China Adoption Agencies

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Have you completed an adoption from China? Had a good or bad experience with your agency? Tell us about it! Your comments will help other families more thoroughly evaluate a potential agency.

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First Hand Experience

Click below to read the experiences of other families with their adoption agency!

Holt--Thumbs Down  starstarstarstarstar
We were pretty disappointed with Holt when we adopted our son in 2010. We had been to China once before for a previous adoption but had to change agencies ...

Small World Adoption is GREAT  starstarstarstarstar
This is our second adoption and so far, Small World Adoption has been WONDERFUL!! We needed a waiver from CCAA for medical issues and SWA allowed us to ...

BETHANY ~ successful adoption but would NOT use again  starstarstarstarstar
We signed up with Bethany for a NSN adoption and then signed onto the waiting list for SN (with the shared list) as soon as we could. We requested a boy ...

BAAS is a wonderful agency!  starstarstarstarstar
Just wanted to give some info about my experience with Bay Area Adoption Service (BAAS). It was a great experience. That is what I tell everyone. Why?...

Madison in DE  Not rated yet
Madison Adoption Agency is incredible. They are there for the children. Actually, they are some of the best people that I know.

WACAP- Very good  Not rated yet
We used WACAP twice now. I can say that they are 100% upfront about fees, the time required, and they always promptly return all my emails. If you want ...

Three successful adoption with Holt  Not rated yet
We used Holt International for three adoptions (nsn's 2007, sn's 2010, sn's 2011). We have never had a problem with communication. If we had a question,...

Do not use Great Wall  Not rated yet
We completed a SN adoption in 2008 with Great Wall and nothing to compare it with. When we started another adoption in 2009 we would leave messages and ...

CCAI...the best!  Not rated yet
We have adopted twice from China and are in-process for adoption number three. THe first adoption in 2008 was through CCAI, and what a wonderful agency ...

All God's Children International (AGCI)- not great  Not rated yet
We submitted our application with AGCI in November 2009. We were told at that time that we would almost certainly be home with our child or in China picking ...

sn adoption  Not rated yet
Hi, I adopted a special needs toddler from Special Additions in Kansas five years ago. I am in the mid-south area. I only used Special Additions because ...

Dillon International- Great overall experience!  Not rated yet
We just recently completed our first China SN adoption with Dillon International. We had a wonderful experience using Dillon International. The China ...

FTIA - three times awesome  Not rated yet
We adopted three times with FTIA, all from China. (2001, 2005, 12/2008).. two were waiting children. We had amazing and wonderful experiences each time....

Living Hope & CAWLI - go LH if you are shared list  Not rated yet
We switched from CAWLI to Living Hope once we realized the number of families waiting to be matched on CAWLI's shared list.

Living Hope matched us the ...

BAAS  Not rated yet
We just finished our adoption with BAAS. It was our first adoption and we had intended to go with BAAS but then found our daughter on BAAS's special focus ...

Small World is good and fast at matching also  Not rated yet
We used Small World to adopt our son 2 years ago. Ever since then I've been telling anyone I know who is interested in agencies about Small World b/c they ...

America World - 2 Experiences  Not rated yet
We adopted our son in May of 2008 and used America World. They were extremely helpful, honest, and caring during the whole process. They made what could ...

"International Family Services" is AMAZING!!!  Not rated yet
IFS has helped me to complete two adoptions. The first chind was adopted from Russia in 2003. The second child was from China in 2011. They are GREAT!...

Avoid Bethany, go CCAI!  Not rated yet
We adopted with Bethany for two domestic adoptions and our first Chinese adoption. We liked the fact that they are a ministry and work with birthmoms ...

CAWLI is wonderful!  Not rated yet
We have used CAWLI (China Adoptions With Love, Inc.) twice now. Our first adoption was in 2007 and we just got home a month ago with our two boys who ...

CCAI  Not rated yet
I used CCAI in 2006-2007 and again in 2010-2011. Both times they were awesome. They were up front with fees and time lines. Their in China staff was ...

Great Wall China Adoption  Not rated yet
We used GWCA for our adoption. They were very good in the dossier phase. We submitted our dossier in 2007 (NSN). However, I do NOT believe they were ...

Another Bethany  Not rated yet
I should have written this before reading the other post regarding Bethany because we had a VERY similar situation in every aspect. We felt like any time ...

EAC-we love them:)  Not rated yet
European Adoption Consultants (www.eaci.com) EAC

We have completed two adoptions through EAC and just love them! Our first daughter came to us through ...

A Helping Hand  Not rated yet
I would not recommend A Helping Hand. We completed our 1st adoption in 2010 with them, and the only positive experience we had was in country. Our guide ...

GWCA - would not recommend  Not rated yet
I have two lovely daughters from China. We used Great Wall China Adoption for both adoptions (NSN, completed in 2003 and 2005). I am thankful always ...

Using Holt International for our third China adoption  Not rated yet
We have adopted 2 children with Holt and are in process for our third. I truly believe that they have the children's best interest in mind. Their social ...

CCAI - NSN Adoption  Not rated yet
Could not have been happier with this agency - very by the book - but very thorough and left no pages unturned. They knew the ins and outs of all the ...

ASIA!!  Not rated yet
You want personal service and attention to details - your details? Call ASIA! They are able to get waivers that other agencies aren't always willing to ...

Holt International  Not rated yet
Our adoption process with Holt was a means to an end. They are not a "hand holding" agency and it is strictly business as usual with them.

Our son ...

Bethany Christian Services-2009 adoption  Not rated yet
We used Bethany for the China SN adoption of our son. I hesitate to say anything negative as this is the agency that helped us bring home our son! However,...

Wasatch International is great  Not rated yet
We have not yet completed our adoption but are going to travel soon (summer 2011). So far our agency, Wasatch, has been really great. I belong to the ...

America World Adoption   Not rated yet
We have adopted with AWAA twice and cannot say enough good about them! They were upfront and honest about every cost, timeframe and expectation. They made ...

Holt needs to learn more about customer service... it's about the children, not the money  Not rated yet
Over the years, I've heard wonderful stories about Holt. They started with the intent of helping and finding homes for every child they could. I think ...

Holt International China Program  Not rated yet
Holt was hands off from the beginning. The whole 17 months we were waiting, they were not helpful at all. There was a feeling like they didn't know anything ...

Jessica  Not rated yet
Family Outreach international is excellent for Canadian Families. It is a small husband and wife team who are never to busy to talk to you!

BAAS and CCAI   Not rated yet
We have completed adoptions with both CCAI and BAAS.

Our experience with CCAI was fine if you are in the traditional program, but I would not recommend ...

We Love Great Wall  Not rated yet
We had a very good experience with Great Wall. Our wait time to match was less than 2 weeks but our list of needs was broad. We were matched with a little ...

CCAI - We've used them twice!  Not rated yet
We are on our second adoption using CCAI and could not be happier. They are professional, caring, knowledgeable, honest, and efficient. They surpassed ...

Holt International...WONDERFUL!  Not rated yet
We have used Holt International for two adoptions, and they have been amazing! Holt's China team monitors the shared list throughout the night and has ...

CCAI - Waiting Child Program  Not rated yet
We use CCAI and completed our SN adoption in January 2008. We were originally non-special needs with a LID of 9/11/2006.

We had a terrific experience ...

Agency Recommendation  Not rated yet
Our original agency was Great Wall with a LID of 4/2007. We have been on their SN list since 4/2008 and HAVE NOT been matched. Our criteria is a female ...

CAWLI  Not rated yet
We are currently in the process of adopting a 7 year old. We chose CAWLI this go around because they used the shared list and our prior agency, CCAI, did ...

CCAI - Chinese Children Adoption International  Not rated yet
We completed this adoption in 2007. We started out traditional (NSN) and ultimately adopted our Abigail through the Waiting Child program. CCAI was very ...



My Personal Recommendations

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Our family has completed three international adoptions - one from Korea, and two from China. We have used three different adoption agencies for our adoptions, and all of them can be found on my list of COA Hague Accredited adoption agencies. We had good experiences with all three agencies! Scroll down to the bottom of this page to tell us about your own experiences.

On this page, I will first tell you about our personal experiences with the three agencies we have used. Then I will tell you about several other agencies that I would recommend based on the large amount of positive feedback from friends of mine in the adoption community.

Please Note: Just because I have not had personal experience with an agency or do not know much about them does NOT mean they are a bad agency. All the agencies listed here are good, reputable organizations. Please do your own research! alt text

My parents completed their first adoption in 2001. My brother David was adopted from South Korea at the age of 2. My parents used Holt International to facilitate my brother's adoption.

The story of how Holt started was so moving! Harry and Bertha Holt's ministry to the children of Korea allowed thousands of orphaned children to find families. On a trip to Korea following the Korean War, Harry Holt was shocked at the number of orphans in Korea and brought home 8 precious children with him.

From that seed, Holt International was started! Today, Holt works in many countries, including China. We were very pleased with this agency.

PLEASE NOTE: Our experience with Holt was in their Korea program over ten years ago. I have heard both negative and very positive reports about Holt's China Program in the past year. Since I have no current experience with Holt or their program in China, I cannot render an opinion about Holt International at this current time.

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In 2008, we began an adoption from China through Living Hope. My Dad saw an advertisement in WORLD magazine for this agency, and so decided to look into them more. He had a lengthy conversation with the director of Living Hope about the adoption program in China. Mr. Fang is a Chinese native and has three children, one of whom is adopted from China!

Our adoption of my brother Isaac (3 years old) was fairly smooth through Living Hope. They were ethical, great at communication, and very prompt in regards to paperwork. We had a wonderful travel experience with them. They worked out all the details of our trip perfectly for us, including flights and hotel arrangements!

Our one complaint with Living Hope is that they were very "by the book" in some areas (such as required times between adoptions) which does not work for many families. Plus, at the time they were not very educated about the new Hague process. I found myself having to explain and correct some of their misconceptions. I'm sure they may have remedied this by now since Hague has been around for a while.

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We are recently completed our 3rd international adoption through Madison Adoption Associates. They have been the best agency we have worked with. They are so extremely knowledgeable about the CCAA and the adoption process. I cannot say enough good things about them!! Aleda Madison and her daughter Diana are a pleasure to work with. They are great with communication, very good at matching and extremely dedicated! They keep abreast with updates and changes both in the USA and China, and are all around the best!

On our way to China, our first plane was delayed and due to that we missed our international connection. We had to spend 24 hours in LAX waiting to catch the next flight to Asia; due to this, we arrived late in our province and missed our Gotcha Day! Madison was fabulous about helping us straighten things out in this situation. They responded quickly to our problem and contacted the Civil Affairs and our guide to notify them that we wouldn't be arriving on time as scheduled and helped arrange for expedited paperwork. We were very impressed!

Madison Adoption Associates has been no less then spectacular. I would highly, highly, recommend them to any adoptive family!

Other Recommendations

Even though I do not have personal experience with these agencies, I have heard excellent things about Lifeline Adoption and Bay Area Adoption Services. I can recommend those on secondhand personal information.

An adoption agency poll was taken on Rumor Queen about a year ago asking members to vote for the best adoption agency. Bay Area Adoption Services was the winner by far! If you're looking for a place to start in your research, I would suggest either Bay Area Adoption or Madison. The SN coordinator at BAAS is fabulous!

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Evaluating An Agency

Get references and contact them. Get references who are at different stages in the adoption process and who have completed adoptions at different times. Talk to families who had both good and bad experiences with the agency. If it was a bad experience, why? What was the problem? How did the agency handle it?

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Join local and internet adoptive parent support groups. This is one of THE most important things you can do. There is nothing like personal experience when selecting an agency. Network as much as you possibly can. Listen, learn and ask as many questions as you can think of. List serves and the various Internet bulletin boards are invaluable. Use search engines like Google, Dogpile, and Yahoo to look for information about the adoption agency you are considering contracting with. Search for complaints. Search the names of agency principals, workers and facilitators, particularly if the agency is small, not well known, or new to the field of adoption. Don't skimp on this step. Choosing an adoption agency is probably the most important aspect of the process.

Ask questions. Contact the agency president, head social worker, or whoever is in charge of the adoption program you are considering. Ask any question you can think of. There is no such thing as a dumb question! Find out about the cost of the program, who you'll be working with as you move through the adoption process, the agency's policy about the shared list, how they match families with children, etc..

Take into account your own personality. Are you a person who likes doing everything yourself, or someone who prefers to sit back and let others take over? This can play a big part in what kind of agency you will be most comfortable with. Take travel for instance. There are some agencies that will take care of every little detail of your trip to China, while others let you book your own flights and get your own hotels. Find the agency's policy on travel. Also take into consideration the level of involvement the agency has in preparing the dossier. Do they offer to do the state certification and Chinese authentication for you? Will they charge for this service? Would you prefer to do it yourself? These are all things that play a big part in your decision.