While we were in China at the con$olate office we were told some startling statistics. The one that stood out the most to me was that 67% of adoptions from China were now SN (special needs). That was higher than i had thought.
That means that if they are doing around 3,000 adoptions in one year (2005 total was 7,900 and 2009 had 3,000), only about 1,000 are going to be NSN (non-special needs). Wow, that means that only about 100 babies each month are being matched with families.
With attrition (those dropping out due to frustration, finding another program and adopting elsewhere or just no longer meet the requirements) the numbers are going down but i would estimate there are probably 12,000-18,000 families still waiting. Now, we don't really know exactly how many are waiting, we are not told those numbers but we can estimate and speculate; this was a big part of my life for the last 5 years, haha.
I don't really know what to say about the program, so many are angry and think China should stop taking applications for the NSN program, others think the NSN program will come to an end. Others are upset that those in charge should be more upfront with what the future holds and stop the torture of waiting if it is just not going to happen. Obviously you can do the math, with even just 10,000 people waiting, the wait would be around 10 years. We waited nearly 5 years, so 7-10 years is very realistic. There has been so much change in the program since we signed up to adopt, it is not the same program.
It is a long and difficult wait, we found peace and grew in our faith. One scripture that i found so much strength from was:
"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3
