Wait time

It may be even longer. Taiwan is a small country, and fairly prosperous, so there aren't all that many babies available for adoption. Initially, many prospective parents were unfamiliar with Taiwan. But as China's restrictions grew more onerous, the wait time grew ever longer, and people in the China program began to look around for other options, they took note of this small nation, which China still views as a breakaway province. They realized that Taiwan offered an ethical, organized program; good care for children; and, above all, beautiful Chinese children. Soon, a lot of people were applying to adopt from Taiwan. As a result, depending on the program you choose -- since Taiwan works through individual social welfare institutions -- there may be far more prospective parents than there are waiting babies when you apply. Some agencies seem to be tightening restrictions or even closing to new applicants, because they don't want huge waiting lists. It certainly would be worthwhile calling agencies to see whether it makes sense to switch countries at this time. It also would be worthwhile considering some alternatives. Sharon

Sharon, Thank you for your response. I was under the impression that Taiwan was also taking at least 2 1/2 years to 3 years after dossier is accepted. I am going to speak with the international representative of my adoption agency this week and will hopefully get all the facts and options.

Sorry about the long wait with the Colombian adoption. We started our Taiwan adoption process in September 2007 and placed on the waiting list in October 2007. At that time our estimated referral timeframe was 7-9 months for a boy and 9-12 months for a girl. Our wait turned out to be 16 months for an infant girl with an additional 4-8 months for the court process. I know now our agency has a longer waiting list than when we started. On their website, they're quoting 20-24 month wait for the referral and additional 4-8 months for the court process. They do have waiting children available and the toddler age wait list has a shorter timeframe. But wait estimates can always change.

Hi, We adopted from Taiwan in 2008. It's hard to sum up the Taiwan program because there are 4 major facilitators that place children and a few smaller, independent ones. Subsequently, they all work at their own pace. In general, I'd say an 18-24 month wait time for referral, plus an additional 6-8 month court time is realistic for a healthy infant girl. I'd say it'd could be faster for an infant son or a waiting child. One thing I have observed since being part of the Taiwanese adoption community, is that most of us wait a little longer than quoted. We were told our wait would be about 9-12 months from application to having our infant son home. It was 19 month timeline. Don't get me wrong, in light of many other programs it was a very "fast" adoption. I just wanted you to know that many/most end up having a longer than quoted wait.

Thank you for your responses. I agree that things seem to take longer than you think. That just seems to be how it is with internatinal adoption. I did not realize that the court process can take 6-8 months, wow. Why so long? I am learning that Ethiopia can in some cases have a very long court process.