Referral revoked
Someone in the 5/17 LID group has been contacted that their referral has been revoked because the child was adopted domestically. They will be getting a new referral.
This is not the first time I've seen this, and it's probably something we should all be aware of - that this is a possibility. The child is not "ours" legally until we spend time at the provincial Civil Affairs Office legalizing everything.
My understanding is that when we send in our acceptance (of the referral) the CCAA notifies the SWI that the baby has been matched. The SWI then responds that the baby is still available and that nothing has changed with the baby's health or any other status, and then the Travel Approval is sent.
Even four or five years ago we occasionally saw someone notified a couple of weeks later that the baby was no longer available (back then because of a change to health status usually) and that they would be receiving another referral. While we were waiting last time someone I knew was notified before TA arrived that their baby had pneumonia and was very very sick and the CCAA offered another referral - the couple said no, they wanted this baby. I believe that the final statement from the CCAA was that if the baby was well enough to travel when they arrived they would be given this baby, but if not they would be given a different baby when they arrived. By the time they got there she was in much better health and they were able to bring her home.
In the past year this is probably the third time I've heard of a referral being revoked before travel. It appears that it is now also happening as some of the babies are adopted out domestically.
Our agencies warn us to not fall in love with a photo... but really, that's a pretty impossible thing to do.
posted by RumorQueen at 4/03/2006 01:02:00 PM
9 Comments:
Wow.. thanks for the heads up.... seems like nothing is certain until we arrive home with our baby. I never would have guessed this was a possibility..
At least one agency I know of does not notify their clients of their referrals until after they have confirmed with the SWI/CWI that the children referred have not been adopted domestically (or died, or....). Unfortunately, there is sometimes a lag time between a SWI/CWI sending in a child's dossier, and then later notifying CCAA of a change in the child's status - with the result that a referral is issued that then has to be rescinded.
While this is undoubtedly heartrending for the adoptive parents who lose their initial referral, when one seeks for a positive spin on this situation one thing stands out clearly: the first child has found her/his forever family, and CCAA works very rapidly to refer the international parents a second child. So.... TWO children find their forever families. And, no one can argue: this is a GOOD thing (albeit very very very difficult).
While very rare, this situation (or worse) does happen. Which is why I personally made the difficult choice not to order adoption announcements until AFTER I came home with my two girls....
RQ,
On an earlier post regarding the length of time you mentioned that the "paperwork, from birth, is different for a child available for international adoption." My question is that wouldn't this information negate your previous info OR is the paperwork for an international adoption viable for an domectic adoption as well?
Thanks!
I had this happen to me through the Belarus program. I was given a referral, accepted the referral and was told two weeks later that the baby was already referred to another family. It is easy to say "don't get attached to a photo" (and in my case, I also had video) but I felt a horrible loss when the referral was revoked and wouldn't wish this on anyone. Very sad to hear this happening in China.
I think a number of agencies used to call and verify the status of babies before making the referral calls, but I was under the impression that the CCAA wants to be involved in all communication between agencies and orphanages now and that direct contact was now banned.
Ellen - the paperwork for children in the international program is more involved... so I would assume that a child on the "international track" could also be adopted domestically, but not the other way around.
And Pam, I also wonder about the rumor that some agencies call the orphanage to verify the child is still available, as I've also been told that contact between agency and orphanage is now expressly forbidden by the CCAA.
RQ,
That's makes sense given your previously blogged info! Thanks!
Ellen
Good news: The family that lost their referral has posted to APC that they received a new referral from CCAA this morning.
Thanks Sheri - that is good news. Someone told me earlier today that this family was also part of the lost DHL fiasco... I hope they have smooth sailing for the rest of the process.
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