No More Adoptions

Well, gosh, it looks like I won't be able to adopt any more. I recently got an e-mail indicating that the adoption agency I worked with had 10 deaf children to place, and in part of the e-mail they listed the new requirements for adoptive parents. Check these out:

Parents must fit the requirements for China adoptions:Married couples only. Couples must be married a minimum of two years, and couples with prior divorces must be married at least five years. Both spouses must be 30–54 years of age (before 55th birthday must complete the adoption for families adopting children who are older or have special needs). Applicants must be "physically and mentally healthy" as defined by the CCAA. Any of the following conditions may disqualify an applicant: A body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more (see this online BMI calculator), for either applicant. Infectious disease still at an infective stage; Mental handicap; Blindness or severe vision impairment; dysfunction of limbs or trunk caused by impairment, incompleteness, numbness or deformation; severe facial deformation; severe diseases that require long-term treatment and affect life expectancy, such as cancer, lupus, kidney disease, epilepsy, etc.; A major organ transplantation less than 10 years earlier; A history of cancer; Schizophrenia;Taking medication for mental disorders (mild or severe), including depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorder, within the previous two years . In addition to the requirement for the family's income to exceed $10,000 per family member (including the child to be adopted), the family's net worth must exceed $80,000. Each applicant must hold a high school diploma or equivalent. The youngest child currently in the home must be over 1 year of age. Applicants must have no criminal record.

First off, I'm still single. Even if I were to marry TODAY (which is highly unlikely since Prince Charming is still clueless), I would have to wait 5 years, since I have a divorce in my past. By then, I will be 50. And since adoptions are now taking 3-4 years to process, it is highly unlikely that I would be able to finish the process before I am at the age of ineligibility.

It is also highly unlikely that I would get away with hiding my ICD a second time. That should have disqualified me the first time, and China would simply blow a gasket if they knew I'd gotten past them with that. Since I'm facing heart surgery for that again soon, it would show up in my medical records, so I'd never even clear the first hurdle.

Not that I had any solid plans, mind you, it's just sad that the door is now so firmly shut. Guess I'll just have to live vicariously through tales of other people's adoptions.