[pgruodis]

Possibly this is a strange question, but I've always wondered about this.
When a child is abandoned in China (assuming they are not special needs) what are that child's chances of being adopted internationally? While I'm sure it changes region-to-region...but I'm wondering overall.
Are the chances good enough for a parent to think "well, she'll be going to a better place"...or do they assume the child will stay in an orphanage forever?

[SofiasMom]

Many Chinese in rural areas are unaware of international adoption. There are about 6,000 children adopted annually by Americans (don't know what the total for all countries is). There are 1.3 billion Chinese. Only 200 orphanages participate in the IA program.

[Lissa]

I may be wrong, but what I have read in the past is the Chinese report 50,000 children enter SWI's a year. Approximately 10,000 are adopted out each year.

So 1 in 5 will be internationally adopted. Less than 10,000 a year will be domestically adopted. (The Chinese are not big on domestic adoption so how much less I do not know.) So at best 2 out of every 5 children will find a home.

[oleson1]

I think the saddest part of all is that whether the child is in SWI or adopted, the birthmother usually knows that she is offering her child a chance at a life that she can't give. What a sacrifice...

When we were in China, we were told about the lack of health care due to no insurance. If there is anything even remotely wrong or the family suspects that there may be something wrong with their child, they leave them (out of love) in hopes that they can get the medical attention that they need.

[Lissa]

Please remember though...an SWI where the child will be fed and has at least a chance at getting an education is still better off than what many of the parents can provide. The average salary in China is $1400 American and many Chinese (who have a means to make a living at all) make as little as $150 a year. My foster child, Wei Xing, was unable to get an education because her family could not pay for it and still afford to eat. I pay $40 a year to send her to school through the Girls Global Education Fund.

[SofiasMom]

A child in a SWI has no family and family is very important in China. A SWI might not send their children to school because they can't afford to or because they don't think it's necessary. A child in an SWI has 'bad luck' and who wants to be associated with that child? And when the child grows up, there are very few options. I don't believe a mother abandoning her healthy baby girl has any reason to believe the child would be better off - quite the contrary.

there are several articles on older children in the SWIs I'll try to find. Here's one from the Half the Sky website (look under "Sisters":

http://www.halfthesky.org/assets/pdf...letterIII2.pdf

However there are some good stories. I believe that last year one or 2 orphans were admitted to university - the first time that's happened.

[foreverluv]

Why don't they just open up more orphanages to IA? I'm sure they could find homes for many more of the 50,000 babies abandoned each year if they did.

[hirsh mom]

Well, at the present, CCAA has a quota on the number of IA per year (I believe the total is 13,000). It's doubtful that the CCAA will increase that number, especially with the Olympic Games coming up in 2008. I did hear that the CCAA is now in charge of domestic adoptions (I think there had been no official procees in place). Our guide in China last year told me that the government was actually encouraging domestic adoption.

[SofiasMom]

In addition to CCAA having a quota, the US Immigration also has a quota.

I hope CCAA is successful with their domestic adoption program.

[Reesesjiejie]

I don't know about the usual numbers, but my sister is in foster care with another little girl (her name's Gui Jing) and my sister is getting adopted internationally by us, and her foster sister is being adopted by the foster family. That's just my experience thus far. So domestic adoptions do happen. The foster family has an older son, but we believe he lives outside of the home.

[maureen3770]

Originally Posted by Reesesjiejie

I don't know about the usual numbers, but my sister is in foster care with another little girl (her name's Gui Jing) and my sister is getting adopted internationally by us, and her foster sister is being adopted by the foster family. That's just my experience thus far. So domestic adoptions do happen. The foster family has an older son, but we believe he lives outside of the home.

How old is Gui Jing? I think that I might know this child (I volunteered there last year). I'm wondering if it is the same little girl....

Thanks!

Maureen

[Reesesjiejie]

I'm not sure what how old she is, I think she's a bit younger than Reese, so less than 21 months, I guess. She's in foster care through China Care, as is my sister, with a family in BeiJing. I don't honestly know what province she's from (Gui Jing). If you will give me your email privately, I can send you a picture of her. We have pictures of Gui Jing too, because she's Reese's (Dang Kai Jin) foster sister.

[cthy757]

Originally Posted by hirsh mom

Well, at the present, CCAA has a quota on the number of IA per year (I believe the total is 13,000). It's doubtful that the CCAA will increase that number, especially with the Olympic Games coming up in 2008. I did hear that the CCAA is now in charge of domestic adoptions (I think there had been no official procees in place). Our guide in China last year told me that the government was actually encouraging domestic adoption.

Hi, I'm just chiming in here from the Korea board...I hope China doesn't REDUCE the amount of interational adoptions, either. During the 1988 olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Bryant Gumbel embarassed the country by declaring international adoption one of the country's greatest exports. Out of shame, the government instituted a strict quota system that limits the amount of children to be adopted overseas. Right now, about 2,700 children a year are adopted from Korea in the United States.

Cathy
Mom to James Randall-Lee (J.R., 3, Korea) and
Andrew Thomas-Jae (10 months, Korea)

[maureen3770]

Originally Posted by Reesesjiejie

I'm not sure what how old she is, I think she's a bit younger than Reese, so less than 21 months, I guess. She's in foster care through China Care, as is my sister, with a family in BeiJing. I don't honestly know what province she's from (Gui Jing). If you will give me your email privately, I can send you a picture of her. We have pictures of Gui Jing too, because she's Reese's (Dang Kai Jin) foster sister.

Yep, that would be her! I volunteered at China Care in Beijing last November. Gui Jing is from Taiyuan, Shanxi province and she was born in May of 2005. She is such a sweet little girl...I hope that she gets adopted. Good luck bringing your little one home...any idea when it will happen?

[Katia555]

I totally agree with Sofiasmom. If you oculd ask the abandoned baby if she would have ratther have stayed with her mom, her answer, obviously, would be yes. I dont' believe living conditions in Chinese orphanages are that great. I think most of the children, perhaps all, suffer tremendously, especially emotionally. A big part of the problem is China's one child policy and a social system that makes parents depend on boys for their survival when they get old. Unless this changes, baby girls will be abandoned and left to an unknown fate by their parents and/or relatives.