The Meaning of It All

Here is a list of our Adoption Terms:

1. CCAA-China Center of Adoption Affairs ---The Official office in Beijing, China that does all of the Adoption placements and scrutinizes the prospective parents or parent (China will allow a limited number of single women to adopt per year.)


2. Adoption Agency-A licensed organization that is the liaison between perspective parents and a child that is up for adoption. They organize the legal aspect of the adoption process & assigns a Social Worker to work with the prospective family.


3. LID-Log In Date---This is the date when the CCAA logs in the Dossier (your paperwork) to their system for review.


4. Dossier-Documents required by the country that one is adopting from: Criminal background checks/Birth certificates/Driving Records/Financial Statements/Medical Records & Exams/Fingerprints/Photos of parents & their home.--All Documents are Notarized ,State Certified, Certified by State Dept. & Chinese Embassy.


5. Home Study-In home interview & inspection by Social Worker.(Performed in several visits.) Also all copies of dossier documents reviewed for final report by social worker.(Ends up as part of the Dossier)


6. Social Worker-State required personnel appointed by the Adoption Agency to interview, inspect, evaluate & report all information back to the state for approval to adopt a child.


7. Referral- This is what we all wait so long & hard for! This is the picture of the child, child's Chinese name, age or possible age, medical information (may or may not be accurate) & whether or not the child is in foster care or still in an orphanage & where.


8. TA-Travel Assignment--The date that is given by China to travel to get your child. Usually 6-8 weeks after the Referral.