Hi! How wonderful that you're going to adopt again. I am Mummy to two boys - both adopted. Things have changed in the last nine years - even the laws about adoption have changed in that time. The process is more rigorous and includes things like police clearance. It is not possible to put a time frame to the process but the sooner you get all the paperwork done, the sooner you can get on the waiting list. The main difference between private adoption and child welfare adoption is money. Private adoption can be hugely expensive whereas child welfare charges for their services on a sliding scale according to income. We adopted both our children through child welfare. The other issue can be that social workers in child welfare are often very over-worked with huge caseloads and now a whole lot more admin. Some friends who have adopted privately have said the process seemed quicker than child welfare but that may just have been because they put very few restrictions on their adoption requests. The more restrictive you are (for example if you specify gender, religion, race or any other variable) the longer you are likely to wait. I know a couple who applied to adopt at the same time as us more than 7 years ago who are still waiting because they specified race, gender and religion amongst other things. Good luck! Having a sibling has been the best thing for both our boys!