The Lindsey Family Website: Bring Haven Home

We want to Bring Haven Home!!!

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." - Ancient Chinese Proverb

Ever since Michelle was a little girl she has dreamed of adopting a little girl from China. On November 12, 2004 we signed the paperwork to start the process for adoption and we have been accepted. We are so excited to "Bring Haven Home" someday. We hope to have Haven in our arms by spring of 2008. Please keep this in your prayers as we have a lot of work ahead of us!!!

NEW ADOPTION BLOG: Click here to go to my blog!

For More Information...

If you would like any further information on Haven's adoption, adoption in general, or the Bring Haven Home Benefit Concert, please type below...
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Chinese Adoption Information

China provides one of the most consistent and reliable international adoption programs available. The children are most frequently healthy, bright, beautiful infant girls, unless older children are requested. Click here for more information of the "One-Child Policy" in China that has left hundreds of thousands of girls without homes. It is estimated that between 500,000 to 800,000 children are abandoned annually. Adopting a child from China is a process that naturally divides into three phases: Assembling the paperwork that will to go to China, waiting, and the trip to China to adopt the child. The paperwork is generally known as the dossier and consists of ten or so documents that actually go to China and other documents required by State, County and adoption agency rules. The paperwork that goes to China must have a series of certifications that attest that the document is authentic and not something created with a good graphics program. The parent(s) must also submit documents to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. After all of the documents are collected and authenticated, the entire package is sent, usually in a group of 3-10 dossiers, by the adoption agency to the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in Beijing.

Our Adoption Agency

The adoption agency we are working with is International Family Services. We were blessed to find out about IFS through our great friend - Jim Grassi. Jim is the founder of Let's Go Fishing Ministries.

The total cost we will need to raise for the adoption is roughly $12,000. The family will raise the money as a non-profit through the adoption agency.

The 2005 Bring Haven Home Concert was a HUGE hit!!!!!!

What a show!!! Over 400 people showed up at the Blaine Performing Arts Center on May 27th for the 1st ever Bring Haven Home Concert. We were so blessed and humbled with the turn out.

Over $4,500 was raised for our adoption!!!!! We are 1/3 the way to raising the $13,000+ needed to bring Haven home.

We would like to thank everyone who helped make this event such a great success - Tina Gluth & family, the Rubber Chicken Guy, Maggie's Fury, Peter Rolstad and the Bellingham Pipe Band, Will Nichols, Tartan Pride, Katie Campbell, Jim McWilliams, all the volunteers from Blaine Christian Fellowship, Nicole Dossey, Erin DeKock, Sandy Rasmussen, The Highland Dancers (Hannah Gluth, Savannah Ferron, McKenzie Ferron, Mychal Smith, Christina Mithcell, Fiona Strong, Olivia Gluth, and Kristen Burrow), the Irish Dancers, Pelican Press, Glenn Tuski, ... and of course, many more!!!

Keep an eye on the web site for the dates for next year's Bring Haven Home Concert.

Chinese Adoption FAQ

Q: How long does the process take ? A: Most of the waiting is dictated by how long various State, Federal, and Chinese government agencies take to process all of the documents. Right now the wait time is 18 months from the time China receives your documents. Q: How much does it cost ? A: Somewhere between $12,000 and $20,000 for the complete adoption spread over the entire period. Scott will be using his travel points for the airline tickets and hopefully some of the hotel costs. How old are the children ? A: In general, most children are between 6 and 20 months of age. Due to legal requirements and the time required for document processing in China, the children are almost always over six months of age before the adoption is completed. Parents normally request a specific age range that they would prefer. CCAA usually, but not always, will comply with the wishes of the parents. Parents may request older children if that is their preference. Most infants adopted in are between 8-15 months old. Are all the children girls ? A: No. About 95% of the children are girls but some boys are available. Girls can be of any age over about six months but boys tend to be between one and two years old. What requirements do the parents have to meet ? A: Effective July 1, 2001, here are the revised requirements. To adopt a healthy child, Chinese law requires that the parents be over the age of 30. Newly issued regulations place a hard upper limit of 55 for parents. In addition, parents aged 50-55 must be prepared to accept a child of 3 or older. The parents also need to have sufficient income to support the child and to be in reasonably good health. The Chinese do not have specific numerical standards although some agencies have set their own limits.