In the corner of a dusty wooden building sits a lightly-battered baby grand, glossy from afar and slightly worn when viewed up close. During the waking hours it remains largely unnoticed by the crowds of excited visitors, the hurried staff, and certainly, the children who are deemed old and competent enough to be leaping around the tables under minimal adult supervision. In the evening, the cafeteria is abandoned, but occasionally, a lucky guest suffering from 12-hour jet lag will overhear a string of notes and rhythms, coming from no one else but Wendy herself.
I was once there with her, dutifully assembling a duet for Pachelbel’s Canon in D, isolated by a wall of brick and the vast sea of night. We were accompanied by cicadas.
Wendy arrived at the foster home when she was 16 years old, already past China’s age of adoption, which is 14. Described as quiet by many including herself, Wendy channeled her creativity into teaching herself how to play piano in the after hours of the cafeteria. She once divulged her self-described “impossible” dream of moving to a little island to which she could travel by canoe. At the pay rate of ¥2.00 per hour working in the administrative office, something tells me that this dream may be slightly more fantastical than she had imagined.
The Dwindling Number of Adoptions
Even so, Wendy and all of the children at Shepherd’s Field Children’s Village (SFCV), are blessed to have more than the majority of China’s orphans, victims of overpopulation, stringent policies, and an arduous adoption process. Indeed, data released by the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs shows a steady decline in adoption rates, from a peak of almost eight thousand adoptions from China in 2005 to just over two thousand in 2013. Meanwhile, some estimate the number of Chinese orphans to be almost one million as of 2014. This decline seems to stem from China’s adoption program, which was altered with the addition of new rules and restrictions that went into effect in 2007. Marital status and education standards can restrict adoption for prospective parents overseas. Foreigners who are “morbidly obese or have facial deformities” are not allowed to adopt. Lu Ying, director of the China Center for Adoption Affairs, told the Xinhua news agency that these rules protect “the best interests of children” and confirm that prospective parents “are able to offer the Chinese children adopted the best possible environment to grow in.” Unfortunately, many individuals who otherwise are perfectly qualified to care for a child are not able to, simply due to a failure to meet the strict guidelines. For example, couples must be married for at least two years before they can apply.
To be sure, the impetus for the revised adoption regulations stems from many places. “Baby-buying”, or “baby-stealing”, has generated suspicion within the Chinese government both towards those who put their children up for adoption and those who choose to adopt. “Baby-buying” or “baby-stealing” refers to the black market operations in China in which babies are either sold by or forcibly taken away from their parents. In February 2014, police rescued 382 babies and arrested 1,094 individuals whom they believed participated in the black market for children. They further discovered a virtual black market consisting of websites, forums, and about 30 groups on messaging platforms that served as a route between buyers and sellers.
Furthermore, news of some adoptive parents participating in “re-homing” has also discouraged the Chinese government from keeping its adoption system open and user-friendly. There have been multiple cases in which parents posted advertisements to give away their internationally-adopted children. For example, one parent posted, “We adopted an 8-year-old girl from China… Unfortunately, we are now struggling having been home for 5 days.” This parent expressed a wish that the ad be shared with anyone who could be interested in taking the child. A Reuters analysis of over five thousand posts over a five-year span, on a Yahoo! group, shows that, “On average, a child was advertised for re-homing there once a week. Most of the children ranged in age from 6 to 14 and had been adopted from abroad – from countries such as Russia and China, Ethiopia and Ukraine.” Some of these situations led to horrific consequences. One adoptee from China was sent to a home where she was forced to dig her own grave. Although legal adoptions must face court management to some degree, a “power of attorney” document, which is essentially “a notarized statement declaring the child to be in the care of another adult,” can help parents giving up their adoptive children maneuver around the system. In addition, horror stories of parents sending their children back to their homelands help exacerbate the Chinese government’s worries.
Hurdle After Hurdle
Indeed, some rules are “increasingly allowing inter-country adoption primarily or exclusively of children who have special needs”, quotes a study by the Donaldson Adoption Institute. That is, because those who participate in “baby-buying” or “baby-stealing” are primarily interested in catering to the demand for healthy babies, the government wants to minimize harm by incentivizing the adoption of special needs children. Furthermore, the relaxing of the one-child policy has decreased the number of healthy babies being put up for adoption in China, so the government is trying to increase adoptions for handicapped children. The main incentive for prospective parents is a shortened wait time. Tracy Wilkinson, who with her husband Jason is currently in the process of adopting a little boy from SFCV, explained to the HPR the adoption process that prospective parents of Chinese orphans must undergo. First, a dossier of important documents is assembled and sent to China. Then, the adoptive parents must wait for a child referral. Finally, they will travel to China to receive their child. However, by offering to adopt a specific child with special needs, the parents no longer need to wait for the referral. This is one way in which the Chinese government encourages the adoption of special needs children.
While regulations are stringent, cost remains another huge impediment to those who are willing to adopt from China. The cost of international adoption has grown to over $50,000. Wilkinson refers to international adoption as “a monopoly.”
“We have heard from family and friends that it seems outlandish for us to spend so much money to ‘buy’ a child when you can adopt a child with special needs from the United States for virtually nothing”, Wilkinson told the HPR. Furthermore, she cited other unofficial costs as hidden financial obstacles that adoptive parents have to face: “For us, the expense of actually traveling to China will be the biggest difficulty. Once you take into account all of the adoption expenses that have to be paid prior to travel, and then add in travel costs, the amount of money spent is astronomical. We have three small children. Since we do not feel comfortable leaving them behind for two weeks, we will be taking them with us. This also will raise the cost considerably. It seems bizarre that it is so difficult and expensive to adopt a child, who would not otherwise have a family, into your home.”
The difficulties do not end there. Many international agencies make it very difficult for parents to access accurate and updated medical information of the child they want to adopt. This undoubtedly leads to complications when parents are not adequately equipped to deal with certain issues their children may eventually face.
“We were under the impression that our child had only a cleft palate and was malnourished as a baby. However, as we got further along in the process, we received word that he is deaf,” said Wilkinson.
Aaron Ruiz, who has worked with SFCV for many years, points to the aging-out system as another source of agony for the children and parents in the adoptive process. “When an orphan in China has his or her 14th birthday, it’s no celebration. At that point, they’ve lost all hope of ever having a family of their own. Especially for children with special needs, this might mean little to no chance of a bright future,” Ruiz told the HPR.
When I personally went to SFCV last August as a volunteer, I met Grady, a goofy, smiling kid rolling around in his wheelchair, playing with the younger children. One night, he invited me to sit down and talk. That was when I learned that he was abandoned 11 years ago, at the age of nine, on the day his younger sister was born. At the age of 13, a family from Ohio applied to adopt him. At this time, Grady was in the hospital, getting procedures done to ease many of his medical conditions. Grady turned 14 in the hospital, and with that, lost all of his hopes of finding his “forever family.”
A Glimmer of Hope
Fortunately, for the Chinese adoption system, the prognosis is not entirely grim. The Chinese government and independently-operated foster homes have also implemented measures to combat some of the harsh realities imposed by bureaucratic red tape and official regulations. The unconditional dedication and love of individuals working with and within these institutions also provides a glimmer of hope that all is not lost.
An individual who has worked closely with a Chinese foster home for many years, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the HPR, “I’ve noticed that the government tries to speed up the process for some kids who are close to aging out of the system, so that they can have the chance to have a family… I respect adoptive families a lot, I have seen so many kids thrive and flourish shortly after adoption.”
Ruiz agreed. “The work being done at Shepherd’s Field is truly an awesome thing. The children that come to live there are given a loving home, and a level of care that is seldom spent on orphans in China. I have seen children come to Shepherd’s Field, and tremendously improve physically and emotionally. It is a special place, and a privilege to work there.” SFCV is indeed unique amidst the other foster homes and orphanages in China. The caretaker-to-child ratio is approximately one to three. Children between the ages of two and five are able to attend the Little Lambs Preschool. When I visited, I often encountered therapy teams working with children individually to ensure that each child received the attention and care that he or she needed. A new vocational school is set to open to receive those children who have aged-out of the adoption system and will otherwise end up on the streets.
As for the Wilkinsons, they are proud and ready to welcome their new son into their lives. They have received dozens of videos and photos of their three-year-old boy enjoying his time at SFCV. Tracy Wilkinson emphasized that the tedious processes of today will soon have their payoffs.
“Though we were thrown for a loop with the diagnosis of deafness, we know that he is exactly the child we are supposed to have. Everyone involved in the process has been nothing but kind, helpful, and generous. In a year or two, the money that we spent will be a thing of the past. However, he will be ours forever.”
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/User Nor*cal skier