After China’s recent announcement to suspend international adoptions, Chinese adoptees like Maze Felix and Grace Newton are experiencing a range of emotions including anger, relief, grief, and confusion. With over 80,000 children adopted from China to the U.S. in the past three decades, this new policy has added complexity to their already complicated experiences. While some adoptees feel relief that relinquished children can maintain their birth cultures, others mourn the end of a program central to their lives.
Grace Newton, an adoption researcher and Chinese adoptee, emphasized the importance of adoptees finding connection among shared experiences as they navigate their feelings about the new policy. China’s decision to suspend international adoptions comes as part of larger changes in family planning policies, including the reversal of the one-child policy and the implementation of a three-child policy to address declining birth rates and other economic challenges.
The impact of this policy change goes beyond the emotional realm for adoptees, as it raises concerns about access to documentation, orphanage visits, and birth parent searches. Katelyn Monaco, another Chinese adoptee, highlighted the challenges around ethnicity and citizenship that adoptees may face, calling for support for adoptees to strengthen their connection to their birth culture and heritage.
Overall, adoptees argue that their perspectives should be central to discussions on adoption policy changes, and more support is needed for children and individuals with disabilities within China’s social welfare system. There is hope that this new phase in international adoption may lead to a stronger emphasis on cultural connections, individual empowerment, and support for those affected by the changes in policy.
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