application letter for China adoption

3crazydogs · 09-26-2005, 05:50 PM

Hello everyone. DH and I still haven't written our application letter for our dossier but I figured I should go ahead and get that done. But the problem is we're stuck on it. We have absolutely no idea what to write. I know there are a few things we should include, and that we shouldn't mention politics, but is there anything else we should or shouldn't say? I don't know why I'm having such a difficult time with this!

~Traci~ · 09-26-2005, 06:09 PM

Here is a sample on the Yahoo Paperchase group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paperchase2000/
***********WARNING – THIS IS A SAMPLE ONLY. PLEASE REFER TO YOUR AGENCY’S GUIDELINES
AND PLEASE CHANGE THE WORDING. CCAA WILL BEGIN TO SUSPECT THINGS IF ALL LETTERS
OF INTENT LOOK ALIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is designed for couples who have already adopted. Wording can easily be changed to express your desire to have a child, whether you have children now or not.*************

Date: <DATE>

To: The Chinese Center Of Adoption Affairs

From: Husband’s name, born on xx/xx/xxxx in City and State, USA. U.S. Citizen
Wife’s name, born on xx/xx/xxxx in City and State, USA. U.S. Citizen
Address: <list full address here including country>

We are submitting this dossier with the hope of adopting a child from the People's Republic of China. We are respectfully requesting a healthy female between six (6) months and twelve (12) months of age. <enter age
you are requesting, not necessarily age you are approved for in your homestudy as that is normally a larger range>

We are married and live in a culturally diverse community. <husband> is employed as a <title> and <wife> is employed as a <title>. We have a strong marriage, shared values, and a deep devotion to our family. We were honored to be able to adopt <child’s current name> from the <Orphanage name> from China on <date> in <name> Province. We would like to add to our family by adopting a <sister/brother/sibling> for <current child/children’s names>.

We have a deep respect for our daughter's birth country and would like for her to have a sister with the same heritage. We know how much the people of China love their children. Our first daughter was very well cared for, exceptionally healthy, and very loved. We are both drawn to China because of the people, long history, and wonderful traditions and customs. We are friends with several Chinese people who have shared their culture with us. We continue to expose our first daughter to the Chinese culture and we know how important it is to develop her understanding and appreciation of her Chinese heritage. We are members of several organizations for parents of children adopted from China and for support of families who have adopted internationally.

We are both college-educated and have a deep appreciation for higher education. Our daughter will have every opportunity to receive the best education possible. We were both fortunate to have been raised in loving, secure, and emotionally stable households. We will devote ourselves to making our daughters' lives full of love, joy, happiness and security. Our extended family anxiously awaits the arrival of our new daughter.

Our adopted child will be treated as a child born to us, with all of the unconditional love, support, and nurturing that we (and our extended family) can possibly offer. Our new daughter will have all the legal rights normally afforded a birth child. We promise to care well for the child and educate her, and that we will never abandon or abuse her. We believe that providing a secure and loving home for our daughter will help her develop to her highest potential. We will do everything possible to encourage and promote her sense of self-worth and her identity, to value and respect her Chinese heritage, and to grow physically and intellectually.

Thank you for considering our application to adopt a child from your beautiful country, and for helping us to make our family complete.

Sincerely,

Husband and Wife names here

NOTARY PUBLIC: <Check with your agency regarding notary wording for YOUR STATE>
State of California)
) ss.
County of San Diego)

Subscribed and sworn to before me this ________ day of
______________, 2003.

By: __________________________________

Your agency should have a sample. I know that ours did and it also had things we had to put in the letter.

Good Luck!
Traci

Lisa67 · 09-26-2005, 07:21 PM

lol That letter sounds an awful lot like ours did--and I didn't even know the paperchase yahoo site exists!

Great example for a letter. Concise and detailed but not too lengthy. Good one, Traci!

Good luck writing your letter--once you get started it'll flow naturally.

~Traci~ · 09-26-2005, 07:29 PM

I found ours, here it is:
Names
Address
Date

Letter of Application and Commitment

China Center of Adoption Affairs:

We, {names} are a married couple since {date}. {Name} was born on {Date}and is {Age}. {Name} was born on {Date} and is {Age}. We are both American Citizens. {Name} is a {profession} and {name} is {profession}. We do not have any children.

The purpose of this letter is to kindly request permission for us to adopt a child from China. For physical reasons, we are unable to have a child through biological. When we decided to adopt, we knew from our hearts that we were meant to be the parents of a Chinese child. We have learned a great deal about the Chinese culture and customs and have a genuine respect for the People’s Republic of China. We will continue to explore Chinese traditions and further involve ourselves with other families who have adopted from China. We look forward to encouraging our child to embrace their heritage with us.

We would like to adopt a healthy female 6 – 12 months old or as young as possible (change this to a child you would like to adopt). As parents of this child, her happiness is our happiness. We will never abuse or abandon her. She will enjoy the rights all children deserve, including the right for respect, love, and inheritance. We will provide her with the best opportunities possible in nutrition, education, and self-realization. Thank you for considering us to adopt a child from China.

Sincerely,

{Names}

We basically took the sample letter that our agency gave us and changed a few things. Apparently that's ok b/c so far we haven't been told to change it...

I think it was the last paragraph that they said was the important one and that we couldn't change the wording, I can't remember now though. I typed it in April so after all the other paperwork this one's a little foggy to me

ETA: Keep it short & simple from what we were told. Don't make it longer than 1 page total.

HTH's
Traci

3crazydogs · 09-27-2005, 12:33 PM

Thanks everyone! That gives me a little more to go on now. I think I just didn't quite understand what it was supposed to be. Thanks again!

~Traci~ · 09-27-2005, 07:11 PM

You're welcome!

Basically you're asking the CCAA for permission to adopt from China. In there you have to have your names, ages, address, if you have any children, age/sex of baby that you desire (they don't have to listen to you but want to know your preferance

), why you want to adopt from China, & that you will treat your adopted baby like a biological baby and give him/her every right of any other person in your family.

I found that letter to be the easiest that we had to do compared to all the paperwork you have to gather. When they call it paperchasing, it seriously is "paperchasing" b/c you're running around getting BC's MC's, divorce decrees, etc!

HTH's
Traci