Recently in Taiwan Adoption News

Program Update: Gladney received four referrals from New Hope over the last month, 2 boys and 2 girls! Three families received civil rulings in December and last week three families were in Taiwan completing their adoptions. We recently received two final rulings and both families will be travelling this month!

Ana Mei and Mom Alex, happy together in their Taipei hotel.

Congratulations to Michael, Alex and big brother Nate who recently

completed their adoption and arrived home with Ana Mei last week.

Legislative Update: On November 11, 2011, the Taiwan Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Children and Youth Welfare Act. This legislation has been under consideration since the latter part of 2010. Gladney has been monitoring the legislation along with our partner adoption organizations in Taiwan over the last year and we have posted information to our website(http://www.adoptionsbygladney.com/adoption/international/taiwan) as well as our blogsites to communicate this information to families in the process of adopting from Taiwan, as well as for those families who might be considering adoption from Taiwan.

The legislation addresses various aspects of child welfare, including adoption, and now requires the adoption of children, with the exception of adoption among relatives, to be arranged through a nonprofit, government-licensed adoption/child welfare organization. All organizations that Gladney works with, New Hope Social Welfare Foundation, Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation and Cathwel Services are licensed organizations. In the legislation there are enhanced provisions governing adoption organizations and the approval of adoptive parents. The legislation states that domestic adoption is considered a priority over foreign adoption. More detailed guidance is expected in the upcoming year from the Children's Bureau in Taiwan regarding a uniform and nationwide system to ensure that children are available for domestic consideration before being referred for international placement. As we receive updates and new information, we will post the information to our web and blog sites, as well as update parents through individual phone conversations and email communications. Please contact Gladney's Asia Program Social Services Director at wendy.stanley@gladney.org with any questions.

Home a month and happily settling into their new family life in the U.S., these

two sisters enjoyed hamming it up for their first professional photo session!