The Chinese government plans to end its international adoption program, and the United States is seeking clarification on how the decision will affect hundreds of American families with pending applications.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on Thursday that Beijing no longer recognises the international adoption of children from China, with the only exceptions being blood-relative adoption and step-adoption.
Mao did not explain the decision other than to say it was in line with the spirit of relevant international treaties. “We would like to express our gratitude to foreign governments and families who want to adopt Chinese children for their goodwill and the love and kindness they have shown,” she added.
In a letter sent to several adoption agencies on Wednesday and shared on social media, the State Department said it had been informed by Chinese authorities that all pending adoptions have been canceled, except for those for which travel permits had already been issued.
In a call with U.S. diplomats in China, the Chinese government said it would “not continue processing cases at any stage” unless they fell under the exception clause. The State Department said on Thursday that the embassy had sought a written clarification from China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.
“We understand that there are hundreds of families still waiting for their adoptions to be completed and we sympathize with their plight,” the State Department said in a statement.
Over the past few decades, many people have adopted children from China, traveled to China to pick up their children and bring them to their new families overseas. Due to lengthy procedures, many couples whose adoptions are approved must wait years, sometimes nearly a decade, before receiving their children.
U.S. families adopted 82,674 children from China, the highest number of children adopted from any other country.
International adoptions have been largely halted since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many in the industry had expected adoption policies to end or be tightened due to changes in China’s political, demographic and economic situation.
In its latest annual adoption report, the State Department said the Chinese government has resumed adoptions of children who had been authorized to travel before the suspension, but the numbers appear to be low.
According to a State Department report, U.S. consulates issued 16 adoption visas from China between October 2022 and September 2023, the first time in more than two years. It is unclear whether any additional visas have been issued since then.
In January, Denmark’s only international adoption agency said it would scale back operations after concerns emerged about falsified documents and procedures, and Norway’s top regulator recommended a two-year halt to international adoptions until investigations into several cases were completed.
Reactions on social media from prospective adoptive parents, adoptive parents and the adopted children themselves were mixed. Some expressed concern that the announcement would also close off the children’s ability to contact their former orphanages or birth families. Some expressed hope that the children would be cared for in their home countries, saying this was “long needed.”
The Nanchang Project, a U.S.-based organization that works with Chinese adoptees and adoptive parents to help them find their birth families, said the announcement marked “the end of an era” but that the program was “already coming to an end.”
“We sincerely hope that the children left behind in China receive the care, medical attention and love they deserve,” they added.
The charity said on social media that it had already seen a significant drop in adoptions in the years before the pandemic halted its activities, and that fewer children were being adopted overall, citing China’s improving economy, falling birth rates and a fading societal preference for boys as reasons.
The number of newborns in China is expected to fall to 9.02 million in 2023, with the total population declining for the second consecutive year. A series of government measures aimed at boosting the birth rate include phasing out China’s decades-old one-child policy, which was a major factor in babies being given up for adoption, especially girls.
