The Chinese government has adjusted its cross-border adoption policy. Henceafter, apart from the adoption of a child or stepchild from one’s collateral relatives by blood of the same generation and up to the third degree of kinship by foreigners coming to China, China will not send children abroad for adoption. This is also in line with the spirit of relevant international covenants. 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.” (Mao Ning, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Press Conference, September 5, 2024)
This remark by a Foreign Ministry Spokesperson for the People’s Republic of China on September 5, 2024, sent a tidal wave of shock through the world. News articles rolled in shortly following this press release as the public started to process this: China would no longer be allowing adoptions of Chinese children abroad (with the exception of adoptions by certain blood relatives). In announcing this news, the Chinese government overturned a policy that has been in effect for three decades: Since 1992, China has sent over 160,000 children abroad to be adopted with around 82,000 of those children finding families in the United States. Fueled by the notorious one-child policy, a law active from 1979-2015 that aimed to curb overpopulation, Chinese families would often choose to keep male children, creating a massive gender imbalance within the country. This recent international adoption ban serves the opposite purpose: It encourages young couples to get married and have families following years of China’s population rates dwindling.
I remember seeing a flurry of news regarding China’s adoption ban on Instagram while scrolling through my feed casually one evening. I have maintained social media connections with a few of the girls I was adopted with back in 2000 as well as some adoptees I met while studying in the United Kingdom. In addition, I follow a few Instagram pages that function to introduce Chinese adoptees to each other and foster a community among us. Post after post, some of my followers shared news highlights from sources such as CBS or NPR, while others shared curated posts to the effect of “China bans foreign adoptions: What now?” or “What some adoptees have to say about China’s adoption ban.” Many of these posts touched on feelings I myself was feeling; but oddly enough, my emotions were everywhere.
On one hand, I was fairly content with this decision. Although I am so grateful to be adopted, and I do ultimately support adoption, I also understand the trauma and grief that comes with it. Further, some people have reported much more conflicted emotions, and concerns about whether they were truly abandoned or adopted under an ethical system. Additionally, some media outlets have reported about individuals who have expressed concerns about whether adoptions from China, at least in the past, commoditized the placement of children adoption.
I have such a complicated relationship with adoption in that I am grateful to be adopted and I would not be where I am today without adoption, but I also acknowledge that not everyone has the same experience as me and there is possibility for corruption within the adoption regime. As pure-hearted as adoption is at its core, it seems that if we have an institution that involves money, bad actors with malicious intentions may get involved for the wrong reasons.
On the other hand, I found myself surprisingly sad about the news that China was ending foreign adoptions. I think there were numerous reasons for this grief. First, this ban marks the end of an era. As mentioned earlier, Chinese babies were adopted en masse from the late 1970’s to the present, so older adoptees are currently in their 40’s, and a bulk of adoptees are young adults around my age (mid-20’s). It is hard to explain, but a lot of adoptees have an unspoken bond. When I studied in London last year, I joined an active group called SAAT (Subtle Asian Adoptee Traits), a group of international adoptees, most of whom were from Asia. SAAT, along with CACH-ALL (a UK-based adoptee group) and CCI (China’s Children International) would host semi-regular meetings in London where adoptees could all connect and socialize. I attended a few events with these groups, and I remember being so struck by these adoptees who looked like me, with British accents. Perhaps the most interesting thing was that despite being raised on opposite sides of the world, I related to the other members of SAAT, CACH-ALL, and CCI in such a profound way. There was an unspoken connection that we all shared, even if we did not verbally acknowledge it. We all lived the experience of being raised by non-biological parents, and more specifically, most of us were Asian children raised by Caucasian parents.
The news that China decided to ban foreign adoptions struck me hard when I realized that after this ban went into effect, there would be far fewer Chinese adoptees. As one Chinese adoptee noted, “We’re a group that will go extinct.” That is a weird feeling to grapple with. I realized that I will never have any future generations to connect with over our shared origin story in the way that I have connected with other adoptees throughout the years. It is bittersweet to realize that my (future) children will probably never grow up with a child adopted from China whereas I knew quite a few adoptees through school and other various extracurriculars. It is also hard to process that I may never be able to adopt a child from China. While I was never set on adopting from China, I liked that I always had the opportunity to if I so chose.
All in all, I have many complicated, somewhat conflicting feelings regarding China’s decision to end international adoption ranging from grief to relief. If you are a Chinese adoptee, or just an adoptee in general, and you have mixed feelings about this decision, your feelings are valid. It is a weird thing to process: Being the product of laws and policies that will no longer apply to future generations. While it is weird to think that there will be fewer Chinese adoptees, perhaps this will act as a catalyst for existing Chinese adoptees to build an even stronger community.
