China Says It’s Ending Foreign Adoptions Of Its Children
The Chinese government has announced that it will be ending its international adoption program. Hundreds of families in America are now left without clarification as their adoption applications remain pending.
According to reports from the Guardian, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said during a daily briefing on Thursday that Beijing is no longer allowing intercountry adoptions of children from China unless it’s for blood relatives or a stepchild.
“We express our appreciation to those foreign governments and families, who wish to adopt Chinese children, for their good intention and the love and kindness they have shown,” she stated.
The US state department said in a letter sent to some adoption agencies that Chinese authorities have informed them that all pending adoptions were canceled unless travel authorizations were already implemented.
“The embassy is seeking clarification in writing from China’s ministry of civil affairs,” the US state department said.
They continued: “We understand there are hundreds of families still pending completion of their adoption, and we sympathize with their situation.”
US families have adopted around 82,600 children from China, which is the most from any foreign country, according to the Guardian.
Intercountry adoptions in general have been suspended around the world since 2020 due to the pandemic.
“The Chinese government had resumed adoptions for children who had received travel authorization prior to the suspension, but the numbers appeared small,” the US state department said in its latest annual report on adoption.
Helen Davidson reported that “The Nanchang Project, a US-based group that works with Chinese adoptees and their adoptive parents to help adoptees find their biological families said the announcement marked ‘the end of an era’ but the program was ‘already on its way out.’”
“It is our profound hope that the remaining children in China receive the attention, medical care, and love they deserve,” the group said.
The charity said on social media that “the number of adoptions had already seriously declined in the years before the pandemic pause, and there were fewer children put up for adoption overall, attributing it to China’s improved economy, falling birthrates, and a social preference for male children waning.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
