Adopt from China?? [Ask a Cross-Cultural Couple]

“Oh, China! My sibling/friend/acquaintance adopted from China!”

While this isn’t exactly a FAQ, it is a Frequently Stated Observation (FSO?) when my life-in-China comes up in conversation with people back home. For many, the only personal connection they have with the exotic Far East is adoption. (And mine, too, until I got into English teaching. And Asian TV shows.) There are several fascinating reasons why adoption from China to the U.S. exploded back in the day, and why it’s steadily decreasing now.

Random picture of blossoms in spring~

Why did so many people I know adopt from China?

Americans began adopting children internationally in the 1940s [read this article by PBS], and the U.S. continues to be the highest receiving nation of children in the world. This article by CNN goes so far as to say that “the story of international adoption is an American story,” and “The United States adopts more children internationally, but also domestically, than the rest of the world combined.”

In contrast, China enacted its first law on adoption in 1991. By 1995, most of the orphaned children entering the U.S. were from China [according to this archived post from the U.S. Department of State]. Adoptions from China peaked in 2005, and have been dropping since [according to this article on the China Center of Adoption Affairs]. During that ten year window, over 55,000 Chinese children were adopted by Americans.

Why did China have so many kids up for adoption?

The One-Child Policy was introduced in 1979 for population control. Strict enforcement meant couples that had more than one child faced heavy (sometimes impossible) fines. After the first child, women were required to get the contraceptive IUD, and if they had a second child, they were required to be sterilized. [Check this Wikipedia article.] Add this policy to a cultural emphasis on having a son to carry on the family name, and in the 1980s you have orphanages overflowing with healthy, unwanted baby girls. China and America were the perfect adoption match.

[For more info, read “How China’s One-Child Policy Transformed U.S.Attitudes on Adoption” by NPR.]

But the numbers of international adoptions, including from China, are dropping. China began tightening restrictions on adoptions in 2007. Today’s requirements for potential parents are steep: annual income of at least $10,000 per family member, body mass index can’t exceed 40, no severe facial deformation, no mental disorders, no blindness, previous divorce increases necessary length-of-marriage… and on and on. [See these lists from the U.S. Department of State and Holt International adoption agency.]

Today, healthy orphans can only be adopted by Chinese, and all international adoptees are children with special needs.

Why does China have stricter requirements for international adoption today?

Why are fewer Americans adopting Chinese children?

1. The One-Child Policy relaxed. Just as the policy was a factor in the increase of adoptions, its fading out is now a factor in the decrease of adoptions. Over time, loopholes appeared in the policy for parents who had a girl, or parents who were both only children themselves. Then, in October of 2015, the Two-Child Policy was announced. (I was living in China by this point, and it was very interesting to talk with my married Chinese friends about their new opportunity to have two kids!)

2. The gender gap. Today there are more men than women in China, and it’s already affecting the current marriable generation. Now China wants to keep baby girls within the country. Also, in my experience living in China, young parents are really okay with having a girl, as the cultural importance of needing a boy diminishes over time.

3. Improved economy. I think it's common knowledge at this point that China's economic growth has skyrocketed in a very short timeframe. Chinese people have more money and stability than before, as well as more access to and knowledge about contraceptives. Today, people are more likely to have children when they are able to take care of them - which means fewer abandoned children in orphanages. (It still happens, but it happens less.)

4. Scandals surrounding international adoption. On top of adoption costs, orphanages in China require potential parents to give a minimum $5,000 (US) donation. International adoption is a lucrative business, and it attracts corruption in multiple countries, China included.

In 2005, Chinese news outlets reported multiple orphanages caught buying babies from traffickers and reselling them to other orphanages or families. Almost all of the children were adopted internationally. In 2009, reports surfaced of children being taken away from parents who couldn’t afford the One-Child fee, and then those children being put up for international adoption. [Check this list of international adoption scandals.]

In 2011, the New York Times reported on government officials seizing and selling children [see this article], and the shocked reactions of American parents of Chinese adoptees [see this article]. When I recently talked with some of my Chinese friends about adoption, their initial reaction was to reference the corruption.

While these factors are contributing to the decreasing number of adoptions from China to the U.S., it doesn’t change the fact that there is a generation of thousands of Chinese-born children growing up as American citizens. Or the fact that friends will continue to bring it up in conversation with me as their closest experience to mine, though they are literally oceans apart.

FSO: "Oh, China! I know someone who adopted from China!"

A: "Yeah? ... Me, too."

(Side note: Major props to all the parents in the world who foster / adopt children. I have the upmost respect for you.)

[Ask a Cross-Cultural Couple]

I would like to do a series of posts answering people’s questions about cross-cultural relationships and/or expat life in Asia. Please leave your question in the comments!