China officially halts three decades of foreign adoptions, marking end of an era

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - China’s population is now shrinking, with one of the lowest birth rates in the world. The country officially allows up to three children per family but has struggled to encourage higher birth rates. — AFP pic

By Malay Mail

Friday, 06 Sep 2024 3:04 PM MYT

BEIJING, Sept 6 — China has officially halted most foreign adoptions, bringing an end to three decades of sending tens of thousands of children overseas, a policy rooted in the country’s one-child rule.

The decision, a brief comment by China’s foreign ministry on Thursday, aligns with global trends and leaves many families, particularly in the United States, in limbo after being informed earlier this week by adoption agencies, a report published in The New York Times reported today.

“We are grateful for the desire and love of the governments and adoption families of relevant countries to adopt Chinese children,” said Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, in a brief statement on Thursday.

She added that only adoptions by foreigners of stepchildren or blood relatives would be allowed under the new rules.

Since the early 1990s, China has sent over 160,000 children abroad for adoption, becoming a leading source of international adoptees. However, the programme has been overshadowed by accusations of corruption and its connection to China’s controversial one-child policy.

Many families, unable to keep multiple children, abandoned them, leaving orphanages overwhelmed and reliant on international adoption to stay afloat.

“This is, in a way, the end of an era and the closing of one of the most shameful chapters of the three and a half decades of social engineering known as the one-child policy,” said Wang Feng, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine.

He noted that the government had allowed foreign adoptions to ease the financial burden created by its own population controls.

China’s population is now shrinking, with one of the lowest birth rates in the world. The country officially allows up to three children per family but has struggled to encourage higher birth rates.

Nearly all foreign adoptions involve children with disabilities, according to Chinese officials, and many adoptees were girls or children with special needs.

The emotional impact on adoptees, often raised in countries with different cultures, has been profound.

“It touches on some of the most emotionally fraught and politically charged questions of citizenship, belonging, nationalistic sentiments, and gender and racial politics,” said Zhou Yun, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan.

International adoptions peaked in the mid-2000s but declined as China’s economy improved and domestic support for orphans increased.

By 2018, only 15,000 children were registered for adoption, down from 44,000 in 2009. Some view this shift as a reflection of China’s growing national pride.

“This policy might fulfil that feeling that ‘we don’t need to send our kids to America,’” said Guo Wu, a professor of Chinese studies at Allegheny College.

Activists, such as Peter Moller, a Korean adoptee and co-founder of the Danish Korean Rights Group, welcomed the decision, citing concerns about abuse and neglect in international adoptions.

“International adoption has been proven very problematic in both donor and recipient countries,” Moller said.

Countries like Ethiopia, Russia, and Kazakhstan have also ended foreign adoptions in recent years amid growing concerns about transparency and child welfare.