I actually got butterflies in my stomach tonight as I read that April 2006 referrals are starting to come in!!! For the last several years, I have told people over and over that we should be going to China within a year to adopt our 2nd child. And as each year ends, the expected date of referral gets pushed back further and further. Many specualtions are discussed all over the web, and in formal and informal adoption support groups, as to why the wait has become so long for Chinese adoptions, but in the end it doesn't matter why. We just have to deal with the disappointment, for we have no control over the matter. We waited less than a year for our 1st child who is now almost 6 years old. (We completed our paperwork for this next adoption when she was just 2 years old - wow!) And fortunately I found out I was pregnant, unexpectedly, just as I was starting to feel hopeless and depressed over this long wait (a little over 2 years after our LID). Our 2nd child, who I always say jumped in line in the birth order, was a saving grace to me. So now we are waiting on our 3rd child, who will probably not be much younger than our son. Life is full of surprises, some of which we embrace with such gratitude. My sympathy goes out to all those mothers who are waiting for their first child.