Adopt from Holt’s
China Regional Programs

Can singles adopt?

Yes. China is open to single female applicants ages 30+ who meet the eligibility criteria.

Can I select my child’s gender?

Yes. China is one of the few country programs that still allows families to specify gender on their application. Because more than 80 percent of all adoptive families prefer girls, families who are open to boys are usually matched faster than those who are only open to adopting a girl.

Do all children from China who need families have special needs?

Yes. The majority of children in China waiting for families have some sort of medical or developmental special need. This is due to a number of factors. Namely, in recent years, China has eased their one-child-per-family policy, causing fewer families to abandon children. With China’s growing economy, Chinese families also now have greater resources to care for their children — another factor that has contributed to fewer overall cases of child abandonment. In-country adoption is also becoming increasingly common, allowing for children — primarily healthy infants — to join loving adoptive families in China before being considered for international adoption. 

However, many families are still unable to care for a child with special needs, leaving many children with special needs waiting for a loving adoptive family through international adoption. When applying, families determine their openness to age, gender and types of special needs.

Nearly half of the children Holt places from China have conditions that can either be corrected with surgery or managed with treatment, such as:

• Cleft lip and palate
• Orthopedic issues like limb differences or clubfoot
• Heart defects requiring less-involved surgery
• Atresias, such as ear atresia or anal atresia
• Prematurity/low birth weight with accompanying developmental delays or medical issues
• Skin conditions such as birthmarks, angiomas or removable tumors
• Developmental or speech delays

Families who are open to more involved special needs may be matched with a child with these types of conditions:

• Complex heart defects
• Cerebral palsy
• Spina bifida
• HIV
• Hydrocephalus
• Urogenital abnormalities
• Thalassemia requiring regular blood transfusions
• Vision or hearing loss
• Dwarfism
• Albinism
• Down syndrome

How long does it take to adopt from China?

At this time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the length of time to adopt a child from China is not predictable. China is not allowing foreigners to enter China, so adoption travel is suspended.

Should I search for a child online and then work with whatever agency is assigned to that child?

This approach doesn’t work out for most families and can actually be counterproductive. Not all children waiting for adoptive families have online profiles, so you are only seeing a very limited number of children in need of a family when you browse various China agency photolistings. In fact, most of the children with more minor special needs never appear on an agency photolisting, and per China’s requirement, these children can only be matched with a family who has already sent their dossier to China. Your options will be broader and your process faster if you select an agency and begin your homestudy and dossier paperwork before identifying a child you wish to adopt. Families cannot be matched with a child or have a child’s file held for them without an approved homestudy. If you see a child online for whom you would like to be considered to adopt but have yet to start the process with that agency, there may be other families with the agency who have begun or completed paperwork, which allows them to move forward with the matching process.

Are all children eligible to adopt through Holt on the China photolisting?

Only children who need extra help finding families — often older children or children with more involved needs — have online profiles posted for families to browse on their own. Children with more manageable special needs are matched directly with families. If you are interested in adopting a younger child or a child with less significant special needs, the best thing you can do is to start the process and submit a dossier so that you are eligible for a referral of a child with this profile.