US homes for China's abandoned babies
| US homes for China's abandoned babies | |||||||||
 I first noticed them in the hotel's lift. Two of them in their late 30s I think, with a beautiful Chinese baby in a papoose. The woman could not stop touching her child, patting her on the head, stroking her face as we rode down from the 25th floor. As her husband, whom she addressed as papa, looked on fondly, his gaze was met by a wide-eyed stare from the youngster.
"When did you get her?" "Three days ago." "Which province is she from? When is her birthday?" The White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, is next door to the American Consulate. This is where Americans who have adopted Chinese children need to come to get their new son - or more usually daughter - an exit visa. As a result the lobby and corridors of this very expensive and rather plush hotel look a bit like a playgroup. Everywhere little knots of parents are showing off their new offspring. Strict procedure The couples I spoke to, like Jim and Diane from Arkansas, were, without exception, pleasant, comfortably middle-class Americans. Jim told me that they had waited seven years for this moment, but after unsuccessful attempts to adopt in their own country, they had come to China where it was easier and a bit cheaper. Chinese newspapers put the number of abandoned babies adopted by foreigners in the last 10 years at around 50,000. The procedure these days is quite strict. A Chinese government agency organises the contact between the parents and the orphanages.
But it still felt strange to me, as someone from the West, to see other Westerners in such numbers with their newly acquired Chinese offspring. I could not quite work out why, so I talked to my two Chinese guides about it. Both were young highly-educated Chinese officials working for the provincial government. Ma Yan admitted she felt as uncomfortable as I did. "This is still strange," she said, "even though I am so used to seeing them. Some old people say it is a good thing because these babies will be loved. But perhaps what really concerns me is why we have so many orphans."
"These children are mostly the offspring of migrant workers," he told me. "They do not use condoms. If they get pregnant they hide until they give birth; and if she is a girl they abandon her. So what hope does the baby have?" He was more comfortable about the idea of Westerners adopting Chinese babies. Earlier in his career he had been responsible for accompanying Western couples when they visited the orphanages. "These days in America," he said, "they meet once or twice a month with other parents who have adopted." "The US is a migrant culture. There are lots of Chinese there so these children will be fine." Older siblings The American couples I met - like Jim and Diane - said they were really interested in Chinese culture. Diane was wearing what you might call a Suzi Wong dress, an intricately embroidered, traditional Chinese outfit.
Childless Chinese couples do adopt children, but they are often unwilling to take those with disabilities. Officials say Americans are much more likely to take a disabled child, and some see it as an act of charity. Others know that in the US there may be treatments available to cure them. However, severely disabled children, such as those with cerebral palsy, are rarely found new homes in the US. As I walked back down the corridor to my hotel room one night, I passed two new dads walking their wide-awake babies in an attempt to tire them out. Until the youngsters reach adulthood it will be hard to judge how they feel about being taken away from their motherland at such an early age. If they do want to know more about where they came from, perhaps the best place to start will be the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. | |||||||||
What really concerns me is why we have so many orphans 
