The US is requesting information on how the Chinese government’s decision to discontinue its program for international adoption will impact the hundreds of American families who still have applications pending.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, announced at a daily briefing on Thursday that Beijing will no longer permit foreign adoptions of Chinese children, the only exemption being adoptions by blood relatives of their own children or stepchildren.
Other than stating that it was in accordance with the spirit of the international accords, Mao did not provide an explanation for the decision. “We convey our gratitude to foreign governments and families who aspire to adopt Chinese children for their benevolent intent and the affection and generosity they have demonstrated,” she continued.
The US State Department said it had been informed by Chinese officials that all other pending adoptions were terminated, with the exception of those who had already received travel authorisation, in letters distributed to some adoption agencies on Wednesday and circulated on social media.
Beijing stated it “will not continue to process cases at any stage” unless they fall under an exclusion clause during a phone conversation with US diplomats stationed in China. The embassy is consulting with China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, the US State Department announced on Thursday.
“We understand there are hundreds of families still awaiting the completion of their adoption, and we sympathise with their situation,” the state department stated.
Over the years, a lot of people have adopted children from China, travelling to the nation to pick them up before sending them to a new home elsewhere. Many families who were given the go-ahead to adopt nonetheless had to wait years, sometimes even close to ten years, to receive their child due to protracted adoption delays.
The largest number of adopted children from any foreign nation is 82,674 from China, adopted by US families.
Due to the COVID epidemic, international adoptions have been virtually halted since 2020. As a result, many in the adoption industry had anticipated that the adoption policy would be tightened or terminated due to changes in China’s political, demographic, and economic circumstances.
In its most recent annual report on adoptions, the US State Department stated that the Chinese government had restarted adoptions for children who had been granted travel authorisation before the suspension. However, the numbers seemed to be modest.
According to the state department data, a US consulate granted 16 adoption visas from China between October 2022 and September 2023, marking the first such approval in almost two years. If any further visas had been granted after then, it was unclear.
Concerns over falsified paperwork and processes prompted Denmark’s sole international adoption agency to announce in January that it was closing, while Norway’s top regulatory body suggested halting international adoptions for two years while it looked into many incidents.
Adoptees themselves and prospective and present adoptive parents responded to the post on social media in varying ways. Some were concerned that the revelation may also cut off adoptees’ access to their biological families and previous orphanages. Some expressed their optimism that children will receive treatment in their nation of origin, calling it “long overdue.”
While the statement marked “the end of an era,” the Nanchang Project, a US-based organisation that assists Chinese adoptees and their adoptive parents in finding their original family, added that the program was “already on its way out.”
“We sincerely hope that the remaining children in China receive the love, care, and attention they deserve,” the statement continued.
The charity claimed on social media that fewer children were placed for adoption overall and that the number of adoptions had already drastically decreased in the years prior to the pandemic pause. It attributed this to China’s improving economy, declining birthrates, and a waning social preference for male children.
In 2023, there were 9.02 million fewer newborns in China than in the previous year, and the country’s population continued to fall. China’s long-standing one-child policy, which was a major factor in the adoption of kids, particularly girls, was phased down amid a slew of official initiatives aimed at promoting more births.