China will no longer send its children overseas, closing the doors to international adoption which first began in 1992.
In September, Mao Ning, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said the country was ending its foreign adoption program with exceptions for foreigners who adopt their blood relatives' children or stepchildren living in China.
China believes the new policy is “in line” with international trends, Ning said.
“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,” Ning said in a Reuters article.
China implemented a one-child policy from 1979 to 2015, according to Reuters. Restricted by this rule, families often chose to keep sons and give up daughters for adoption.
Since the early 1990s, over 160,000 Chinese children have been adopted by families worldwide. Approximately 82,000 of those children went to American families, according to China's Children International (CCI).
The one-child policy ended in 2015. However, the policy’s lasting impact has been actualized in a shrinking workforce and ever-declining birth rates, which stand as some of the lowest globally.
China now seeks ways to encourage couples to get married and have more children. The country’s decision to no longer send its children overseas for adoption corresponds with this goal.
A CNN article said this decision leaves hundreds of American families in uncertainty as they were in the process of adopting Chinese children.
Beijing will not continue processing any adoption cases with the exception of those covered by the blood relatives clause, AP reported.
Despite the toll it's taking on families, some believe the new rule change has the potential for positive impact as well.
Cindy Zhu Huijgen, a Dutch journalist based in China and former adoptee, found closure in the ending of the country’s foreign adoptions, she wrote in a New York Times opinion article. Growing up in a predominantly white Dutch town, she struggled to find belonging.
“For many like me — plucked from our home cultures and raised in countries where we didn’t quite fit in — the search for who we are and where we belong has been lifelong and full of discovery, as well as confusion, regret and loss,” Huijgen wrote.
Senior Faith Conover, psychology major, was adopted from China at 11 months old.
Growing up in an area with a disproportionately high number of adoptees, Conover does not remember feeling out of place. She views her adoption in a positive light and said she is thankful for the life she has been able to have because she was adopted.
“My first reaction to the ban on adoption…was a little sad because of my perspective and experience with adoption being so good,” Conover said. “Perhaps the consequence of the adoption ban would be the prevention of ethnic confusion in Chinese adoptees growing up in the US, but I don’t think that should be the determining factor for viewing the ban positively.”
Senior Emma Benno, social work major, was adopted as a baby from Guatemala, a country that has also ended international adoptions.
Benno sympathized with the ways some adoptees’ struggle to find belonging in just one culture. Because of this, however, she said they learn to consider multiple perspectives.
She said she understands why China is making this decision for their own people, while also recognizing how it is affecting American families.
Freshman Jiyun Hyun is majoring in Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC). Recently, she spoke to a guest speaker from China about the decision.
“He said (the ban) could seem bad, but at the same time, it could really strengthen (China’s) local orphanage system,” Hyun said.
Her OVC classes are teaching her that strengthening families is their first priority. If that can not happen, adoption or foster care is a great resource, she said.
She is also learning the importance of helping countries with the goal of eventually being able to step away and allow local communities to flourish without outside influences.
“How can I do something for them to locally grow?” Hyun said. “So when the helpers leave, they go back to their initial state…and develop themselves.”
Hyun considered the possibility that the change in policy might allow for local growth.
