Great Wall China Adoption

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We were very, very disappointed with Great Wall China Adoption and their sister company Children of All Nations!! Terrible, Terrible, Terrible!!! There were so many things that went wrong that we don't know where to begin! We believe that many other adoption agencies would have been a much better choice than this one for us! We have now read all of the bad reviews about them and we wish we would have read them before we started this journey!! Smith Family

We do not recommend this adoption agency at all! This was the worst experience dealing with the folks at this agency and it made the process much harder and more stressful than it should have been. They were hard to get on the phone once they had our money just like some of the other reviews said. To get them to follow up on things that it was their job to follow up on was just the most challenging experience! We are very sorry that we didn't read the reviews of others first or we would have never gone with this agency. The Brown's

We have been waiting for our child since 2007. We met all the requirements and never encountered a problem with our paperwork. We were told our waiting time would be 18 - 24 months. We even signed up for their Waiting Child program because we are happy to open our homes to children with special needs. As far as we are concerned there is no rhyme or reason for their placements because we keep seeing others skip ahead of us in the waiting line, so to speak --to us, the whole idea of the LID is a joke. We have invested thousands of dollars and all we've received in return is heartache. I see how other comments say their issues were resolved but we haven't even been given an opportunity to have an issue! We continue to see their staff change constantly and have had to work hard at keeping track of who is in charge of communications over the 7 YEARS we've been waiting. We tried to go elsewhere but unfortunately, our finances have not allowed for us to gather again the money to hire another agency. I am glad so glad for the children who have found their forever home but I cannot in good conscience recommend this agency as I am unable to tell what separated those lucky few who have seen success and us.

WE RECOMMEND GWCA!!!



We have adopted with GWCA 6 times (2008-2013).



Has everything been perfect? Nope...but when we had an issue it was resolved quickly.



Was it more expensive? A little..but absolutely worth it for the lack of stress and difficulties in China



Do we work with/for GWCA? No...never even meet them in person, only on the phone and computer



Types of Adoptions? single waiting child and simultaneous waiting children in different provinces (ages 6-13.5)



Have they met our expectations? Yes, and exceeded them significantly on three different occasions...direct call with Snow Wu, advocating for a special exemption and getting it and getting the orphanage donation waived on one of our aging our boys



Have we considered other agencies? Absolutely, and we always end up back at GWCA after asking questions, comparing costs and talking with other agency users.



Would we use them again? Certainly if we adopt another child from China



Quality of guides? Excellent



Paperwork Guidance? It's all laid out for you and all you have to do is follow the directions...very well prepared for the adopting family to use



Questions...pancoast@theofficenet.com

Here's a fun story:



On the surface, GWC appears to be a healthy nonprofit adoption agency. 98% of revenue spent on services, solid balance sheet, etc. Until you dig a little deeper and see the real picture.



Their CEO, Snow Wu, takes home $150k plus benefits. Her salary alone is 615% above the average salary of their employees. She works incredibly hard to squeeze as many families into her overworked staff as possible, usually leaving each case worker with a load of 800-900 families (not even exaggerating). This leads to adoption wait times of roughly 6+ years on average. All the while profits get funneled up.



I have a close family friend who tried adopting with GWC (emphasis on "tried"). Things eventually fell through after multiple instances of missing files, miss communication, and complete lack of transparency from the agency. That starts to make a little more sense when you realize their poor staffers can barely keep up with Ms. Snow's profit-driven demands.



Since 2011 the organization has actually CUT staff dramatically, all the while upper management salaries have been steadily growing. Keep in mind this isn't some magical insider information, this is all clearly evident from looking at their Form 990 in detail.



I'm still unsure how this agency has managed to hold on to their nonprofit status. It's basically a giant revenue funnel for one woman's bank account.

Our family is being formed by an adoption using Great Wall China Adoption Agency.



After a great deal of research we chose Great Wall China Adoption because of their outstanding professionalism, commitment to children, and the ongoing support and educational opportunities that they make available to their families. International Adoption has become extremely challenging in the last several years and GWCA has been able to adapt and continue to stay child focused--and this is their focus. The forming of Forever Families is the outgrowth of their devotion to and assistance for orphaned children.



The pricing is competitive for the quality of service provided. I know several other families who have used GWCA/CAN and also families who haven't. I have not met a well informed and educated family who has not been pleased with this agency. And professionals nationally and internationally have spoken at their educational conferences. If the purported comments about this Not for Profit, Hague Approved Adoption Agency were substantive, then these conferences would not be so well regarded by professionals within the Int'l Adoption field.



As to the comments about the age of their staff, perhaps this is why age discrimination is illegal in the US. We have been involved in this process for so long that we are on our 3rd Home Study Social Worker. Our first Social Worker was the youngest and has proven to be the most knowledgeable and professional of those with whom we've worked. Her age was not a deficit--and I haven't found the age of the staff at GWCA to be a deficit whether the person is in their 20's or 50's or somewhere between.



As to the management style of Snow Wu, high expectations for the staff are clearly articulated by the management of this company and we've found them to be met. I don't find a desire for excellence to be a negative, but I know that in my management experience it's not unusual for employees who are focused on just being adequate do find that it is a challenge to work where the best is expected for the clients. are on our 2nd Home Study agency because our original agency, as is the case with many in the US, weren't as well managed fiscally and functionally as GWCA. Therefore they weren't prepared for the changes in Int'l Adoption trends and policies. Many agencies were not able to remain viable and servicing their families, as has GWCA/CAN. Snow Wu has provided such outstanding leadership and compassion in the field of Adoption that she was recognized nationally with the Angel in Adoption Award in 2003.



Finally, as to the cost of using the a professional travel planner with whom GWCA works to arrange travel in China, I want to have this dealt with seamlessly! I travel quite a bit for business and want to leave this part of the trip to someone who knows what they're doing so that I may focus on my new child and our trip to China. I do know several people in China, but if there were to be a really serious like the snowstorms, flooding and earthquake of the last several years I don't want to call my friends except to make sure that they are safe and well. I want to call a professional who is focused on this aspect of the adoption and who can work to solve any problem. If I were to not work with GWCA's travel people I would work with another company and their focus would be on typical sightseeing and tourism; I want to work with a group whose focus is the same as ours, travel for the purpose of completing our adoption!



My personality is to be value driven and detail oriented and I've found the value of working with GWCA to be even more than I had hoped for and expected. If you're thinking of pursuing International Adoption, don't hesitate to call this agency.