If you think Chinese orphanages are full of healthy baby girls, read this...

Chinese adoption has changed drastically in the past 10 years.  Most people who discuss Chinese adoption with me are unaware of these changes, so I thought I would share some information.  This information is from Amy Eldridge of Love Without Boundaries.  

There have been immense changes in China adoption in the past 10 years.  The landscape has changed considerably from the days when Chinese orphanages were filled with healthy infant girls who had been abandoned because of the government's one child policy and the social preference for boys.  Now, the orphanages are filled with special needs kids, many critically ill.  Over 98% of newly abandoned children in China have serious medical needs, which explains why 60% of adoptions in 2010 were special needs adoption.

Why the significant change?  First, there has been a growth in more modern attitudes about girls.  It is really only in the rural areas that the social preference for boys remains.  Ten years ago, 85% of the Chinese population lived in rural areas.  Now, only 50% are rural and 50% are urban.  With that urbanization has come more education, the internet, and the like, which has led to more modern attitudes.  Second, there has been growth in the availability of ultrasound technology.  Now, anyone who is pregnant can know the child's sex.  Anyone who carries a girl to term does so knowingly and with every intention of parenting her.  Those who want a boy instead will have an abortion.  Third, domestic adoption in China is growing rapidly.  This was caused in part by the public interest in adoption after all the news reporting about the orphans of the Sichuan earthquake.  And another factor is the increased rate of infertility in China.  One government agency estimates that as many as 40 million couples in China are infertile.  Infertility is skyrocketing because of increased premarital sex without much sex education, causing increased rates of STDs and frequent abortions that might be less than sterile and because of environmental toxins and pollution. 

Domestic adoption is preferred by orphanage directors, because domestic adopters pay higher fees than international adopters.  In Guangzhou, domestic adopters pay fees of $15,000 to the orphanage (foreign adopters pay $6,000);  in Hefei, the fee is $7,000 for domestic adopters.  Most adoptions are handled on the county or provincial level, even though the CCAA now has a national office of domestic adoption.  Orphanages just don't send the files of healthy infants for international adoption when they can place the child domestically.

So, for these reasons, there are fewer and fewer healthy infant girls available for international adoption.  And there has been skyrocketing abandonment of special needs children.  One reason for that is the increase in children in China born with birth defects.  Birth defects in China have increased 40% since 2001. It is estimated that 1 in 8 to 10 children born in China have birth defects.  There are a number of theories about why the rate of birth defects is so high in China, but most believe it is environmental exposure -- after all, in a recent list of the 20 "dirtiest" cities in the world, 16 of them were Chinese cities.  In one area of Shaanxi Province, where there is considerable coal production and other environmental hazards, it's reported that the birth defect rate is 85%.

Special needs children get abandoned because of the stigma associated with disabilities and/or because of medical costs.  Extended family, especially the mother-in-law, will insist that a disabled child be abandoned because the child is considered unlucky, a curse on the family.  Children with visible disabilities will be refused education, and when they grow up will have difficulty finding a job. Medical costs can be too high for a family to bear -- there is no health insurance, no free health care in China.  All health care has to be paid for up front.  Even if you're in an accident, you won't be treated until your family shows up to pay the bill first.  There are no emergency rooms in China.  Poor families will abandon their children in the hopes that they will receive health care in the orphanage.

The poorest orphanages in China might get from the government only $25 per child per month, and formula could cost $20 per child per month.  Then there are salaries for nannies, power, clothes, other food, and there isn't much left over for medical care.

According to China Daily, in 2011 there were 31,424 adoptions in China.  Of these 27,579 children were placed with Chinese families and 3,854 were placed overseas.

We are so incredibly blessed by Harper's addition to our family.  When we chose to adopt her, we were told she had a special need that would present lifelong issues.  We are so happy to learn that she is 100% healthy!  This is definitely the exception for an international adoption from China.  We couldn't be happier with our precious new baby.