| Just arrived at the Wang blog.. Me: Father of two daughters adopted from China. Let me add some facts, and clear up some misinformation. All (legal) adoptions of Chinese orphans are controled in Beijing. Until just recently, (last few years) there were far more girls abandoned than at this time. Abandonment of girls in China is not mostly the product of the one-child policy, in fact, it has been going on for millenia, in the form of girl infantcide, and is driven by long standing traditions in the social structure---patriarical extended family---strong throught out China, stronger in the rural agrarian communiies (2/3rds. of China). In the last ten years or so, girls that would have been abandoned (many if not most, abandoned girl babies were left to die), now have monetary value in a black market that sells babies, internally in China into families that are looking for a "back up" female for their sons in communities that are heavily out-numbered with boys to girls---typically about 120 boys to 100 girls. These girls, adopted unofficially, will never gain a hukou under current PRC law, so they are often relegated to a life of servitude, without education, although they might later marry into the family as well-----and for all you Chinese cultural history buffs, this process might sound strangely familiar with the way it was done before the Communist takeover, and Mao declared that girls and women: "Hold up the sky". Wonton expresses a politically correct 'story-line' familiar to all who adopt internationally. Its absurd on its face---when did these people, critical of international adoption become stakeholders in the make-up of my nuclear family? In order, here are the stakeholders to the orphans in China: The person that finds the abandoned child and takes it to the police, who then take it to the orphanage, then the local officials who try to dertermine the child's parents, then the provincial officials who log the child's information with Beijing, then the official in Beijing who reviews adoptive parent qualifications (foreign AND domectic) to determine the best placement for the child, and then the US State Department who insures the child was actually abandoned, not sold or traded, and finally the ultimate stakeholders---the adoptive parents who are going to commit to a lifetime of love, expense and inclusion for the child as an equal in the family. To give you an example of how much of a politically correct affectation it is for those who oppose international adoption on cultural grounds, consider this: They would far rather see the children continue to languish in the orphanage than have a true childhood. And they arn't about to step up to the plate to do anything for these children as an alternative. Here in Portland, we have a liberal weekly called "Willamette Week" in this week's issue is an ad for a non-profit fund raiser called: "Dining for Darfur" ---posh restaurants doing their part, and well heeled liberals getting a nice, feel good, feed---socially, spirtually, and with full stomachs--- (I about lost my lunch when I read it) Since China opened to Americans for adoption, many hundreds of Chinese girls have been adopted here in Portland Oregon, and because there is a strong social connection between families, I know personally hundreds of the family stories. Cultural adjustment is not a problem. My daughters are learning both cultures (my wife is Chinese, and they are in Chinese immersion, as are many of the adopted), but even those that arn't, they are overwhelingly--- living very well adjusted childhoods in American culture, and because their parents were older (China's adoption policy) --- their home situations are overwhelmingly more stable as a group than the representitive home situation of others their age. People obsessed with "cultural correctness" issues among the internationally adopted can take heart---its not a problem. May I humbly suggest that you turn instead, to a social issue which moves you so much that you roll up your sleeves and actually do something about it? --Kim |
Chinese Middle Name for Erik's Baby