China Child of Promise Option

by adopting a child from China with minor or correctable medical conditions, you may cut your wait time in half

Michelle Woods holds Jenny soon after receiving her in China.

Michelle Woods and Jim Haggerty waited in the China adoption queue for more than a year, watching the wait times grow longer and longer, until one day their social worker asked them if they would be willing to consider a child with minor or correctable medical needs. They thought about it, talked about it, and filled out a form listing the conditions they were willing to consider. A little more than two months later, their social worker called them back and said Holt had a daughter for them.

They could not believe their luck. Her "condition"--ptosis of both upper eyelids--simply means that her eyelids are droopy, which can be corrected through surgery. Her vision had not been affected. She is beautiful, petite, delicate and smart--and in their eyes, she is perfect. They held her in their arms less than four months later, ready to travel home to California.

China Child of Promise Option

For years, Holt has been matching children with minor/correctable medical conditions with families in our China Program--without these children ever going onto our Waiting Child photolisting. And, since China began releasing batches of children with minor/correctable conditions in a new multiple-release system this past January, we've been seeing more and more of our families in waiting opt to reduce their wait time, by opening their hearts to a child with minor or correctable medical conditions while also staying in the standard match queue.

We now call this willingness to adopt a child with minor or correctable medical conditions our "China Child of Promise" option.

These children are not a part of Holt's Waiting Child Program because we match them with families so quickly. Some of the children's conditions include cleft lip and palate; hepatitis B; albinism; minor heart conditions; missing or extra digits; and skin conditions such as burns or birthmarks.

For some families, the idea of "special needs" brings to mind children with severe or life-long medical or learning needs, but this is not

China Child of Promise Option2008.

the case with the children released from China with a "minor/correctable condition." Many families who typically started with the idea of adopting a child with no identified condition have found their child through our China Child of Promise option.

How Can I Participate in This Process?

If you already have a dossier in Beijing, you need only fill out or update our Minor/Correctable Conditions Checklist and send it back to us to be included in this option.

If you are newly interested in adopting from China, follow this link to find out how to begin the process.

More information is available by attending a special Webinar.

Also, Holt needs more families open to adopting a boy. If you are open to adopting a son, please give us a call or send us an e-mail so that we can confirm that our family list reflects your openness to either gender.

Holt Webinars Are Free

Growing Crisis in Ethiopia

"More than 125,000 children in Ethiopia urgently need treatment for malnutrition, according to UNICEF," reported the BBC website.

Several other news organizations have also carried stories on the developing crisis in Ethiopia in which an estimated 3.4 million people will need emergency food aid in the next three months. Some aid organizations operating food and medical aid programs say they are being overwhelmed with the need.

Consecutive seasons without substantial rain combined with the rising cost of food are all contributing to the crisis in drought-prone areas of Ethiopia.

Holt International's efforts to develop programs for families in southern Ethiopia will address some of these problems on an individual family level. Holt's approach will involve enabling families at risk to raise their income enough to provide adequate nutrition and care for their children. For many families this is the key to helping children and parents to remain together as a family.

Holt is developing a medical center to augment other efforts that are already serving children in the area around Durame.

If you would like to help children and families at risk, you can contribute to Holt's Hope for Ethiopia Project.