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Great Wall Service Amenities

At Great Wall we believe in keeping fees low while offering practical choices and providing exceptional service. Our philosophy is based in the belief that if we keep our fees low and allow families to choose their amenities, more families will be able to adopt and more children will be placed with parents. Great Wall provides as standard:

  • Adoption services for American families living anywhere in the world
  • International Headquarters located in Austin, Texas
  • A licensed social worker for local Texas residents
  • Guidance on social workers nation wide
  • Regional Offices across the United States and in Asia and Europe
  • International social workers for families living outside the United States
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We know that every family is different, with their own specific needs and particular circumstances.  With that in mind, Great Wall is proud to offer a variety of service amenities.  With Great Wall, you can choose the service amenities that are right for your family and your budget.  And you needn’t be a Great Wall family to make the most of your adoption experience!  Adoption Moments Online and Stork Goodies are available to all families adopting from China, while services like the adoption counseling and medical prescriptions for baby are exclusively available to Great Wall families.

Great Wall Counseling Service

While adoption is a very happy time for families, the addition of a child may also create unanticipated stress on the family.  For this reason, Great Wall offers in-depth counseling performed by our licensed, Master’s level social workers to all Texas families. Great Wall social workers provide counseling for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

  • Helping families with behavioral issues or attachment issues
  • Teaching the family how to promote bonding and attachment
  • Offering advice about sleeping, eating, or sensory integration problems
  • Offering suggestions about how to address the child's loss of the birth family
  • Teaching parents how to talk with the child about adoption
  • Teaching parents how to integrate Chinese culture into everyday life
  • Helping parents to improve their parenting skills
  • Helping parents to promote structure, boundaries, and age appropriate discipline
  • Assisting parents in coping with unexpected special needs, such as serious medical or developmental problems
  • Addressing changes or problems in the marital relationship that may have occurred since the adoption
  • Providing referrals to community resources, as needed

Great Wall recognizes that even the best of families experience unexpected difficulties and we remain committed to helping families through these stressful life events.

Our social workers have extensive adoption experience and specialized training in:

  • Bonding and Attachment
  • Adoption Adjustment Issues
  • Parenting
  • Marital Therapy
  • Family Therapy

Although most families do not require in-depth counseling services, families experiencing post-placement difficulties can request individual or family counseling. Fees are only necessary when a family requires counseling beyond what is already provided during the post-placement visits. Counseling sessions are individualized to address the family's needs and concerns.

  • Private face to face counseling sessions are available
  • Confidential telephone sessions one hour in length
  • Counseling is utilized on a short-term basis
  • Typically 2- 8 sessions per family
  • Referral to a specialist  for long term therapy, when needed
  • Referral to a specialist when families’ needs are outside the social
    worker's expertise or competence

If a Great Wall social worker is not available in your geographic area, and counseling cannot be accomplished by telephone, Great Wall will assist your family in locating a counselor or psychologist in your area who specializes in adoption. This service is for Texas families using Great Wall social workers.

Home Study Services

Great Wall’s social workers can now provide Home Study services to all Texas families who are adopting internationally or domestically; not just Great Wall families who are adopting from China! Great Wall offers the customized Home Study Services below based on state requirements and/or the country from which you are adopting:

  • International or Domestic Adoption Home Study
  • International or Domestic Home Study Travel Updates
  • International or Domestic Home Study Addendums
  • International or Domestic Post Placement Reports
  • To find out more contact Kerry Campbell at (512)323-9595 ext. 3040 or email her at kerry@gwca.org

    Adoption Moments Online

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    Document every special moment with Great Wall’s online journaling called Adoption Moments Online.  This service is sponsored by Great Wall, but is available to all families adopting from China.  Adoption Moments Online allows you to share your adoption experience with your friends and family 24/7.  You can let them know how your adoption journey is progressing; from the beginning, throughout the paper chase, during the wait for a referral, amid the travel preparation, to the joy of Gotcha Day and beyond! This service last from the beginning of the adoption process up to one year after your family returns from China.

    • Adoption Moments Online Journal is sponsored by Great Wall, but it is available to all families adopting from China
    • Personalize: Our design menu lets you choose the appearance of your journal
    • Journal: Share your favorite experiences with friends and family any time
    • Share Photos:
      • Referral pictures
      • Gotcha Day pictures
      • Birthday Parties
      • Special Occasions
      • Holidays
    • Make Announcements:
      • Orphan Announcement
      • Adoption Announcement
      • Re-adoption Announcement
    • Create & Document: a virtual Lifebook for your child
    • Communicate: Adoption Moments is password accessible anytime, from any computer, anywhere in the world

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    Stork Goodies™

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    Great Wall provides this unique service to all families who want to send a care package to their child in China.  Since US delivery services don’t guarantee the delivery of packages once inside China, Stork Goodies™ is a popular service among families adopting from China. Great Wall purchases and delivers the following items directly to your child’s orphanage:

    • Camera
    • Film
    • Batteries
    • Candies
    • Blanket
    • Pink or Blue Teddy Bear
    • A Translated Note from You

    When you arrive in China to receive your child, the orphanage director will return the camera to you with photos of your child at the orphanage. However, Great Wall cannot guarantee the delivery of camera by orphanage director. These priceless photos may be your child’s only tangible connection to the past as they sometimes contain the images of their caretakers and crib mates.  This fun and powerful service is available to all families adopting from China. We cannot guarantee every welfare home will take photos and return the camera.

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    Medical Prescriptions

    Working in a collaborative effort with Dr. Jane Aronson, Great Wall can
    offer our families pre-selected medical prescriptions at a reduced rate:

    • Dr. Aronson is a world renowned expert in International Adoptive Pediatrics
    • She is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University
    • Many pediatricians will not prescribe medications without examining a child first
    • Dr. Aronson’s expertise and experience as an adoptive parent, allow her to provide this service for Great Wall families.

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    Baby Backpack

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    This popular Great Wall service gives you one less thing to worry about before you leave for China. The Baby Backpack allows you to focus on more immediate concerns, saves room in your suitcase, and provides a rare convenience during a hectic time. This comprehensive package provides for your baby’s needs with age-appropriate supplies:

    • Diapers
    • Formula
    • Cereal
    • Bottles
    • Bathing Supplies
    • First Aid
    • And other helpful items.

    All of these items are delivered to your Beijing hotel room in a stylish red backpack bearing the Great Wall emblem. It allows parents to relax and focus on Gotcha Day, without worrying about finding the right baby supplies. Since the formula and bottle are the same used by many orphanages, babies often transition very easily.  Many families have told us how much they enjoyed the convenience of the Baby Backpack.

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    Chinese Orphan Announcements

    When a child is found abandoned in China, the government puts an ad in the local Chinese newspaper announcing it. This is the Chinese Orphan Announcement, sometimes called the "Finding Ad". Over the years, many adoptive parents have unsuccessfully attempted to obtain their child’s orphan announcement in China. Great Wall is proud to offer our Chinese Orphan Announcement Service, which locates and obtains your child’s orphan announcement when it is available. The orphan announcement is a tangible part of your child’s personal history, which makes it a meaningful addition to a life-book. This service may not be available with all provinces.

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    Orphanage Donation Wiring Service

    Great Wall now offers its families the opportunity to wire the required $3,000 orphanage donation, and have it securely delivered to the orphanage.  We created our donation wiring service in answer to a growing number of requests from families:

    • Wiring the donation saves you the trouble of searching for crisp new $100 bills
    • Eliminates the need to carry all that cash overseas
    • Saves time at the Civil Affairs Office in China
    • Frees you from the responsibility and risk of a cash donation
    • Allows you to focus on bonding with your child
    • *Please note that the wiring service is not available with all adopting Provinces.

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    Great Wall Visa Service

    Great Wall now offers the exclusive service of obtaining the travel visa for you! Many traveling to China for the first time are unaware that you need to obtain a travel visa to be able to enter China. A passport alone is not sufficient. When you enter the travel phase of your adoption the Great Wall Travel Team will instruct you on how and when to obtain the time sensitive travel visa on your own or now more conveniently, through us!

    For more details, contact a Great Wall Travel Advisor, Natalie Crossland at (512)323-9595 ext. 3031, email at natalie@gwca.org.

    Travel Insurance

    Great Wall offers travel insurance because it gives you peace of mind at a time when anxiety is likely to be at its highest. Most medical insurance plans do not extend coverage when traveling overseas, when it may be needed the most. Although the chance of an injury or medical emergency is relatively small, we offer the opportunity to purchase low cost travel insurance, as a safety net in an emergency. This option allows your family to travel internationally with one less thing to worry about.

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    Passport Service for new baby with English/Chinese name (As Available)

    This service allows families to receive their child’s passport with both the Chinese and English names. The Passport Service Bilingual makes it much easier to obtain all of the paperwork that follows:

    • Great Wall will have your child’s English name added to the Chinese passport and provincial adoption paperwork
    • Facilitates State re-adoption in order to obtain an American birth certificate and other benefits
    • Highly recommend for families living overseas to facilitate obtaining a US passports for children adopted abroad

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    China Cell Phone

    Our inexpensive and easy to use China cell phones let you stay in touch with friends and family at home, give you peace of mind when away from your hotel, and are always available when you need them

    • Share your adoption experience with loved ones
    • Let your friends and family call you in China
    • No need to find phone cards in China
    • No need to pay high hotel phone rates
    • No need to find a phone when you want to make a call
    • Cell phones save you time, money, and inconvenience

    This amenity is included in Premier and Executive Plans

    *Discounted Fees for Subsequent Adoptions*

    As an added bonus to our service, if you have adopted from China in the past, Great Wall will happily discount all subsequent adoptions with our organization. These discounts include:

    • $1,000 discount on subsequent adoptions from China, even if your first adoption wasn’t with Great Wall!
    • We offer returning Great Wall families a free Stork Goodies Service for each subsequent adoption.

    (Note: Stork Goodies™ is not available at every orphanage, is not transferable, and cannot be redeemed for cash of the same value. You must have adopted with Great Wall previously to qualify for this offer.)