結縁 Heemei asked:
I’ve heard they made their law harder to adopt a baby girl, from my sister who wants to adopt, is it because they realized there are an imbalance of population between men and women?
Doodlestuff, I heard that one too, in certain region they actually give away money for people to have children
From my understanding the traditional attitudes about the superiority of boys are slowly changing and fewer baby girls are being abandoned. It’s a good thing!
Comment by ladybmw1218 — January 26, 2006 @ 9:05 am
its not like china needs more ppl, they should let them adopt
Comment by kg — January 28, 2006 @ 4:04 pm
Yes, they are. They are eliminating singles and gays from adopting at all. Parents over 40 (or is it 45?) cannot adopt infants. People are still adopting them, but there was a moratorium on adopting in certain regions.
Comment by Doodlestuff — January 30, 2006 @ 10:46 am
No, China Adoptions are not stopping. The China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) recently placed new restrictions on infant adoptions only. None of the new restrictions including the elimination of single parent adoptions and the lowering of the age limit apply to older child adoptions. The CCAA says the restrictions were enacted because all the incoming babies are being adopted. That may or may not be true…what is for certian is that the orphanages are still full of older children, who the CCAA hopes to encourage people to adopt by restricting their adoption of infants.
China continues to be the US’s largest international adoption program, with 8,000 Chinese children adopted by US citizens in 2005. (2006 numbers are not yet available.) As it is one of the most stable, predictable programs, this trend is not likely to change in the near future.
China’s orphanages and their inhabitants have always been shrouded in mystery for those of us on the outside. China is incrediably sensitive about its one child policy which means it is even more sensitive about the huge number of abandoned children in their ranks. This national sensitivity is so marked that their are even published warnings on the US Department of State website. On the page giving information and guidelines of Chinese adoption it reads “PLEASE NOTE: Chinese authorities are extremely sensitive about the operation of foreign entities in China. Moreover, adoption is also a sensitive subject in China.It is therefore advisable for any person interested in adopting a child from China to act with discretion and decorum. High-profile attention to adoption in China could curtail or eliminate altogether adoption of Chinese children by persons from countries, including the United States, that have caused adoption to become the subject of public attention.”
Thus it is really difficult to know what the population of their orphanages really looks like.
Comment by Traylee — January 30, 2006 @ 2:13 pm
You have asked a very good question that has a very complex answer.In order to know the absolute truth, one would have to go undercover to learn what really goes on.You have to also educate yourself about female-infanticide and the governments recent past history regarding keeping population growth in check.I hate to say it ,but it probably is incumbent on how much money you have and if it is a girl u are going to relieve them of.I am most perplexed as to why a person feels or wants to go outside thier own country to do what I consider an unselfish act-that is to adopt a child.Do u and others not realize how many north american children need a home?
Comment by rosalind — January 30, 2006 @ 3:14 pm
l haven’t actually heard anything about it, but it makes sense to me. lt’s been quite a few years now where people in China have been restricted to two children per family, so l guess the overpopulation isn’t as big a problem as it used to be. Also, l do remember reading something about there being a pretty big imbalance between boys and girls being born recently, and less abandonment of baby girls, therefore leading to lower female mortality rates. lsn’t it strange how things turn around like that?
Comment by smurfette — February 1, 2006 @ 9:56 pm
I suspect that has a tiny bit to do with it. China is seeing a great deal of side effects to the restrictions of the one child policy. Abandoned children was just the beginning. Young healthy boys are being abducted to become sons of families who do not have a son. Women and young girls are being abducted to be wifes of men who cannot find a wife and forced into sex slavery. Areas of Guangdong province and Hunan province were closed to adoptions because of allegation of baby stealing. China cracked down hard on it and in Hunan alone there were more than a dozen people who were put in Chinese prison because of it. I read an article from Yunnan province where people who had stolen and sold young boys were executed for their crimes. People who do these crimes are punished very harshly.
CCAA has stated that they have fewer “paper ready babies” available. That means that the number of dossiers from adopting parents are greater than the dossiers of babies submitted by the orphanages. I suspect it is not a question of fewer numbers of children in the orphanages but the increase in wannabe parents for these children.
As a result, CCAA has updated their rules and regulations to exclude singles. Gays and lesbians were prohibited from adopting years ago. The rule actually states “preference will be given to a married couple”. With the current status of the referrals singles are pretty much left out to dry. Agencies will not accept applications from singles. Even on the special needs children waiting child lists, agencies have yet to give a referral to a single. I tried to petition for a boy whom I believe may be the biological brother of my daughter. I was turned down because I am single. These two children are from the same orphanage and are spitting images of each other. The boy is older than my daughter by one year exactly and was born with a cleft lip and palate which would explain why he was abandoned.
The CCAA can make whatever rules they want. Part of the problem is also related to the Hague Convention which requires countries to strive have more children adopted domestically than internationally. It is very difficult for Chinese to adopt a child given they can only have one child or pay severe fines. Adopted children also fall into the same category as birth children and these parents would have to pay the fines for adopted children plus the fees to adopt. They just cannot afford it. There is a book I would recommend called “Wanting a Daughter Needing a Son” that explains much of the plight of the abandoned children in China. The Chinese love their girls and most would like to have a son and a daughter. There is a quote in that book about a balanced family having both a son and a daughter.
Comment by Kim_T — February 2, 2006 @ 12:20 pm