Adoptees discovering their homeland and heritage

by Robin Munro, senior writer

For Shannon Landry – a 16-year-old Nebraskan girl adopted as a baby from China – life so far has mostly revolved around school and soccer, friends and family. Returning to China rarely crossed her mind, though she thought it would be cool, she says, to see where she was born.

But from the time she turned 10, her mother told her that one day, they would go.

That day arrived this past summer, when she embarked on a two-week tour of China. She expected a cool adventure – an adventure that has since become a lifelong journey.

“I just feel like there’s so much more I could learn about me. Before, I never really thought about it,” Shannon says, “but now that I’ve had the experience, I don’t want to lose it.”

Joining 21 other adoptees and their families, Shannon and her mom, Melanie, traveled to China on a Holt heritage tour. The adoptees – all girls from this country of the one-child policy – explored the land of their birth, together. They climbed the Great Wall and toured the Forbidden City. They learned to cook traditional Chinese dishes, studied calligraphy and honed their chopstick skills. On a cruise down the Li River, they saw cormorant fisherman and water buffalo. They traveled to a panda reserve, where some even held these squirmy, soft-furred vegetarians, subdued by honey on the paw. They biked and cruised and climbed through China, ending where they began their adoption journey – at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, the southern city home to the American Consulate, where all adoptive families secure their child’s visa.

But for many of the girls, the most meaningful part of the trip occurred on separate journeys – journeys to their finding places, their orphanages and foster families. Here, they found a connection to their past.

When Shannon visited her orphanage, she broke down in tears. “I got to meet the old [orphanage] director, which was really cool,” she says. “It kind of felt like I had a connection with her.” Shannon spent the morning at the orphanage, holding and playing with the children. She met children with special needs, a characteristic shared by many of those needing adoptive families in China. “That definitely impacted me the most,” she says. “That stood out for me and I think it did for a lot of the girls.”

Holt heritage tours are designed for adoptees and their families to experience the customs, culture and history of their birth country. Central to the tour philosophy is the adoptee’s personal story, and personal journey. To recreate this story, Holt strives to coordinate visits to adoptees’ orphanages and reunions with foster families, whenever possible. Continue Reading »

We still needs families interested in joining a Holt Heritage tour to China.  Holt especially needs families to sign-up for the summer tour.  We hope that you will consider joining us on this adventure.

Holt was the first to pioneer the concept of heritage tours for international adoptees and their families.  With adult adoptees on our staff and board, and years of experience, Holt is uniquely qualified to provide a very special homeland experience for you and your children.

Now is the time to consider Holt’s tours.  For more information and dates go to: holtinernational.org/tours

H1N1 Flu and Travel
The CCAA is issuing referrals and travel approvals as usual, but the H1N1 flu has had an impact on adoption travel. Concerned that the flu could spread from families to adoption officials and into the orphanages, several provinces declined to schedule adoption appointments, which meant that some families with travel approval could not travel. Most provinces have opened by now, but it is unclear how long this caution will last and what influence it will have on travel. Most travel scheduling is proceeding normally, and Holt is in touch with the provincial officials in each province to follow developments so we can keep all families up-to-date if developments affect their adoption trips. Read more…

The Hague Process: I-800

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption, also known as ‘The Hague’, is the first agreement governing international adoption practices among participants, including the People’s Republic of China and the United States. The Hague imposes new requirements on adoptive families, but it improves safeguards for children in need of families.

The Hague system is new, so processing procedures and average times are still evolving. The primary effect of this process is that it takes longer to get travel approval. All families, those under the I-600 and Hague systems, receive a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) which they sign and return to Holt. Holt then sends the LOA for I-600 families to the CCAA, and in about a month Holt gets travel approval for the family.

Families in the Hague system return their LOA to Holt and also send a copy with the application for their I-800 Provisional Clearance, which is issued about two or three weeks later. After receiving the I-800 clearance, Holt forwards it and other paperwork to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. The Consulate processes and returns the forms to our Guangzhou office within about four weeks. Our staff then sends them to the CCAA, who issues travel approval about a month later. Based on this current experience, it takes six to eight weeks longer to get travel approval than under the I-600 system. After travel approval, arrival in China under both systems is about three weeks later.
TB Tests
Beginning July 1st, all children between the ages of two and fourteen must have a tuberculin skin test in addition to the standard check-up before receiving their US entry visa. The Consulate does not require that testing be done in Guangzhou, but testing done in the provinces must meet certain conditions.
If the test is positive, a chest X-ray is required and based on the results of all procedures an approved physician will determine the appropriate classification of tuberculosis, if any. If appropriate, the Consulate may require further testing and treatment before they will issue a visa.

If testing is required and a suitable facility is available in the province, Holt will make the necessary arrangements and assist families with meeting their obligations. If you are adopting a child for whom testing is required, we do not expect this requirement to add time to your trip but if a suitable provincial facility is not available or further testing is necessary, your US return date may change. As for all travel, we advise knowing how to change your return ticket and how much it costs in case your return trip is delayed.

As we gain experience with satisfying these new requirements, we will keep you informed, but, in the meantime, please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions.

Steve Hejna
Travel Coordinator, China
steveh@holtinternational.org

For health and travel information, please visit the following websites:
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) cdc.gov/
Word Health Organization (WHO) http://www.who.int/en/
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tsa.gov/.