Factors of the Long Wait

Here are some of the contributing factors associated with the long wait for a baby in China adoption. This is summarized from our newsletter that we receive from our adoption agency CCAI. The article was written by President and co-founder Joshua Zhong.

There is a quota on how many children are allowed to be made available for International Adoption in China.

A dramatic increase of incoming dossiers for China adoption. China’s program has become very popular because of its stability, reliability of child information, relatively low cost and (previously) manageable wait time.

The Hunan baby trafficking incident. In Sept. 2005 it was reported that there was a baby trafficking ring in the province of Hunan. The government didn’t want any bad publicity tarnishing their good deeds and defacing their nation. They used Hunan as an example and warning and conducted an investigation. In the mean time they closed down that orphanage to adoption. Luckily, all the children adopted through the CCAA from that orphanage truly were abandoned children. Because of the scrutiny of the government on this orphanage, other orphanage directors in China have become reluctant to allow international adoption. They do not want to attract the attention of the government. It seems in recent months that this attitude is lessening.

According to the article there is a lack of motivation among local officials. In just one province there is an orphan population in the thousands; unfortunately, only a couple hundred children are made available for adoption. The provincial officials see international adoption as more work and too troublesome to bother with. CCAA is working to turn this attitude around by educating the orphanages and teaching them that it’s better for the children to be in a loving home.

The Chinese government has been putting a lot of money into improving conditions in orphanages by renovating and building new ones. The orphanage directors see having the biggest most modern orphanages as a sign of success and power. If they don’t have children to live in the orphanages then they will not continue to get funds to have the best orphanage. Again the CCAA is addressing this attitude with education.

China has been experiencing a great deal of growth and economic success. That isn’t to say that there are not still very poor people and areas in China where conditions are not good. This better economy means that fewer babies are being abandoned. This is great news but does affect the wait for us.

These are just some of the factors that impact China adoption. I’m sure there are others that we’re not aware. The points above are the opinion of Josh and his experience doing China adoption, working with the Chinese government and being from China himself.