It's like clockwork in the sense that you can think of someone adopting as the Dossier they submit. So E and I are a Dossier, waiting in China, waiting in line, a number, a date. These Dossiers get "logged in" ("LID), this is the point at which you are in line and subject to the rythm of the Chinese adoption clock. So what's the clock like? Good question, normally, it's like an old grandfather clock, with lots of gears, wheels, etc. And on each gear there were a ton of teeth, thousands of teeth to be exact. The point at which a Dossier became a tooth on a gear was fixed/permanent. Such that as the clock operated, the gears turned and you got closer and closer to the hands reaching the magic hour for you.
So, this gear and rythm theory assumes a few things:1. the rythm of the clock is steady. It's not like the one in our house that we forget to wind up and stops every so often.
2. the clock does not stop based on outside influences. Again, not like the clock at our house, having just moved in, where the weight at the base of the pendulum is not 'right' and thus it will swing slower and slower, shorter and shorter until it stops and we find the magic 'sweet spot'.
3. the teeth on the gears do NOT change order, clocks don't 'skip a beat'. Once you're in line, no cutting, no movement backwards...
Recent feedback on China, I've seen:
Case #1, in fact, without the right resources, the proper balance of people processing paperwork, babies ready and released for adoption and dossiers, the rythm of the clock is not steady at times, and can slow drastically. Up until October 2005, 6 month wait time, current wait, 14-15 months... balance anyone? It's steadied out at 14 months for the last few months... but it's SLOWWWW and it's at 14 months though still increasing... 14.1, 14.3, 14.6...
Case #2, outside influences.... hmmmm Olympics and saving face which is vital to China, it's an essence of who the country is. Hmmmm, Hunan scandal? Hmmm, new director last Fall? Hmmm, major network or newspaper expose?
Case #3, changing orders... well, the current uproar is that some "firm" LID's are being shifted because paperwork was not processed in the order it was received during August of 2005 and thus, some people who should have been LID before others (by weeks) have instead LID's after those people, instead of fixing this LAST year, it's being addressed this month.
No adoption program is perfect, they all have risks, some financial, some personal, some tear out your heart in the process. China is not exempt from the potential controversies or conflicts that surround such delicate issues. Let me repeat that... the process is not perfect and no amount of criticism or hope will change that.
With regard to LID's... we could all argue and feel for everyone who's impacted and changed till we're blue in the face.
In the Chinese adoption world, it's the lack of surprises, the faith in the strength and consistency of the program that draws many of us there. Could you imagine being LID 8/24, on the cusp of the current rumors as being included in this weeks (this months) referrals, you built up that energy, excitement, greater than a birth anticipation for some people... only to wonder where your referral is, you were 'in the group' afterall, then you finally hear from your agency that your LID was moved by the CCAA. It was moved because in all actuality you got in line ahead of people you shouldn't have, so you were moved out to make room for those moved back in. Even though that's the way it should have been done, originally, it won't change how terrible the impact is on you. It's the surprise, the let down, the fact you planned on waiting 6 months... have now waited 14, saw the light at the end of the tunnel and yet, it wasn't your light, it was the light for the guys behind you. The light for the tooth on the gear that's behind you.
So while I feel for those being bumped, I also feel for those who's LID's were assigned many weeks later than they should have been. In today's waiting for referral terms, every week delayed to be Logged In with the right group results in as much as an extra month of waiting. So if you had a 3 week lapse in order, you might have an extra 3 months of wait... can you imagine? Can you imagine if you knew that had happened?
Yes, I know, the whole point is about bringing a child into your life and your heart, but no one, for one second, can't honestly say that there is no potential for the way in which something happens to either impact your opinion, your memory, your overall feelings.
By the way, we were DTC 4/14 but it took 3 weeks for LID during a time most waited a few days... personally we understand the sadness of a delay in LID occuring, we had that. Who knows how the CCAA might choose to handle these things in the future, for anyone involved in the shuffle of Teeth on the Gear, I wish you peace.
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