The Wait

Hi everyone. As of Friday, March 31, we will officially be logged in at the China Centre of Adoption Affairs for 7 months. Now, I know it's no use to go back over it all and think of what could have been but it's kind of hard not to. Initially, we were told we should get our referral by the end of February and be travelling by April! Wow we'd be so close now. However, things have slowed down, as they do in international adoption. MANY people ask me why things have slowed, what's taking them so long. Here's my explanation, from my research and from talking with other families who have searched out answers.
1. Many other countries have closed their doors to international adoption for one reason or another. Therefore, many families are now choosing China.
2. Because so many people are choosing China and there are only so many "paper-ready" babies, there is a backlog being created.
3. Some suggest that a quota has been imposed and only a certain number of children can be adopted from China yearly.
4. The province of Hunan had one orphanage charged with baby trafficking. Bad publicity=slow down.
5. International adoption timelines seem to generally take this pattern. Things speed up, things slow down, things speed up again.
There is just no simple answer to the wait. I have many friends that have LID's after us and I know they will be waiting longer. For us, I feel like it's near...My projection (based on nothing really, other than hope) is that we will travel by October. We had hoped so much for Kennedy to be here for August when Lori, our neice, gets married and all the family is here. Not likely that will happen now.
So the wait continues. As usual, I'll keep y'all posted.