The Dunn Family Got Their Referral!

This just in from one of the Barker Families a few months ahead of us in the Barker China Program:

"John, Vicki, and Big Brother Danny are thrilled to announce the referral of Janie Xiaoning. She is currently at Jiangzhang SWI, Baoji, Shaanxi, China. To our untrained and fully biased eyes, she is PERFECT! News of TA to follow." -Mommy Dunn

Barker International Updates Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue iv of Barker's Newsletter, "International Updates" arrived today by mail. It notes the success of the Barker picnic on June 4, 2006. It also announces the next international waiting parents meeting, scheduled for Monday, August 7, 2006 at 6:30pm.

Here is an excerpt from the China Program Status Update:

The time from referral to travel continues to be about two months. Most of you are aware that referral time has crept up from six months to about a year. The CCAA and our coordinator, Anli, continue to say that this is a normal reflection of the number of families applying compared to the number of children available for international adoption. The CCAA is a branch of the Chinese government, which takes great care and thought when announcing information. Experience has taught us that the time from log-in to referral can reach a minimum of six months and a maximum of 18 months. It is difficult at this stage to predict where the CCAA will be in this cycle when it is each family's turn for referral, but we expect it to remain within this
range. ..