunity to further pray and consider a child before committing to that child. This “hold” can last up to 2 weeks. At the end of the 2 weeks, we ask each family to either commit to adopting that child or allow other families to also have the chance to consider that child for their family.

 

Families interested in adopting a child are allowed to place a child on “hold” on a first come basis. This may mean you are interested in a specific child, but at the time you contact us, another family may have already completed their initial paperwork and placed the child on “hold”. If you are interested in a child that is currently on “hold”, please let us know. We do have waiting lists for each child in the case that a family does make the decision not to adopt a child they have on “hold”. If this occurs, we contact families on the waiting list in the order they made their requests.

 

Once you have reached the point of decision, and are ready to commit to a specific Waiting Child, we will ask you to complete our full application and submit it along with the $250 application fee. Once these items have been completed and received, we will officially “match” the child with your family. It is at this point that you will begin the official CCAA paperwork related to your child, known as the Letter of Intent (LOI). The LOI is the equivalent of the referral and is the official notification to the CCAA that your family is committed to pursuing a child for adoption.

 

If you are working with another agency, you still have the opportunity to consider one of Lifeline’s Waiting Children. If you are working with another agency, meet Lifeline’s requirements, and are interested in learning more about your opportunity to adopt a specific child, please call Amy Dummier 205-972-8474 or send her an email.