Orphan Hosting FAQ's

Ian arrived in United States today and it's awesome how many people are interested in his story and have helped to advocate by sharing blog and Facebook posts within their networks. And with all that sharing, questions have naturally come up about orphan hosting. It's a new concept to most people, including those who have previously adopted internationally. To better understand the hosting program, I've compiled these frequently asked questions based on the questions I have received.

What is "orphan hosting"?
China is one of a couple of countries (along with Latvia and the Philippines, to name a few) that facilitates programs where children in state care come to the United States for a couple of weeks to experience the love of a family, life outside their orphanage and U.S. culture. It's an opportunity to learn about a child and any medical needs he or she has, and advocate for that child with information beyond what's in his or her adoption file. The ultimate goal is to connect potential forever families to these children, who would be otherwise harder to place if they had remained in their home countries. Typically, over 75% of children who are hosted end up being adopted after their first host trip, whether by their host family or their host family’s community members, extended family members, or friends.

Ian is being hosted through Great Wall China Adoption, based out of Austin, Texas.  Great Wall is one of many American adoption agencies with China hosting programs.  Children typically come for four to five weeks over the holiday season or in the summer.

Who's chosen for the China hosting program?
Staff from adoption agencies work together with orphanages they have established relationships with to identify children who are at risk of not being adopted, such as children who are older or who have significant and/or overwhelming-sounding special needs. These are the children who need an opportunity for people to get to know them beyond the little (and sometimes inaccurate or incomplete) information available in their adoption files. A medical diagnosis like cerebral palsy or the thought of parenting a 12-year-old boy may initially overwhelm a family, but if they meet a child and witness how mobile and independent she is despite muscle weakness, or meet that preteen and have the opportunity to form a bond, the leap of faith adoption requires feels less like jumping off the deep end.

Who hosts them?
Two types of families host, those who intend to adopt the child they are hosting and those who host in order to advocate.

What do families do to advocate?
Host families find different ways to spread the word about the particular child they're hosting, but also the many other children in orphanages in China who need families. They typically use social media and blog, but will also host gatherings in their community for friends and family to get to know their host child. 

If the host family wants to adopt their host child, can the child stay?
Oh how I wish there were so! At the end of the hosting term, the host children and their chaperones must return to China. The family can start the adoption process before the child returns, but they still must complete the same nine-to-10-month process as families who have not hosted. 

Why can the children only stay a few weeks?  Why can't they live with foster families in the U.S. until they are adopted?
The children participating in the China hosting program are Chinese citizens and are under the guardianship of orphanages in their home cities and are not eligible for foster care in the U.S.

Ian is so young. I thought only older children could be hosted.
Since most children who are chosen for a hosting program are at least seven or eight years old, it is unusual for a child this young to be hosted. However, his orphanage believes Ian's autism diagnosis is incorrect and felt strongly that his best chance of being a adopted would be to be hosted. In addition to advocating, his host family has a number of specialists lined up who will be providing evaluations pro bono. 


If I'm interested in adopting one of the host children, what should I do?
Contract Great Wall China Adoption at 512-323-9595.

Finding Ian's Forever Family

This boy, who is going by the nickname of Ian, will arrive tomorrow from China for a month's stay with a host family in Minneapolis. He's only four years old and was abandoned at age two for reasons we may never know. 

Ian has been living in an orphanage in China and needs a family and I know there's a family out there who needs Ian. However, without coming to the United States at the tender age of four, there's a very strong possibility Ian will never meet his forever family.

According to an advocate who's heavily involved in China hosting program,

"This little boy has a big label in his file, a file that was created when he first came into the orphanage at two years old. That label is autism. But, looking back at his history, the orphanage and our agency think that this diagnosis is potentially INACCURATE. He was shut down when he came. He is now active, lively, and has normal behavior according to the orphanage director. But that autism label can not be changed in his file. It will forever follow him."

I know how labels or inaccurate diagnoses can hurt a child's chance of being adopted. My daughter was misdiagnosed with cerebral palsy, which is crazy, because anyone who meets her can clearly tell she does NOT have CP. But that was the label her file contained, and even though she was a young, otherwise healthy girl - the epitome of the child so many families adopting from China seek to be matched with - families passed her over.  

I know the odds are stacked even more heavily against Ian.  He's a boy. He's already four.  And he's labeled as autistic. Adoption takes a huge leap of faith, and even more so when children have special needs, as all the children do who are eligible for international adoption from China. If the autism diagnosis is incorrect, it needlessly scares families away.  And even if it's correct, the needs of children with autism varies so much that such a label alone does little to prepare families.

This is why Ian's host family has set up evaluations with specialists who will help identify his medical needs.  But just as important, Ian's host family and other advocates will have the opportunity to get to know this little boy in a way that an adoption file of just a couple pages will never be able to convey. With our knowledge of who Ian is as a child, and not a label, we can advocate for him and encourage you to advocate for him as well.