The Varying Wait Over the Past Decade

I found this graph on www.brightoutlooks.com and thought it informative, so I asked for permission to post it on my blog. This is a graph by Ralph Stirling showing the history of wait times from DTC (Dossier to China) to referral from 1996 - 2006.



There is also a list of Historical Milestones that may or may not have affected the wait times.

1990: CCAA became China’s central authority for international adoption (Jun)
1998: Amendments to adoption law were approved (Nov)
2001: Quota system implemented to help regulate the rate of applications (Dec)
2002: Slowdown continues due to growing popularity of China’s program
2003: First case of SARS noted in Toronto (Feb). China introduces six-week suspension of file processing & referrals (May 15 – Jun 24)
2005: Adoptions temporarily halted from Hunan province following baby-trafficking investigations (Nov)


I guess I find this interesting because it shows that the wait has fluctuated pretty consistently over the past 10 years, with the longest waits in 2002 at about 16 Months and the shortest in 2004 at about 5 Months. It seems like the CCAA adjusts their process based on the growing demand of Chinese adoption and we are in an upswing. In a way, I find it comforting to know that the wait has grown to only 16 Months in the past, and hope that this record will not be broken (or if is, not by much).

Note: click here to see the current graph, updated Nov. 2006.

www.brightoutlooks.com