Chinese Adoption is Over. Where Do We Go from Here?
In 1992 China opened its doors to international adoption. The United States has welcomed over 160,000 Chinese orphans into loving families. China has been, by far, the most numerically prominent country in the landscape of international adoption.
In September of this year, that all changed. China closed its doors.
The numbers for children adopted from China were at their highest in 2005 – right about 8,000. Since then, the numbers have dropped drastically. In 2009, only 3,000 children where adopted from China. By 2019, there were less than 1,000. In 2021 and 2022, there were zero adoptions. And in 2023, there were only 16.
Those numbers tell an important story. For diverse reasons, adoptive families have been able to look to China less-and-less. For Alabama families, the total number of international adoptions for 2023 – for all countries – was only 26. That’s reflective of a sharp downward trend which reflects the US as a whole.
What is the cause of the downturn in international adoption?
To have a chance at a satisfactory answer to that question, we would need a multi-day conference with some of the best minds in the field. In the absence of that, I’ll side-step that question for now.
My main concern in this article is to highlight the positive potential from this speechless devastation. But first, I want to dwell here for just a moment. There are not sufficient Chinese families waiting to adopt these children. All of the children that Americans adopted were classified as special needs. There weren’t sufficient American couples to adopt all of the special needs children – even when in 2005 when the numbers were at their zenith. Unless God intervenes in some unforeseeable way, these children and the thousands yet to be born, are going to languish in a group home – at best.
What positive opportunities does this present?
First, as families with a heart to care for orphans are turned away from the international adoption process, we can turn their attention to the equally dire situations in the American foster care systems.
I say dire because abuse and neglect of children, through relative caregivers (parents, grandparents, etc) is mind boggling. The need for foster families to provide a safe haven for at-risk children defies quantification.
As we watch Chinese adoptions come to a screeching halt, let’s remember the orphan crisis in our own backyard.
To care for orphans through your foster care system, please give us a call. We can get you started.
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