Page 1 of
2 The mystery of China's lost
girls By Kent Ewing
HONG KONG - Much to the chagrin of many
prospective American parents, China has decided to
make it more difficult to adopt Chinese orphans.
But is it holding back the prospects of millions
of orphaned girls finding homes because it is
embarrassed by a pernicious side-effect of the
one-child policy?
Whether the new rules
for foreign adoptions are truly intended to
safeguard the adopted children or, rather, to
change what Beijing perceives as the demeaning
image of China as America's favorite
orphanage, many would-be
mothers and fathers now fear they will be left out
in the childless cold. They also wonder how many
abandoned Chinese children will be left to fend
for themselves in orphanages whose existence
Beijing does not even officially acknowledge.
Since the government-run China Center of
Adoption Affairs (CCAA) briefed international
adoption agencies on the changes before the new
year, US agencies have been overwhelmed by anxious
calls and e-mails from people who now find
themselves shut out of China's adoption picture
for reasons they regard as discriminatory.
The new regulations, which are expected to
take effect on May 1, will disqualify those who
are single, older than 50, or obese (defined as
having a body-mass index of 40 or higher). Anyone
with a criminal record or an illness such as AIDS
or cancer is also excluded.
Prospective
parents must be married for at least two years and
have no more than two divorces between them. If
either spouse has been previously divorced, the
couple must be married five years before
qualifying.
In addition, there are new
educational and financial requirements: couples
must have a high-school diploma, a minimum net
worth of US$80,000, and an income of at least
$10,000 per person, including the adopted child.
Fees charged by Chinese authorities in
connection with foreign adoptions vary depending
on the province where the child is adopted.
Individual Children's Welfare Institutes (where
the child has been living prior to being adopted)
may charge US$3,000-$5,000 as a combined donation
to the institution and a fee for having raised and
cared for the child. Some US families who have
adopted in China have reported being required to
pay additional charges of up to $500 for
transportation.
In addition, there are
standard fees that adoptive parents must pay,
including the initial fee for the CCAA, fees for
translation of the documents, fees for issuance of
the registration of the adoption by the
civil-affairs authority, and the fee for the
Chinese passport for the adopted child. The total
of these fees would normally be less than $1,000.
The relative lack of restrictions on
Chinese adoptions, as well as the country's
reputation for taking good care of the children at
orphanages working with international adoption
agencies, had made China, with its population of
1.3 billion, the first choice for foreign
adoptions by Americans. According to the US State
Department, 6,493 Chinese children were adopted by
Americans last year. China's official Xinhua News
Agency reports that over the past 10 years, 80% of
the more than 50,000 children adopted by
foreigners have gone to US parents.
CCAA
director Lu Ying claims that the new rules will
not reduce the number of foreigners who adopt
Chinese children; rather, they will decrease the
waiting time for qualified adoptive parents and
ensure that children are placed with healthy,
economically sound families.
"The new
rules will help shorten the waiting time for
qualified foreigners," Lu said, "and speed up the
process for children, especially the disabled, so
that they can go to their new families, where they
can get better education and medical treatment
more quickly."
As China becomes wealthier
and domestic adoptions rise, the director
maintains, stricter requirements on foreign
adoptions are simply a product of supply and
demand. But international observers, again citing
State Department figures, ask: Why have the
tighter rules been announced after US adoptions,
still the largest in China, declined by 18% last
year? Where is the proof of a corresponding rise
in domestic adoptions or decline in orphans?
The fact is that in the murky world of Chinese
orphanages, it's hard to see the true picture. The
CCAA provides little reliable information on the
number of orphans or orphanages in China. Only
selected orphanages are allowed to take part in
international adoptions, and government approval
is required for any foreigner who wants to visit
an orphanage.
So analysts must engage in
educated guesswork based on other demographic
information. The picture that then emerges is
spotty and uncertain, leaving China open to the
charge that it is closing its eyes to an alarming
problem that might be considered a human-rights
issue if its full extent were known.
China's one-child policy, introduced in
1979 to reduce population growth, has combined
with the traditional Chinese preference for
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
