Why China?

Many people ask us how we decided to adopt from China.  As I mentioned in my first post, we traveled there in 2002 and learned about the un-told numbers of girls orphaned because of China's one-child policy.  Here's a brief summary of what the one-child policy entails and how it leads to the abandonment of infants, particularly girls.

The People's Republic of China is one of the oldest and most populous civilizations in the world.  China's current population is over 1 billion--20% of the world's population.  Because of its rapid growth in population, China began population control in the 1970's.  It instituted its famous one-child policy allowing families to only have one child, but it is more complicated than it sounds.  In fact, families must have approval of the government to even start a family.  Penalties can be brutal for conception of a child without permission, including forced abortion or sterilization for repeated "offenses". 

To further complicate things, some families are allowed to have more than one child.  In rural areas, families are allowed to have "one son, two children".  This statement actually reveals the heart of the problem: boys are more valuable than girls in Chinese society. They provide a built in social security for families since girls marry off and are expected to attend to the needs of in-laws.  Boys always remain and care for their parents, especially in rural areas.  When families were told they could only have one child, the abandonment of baby girls became a major societal issue.  The change in policy to allow "one son, two chilren" did not have the hoped-for effect of drastically decreasing the number of abandoned girls; instead, the girls abandoned are more and more second girls in the family.

As a result of the abandonment of so many girls, orphanages have become the norm as part of China's social welfare programs.  Chinese culture does not embrace the adoption of non-relatives, adding to the problem.  In 1992, China opened its doors to international adoption, placing 200 girls into homes in the US and other Western nations.  China reorganized its adoption program with the creation of the China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCFA) in 1996.  Since then, adoptions to the US peaked at around 7000 for one year and stayed at a steady rate until another reorganization a few years ago.  Since then, as wait times have increased to around 2 years, fewer people are adopting from China.  It still remains a popular and well-organized program for international adoption.

We want to adopt from China first of all because this is where we believe one of our future children awaits us.  Also, we want to be a part of redeeming the message that is sent to girls all over the world--that they are of less value than boys.  Most of all, we want to let our daughter know that we love her and that her heavenly Father has never abandoned her or not wanted her, no matter what soceity has done.