Since 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic, China had already largely suspended adoptions, to the great displeasure of hundreds of waiting couples. Very few babies have been able to find a new family abroad, knowing that for a long time, Chinese newborns were adopted mainly by American couples.
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For decades, the China has been the number one country for international adoptions, with more than 160,000 babies sent abroad since 1992. During the very strict one-child policyin force until 2015, many desperate parents saw only one option to avoid heavy penalties: abandon their newborn in front of a police station or an orphanage.
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Short of resources and with the blessing of the authorities, these orphanages then offered their protégés to parents abroad, with the United States at the top of the list of countries. But today, the Chinese population is in decline. For the second year in a row, China has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, and Beijing is therefore seeking by all means to stop the hemorrhage. The end of international adoption is part of this policy.
In the future, foreigners will only be able to adopt their spouse’s children or those with whom they have a blood relationship. This is brutal news for hundreds of couples waiting: all ongoing procedures are cancelled.
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