Part 3 in my series of commonly talked about reasons behind the slowdown of international adoptions in China.
- The CCAA was recently in the U.S. and according to them, 4 out of 5 adoptions in China are domestic adoptions, leaving only 1 out of 5 for international adoptions. Hence, less babies for international adoption. The Chinese government has strongly promoted the domestic adoption program and according to them it has been very successful. I tried to do some research on domestic adoption on the CCAA website before this post, but was unable to get to the information I was looking for, so I do not have a lot of specifics on the domestic program. I have read that in the case of a domestic adoption that the Chinese government will waive the "one child rule". Of course, as with nearly everything that is involved with international adoption in China, there are many sides of this story. While the government agency who is responsible for child welfare has indicated that one of the reasons that there are fewer children for international adoption is that the children are being adopted domestically, many do not believe this is the case. There are many reasons behind why some do not believe that domestic adoptions are not as successful in China as reported. It is said to be unusual for a Chinese family to raise a child who is not a blood relative, historically in China there have been a large number or a)informal or b)adoptions within families. These adoptions are done privately and not part of the government regulated domestic adoptions. Another issue in domestic adoption is the financial aid obtained by individual SWI's for domestic adoptions versus international adoptions. I have read that several SWI directors are not interested in participating in domestic adoption because it is not as fiscally rewarding to the institute as an international adoption. As stated, I do not know the specifics of domestic adoption in China, but I do know that the individual SWI where your child comes from in international adoption receives a donation in the amount of $3000.00 USD from the adoptive parent(s). I think we can all safely assume that no one is paying this in domestic adoption. (I DO NOT think they should, by the way). The numbers of 4/5 of adoptions being domestic in China is at first glance kind of shocking, but when you break it down, it is really not a large number at all. Consider that if the CCAA completes approximately 10,000 international adoptions annually (with all countries, not just the U.S.), that would mean that there would be 40,000 domestic adoptions annually. Considering the population of China is approximately 1.3 billion, 40,000 seems like a very low number. Of course with that said, I did see the question of 4/5 adoptions in China being domestic posed to Dr. Jane Liedtke of OCDF and her response was "Don't believe 4/5 of all adoptions are domestic - that would put the number pretty high." If you a member of the yahoo group "Ask Jane in China", you can read her entire post in reference to this subject here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/askjaneinchina/message/2869
So again, as with the prior issues regarding international adoption in China.....everyone has an opinion. And of you know what they say opinions are like....and everyone has one. 
By the way if you are in the process of adopting from China, I would strongly suggest you join the Yahoo group "Ask Jane in China". Dr. Jane Liedtke is living in Beijing raising her adopted daughter and runs OCDF "Our Chinese Daughters Foundation". Its a good source of no nonsense information. Ask a question, you'll get a straight response....no unsolicited comments...just ask and answer. I like it!
