China has formally announced the closure of its international adoption program, bringing an end to a system that has helped tens of thousands of Chinese children find homes abroad since the 1990s, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The decision formalized a process largely on hold since the COVID-19 pandemic and marked a significant shift as China transitioned from overpopulation concerns to declining birth rates.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning confirmed that international adoptions will now be limited to cases where foreigners are adopting children or stepchildren of relatives. Mao expressed gratitude to families who had adopted children from China, acknowledging their "desire and love" in welcoming these children into their homes.
China's international adoption program was initially propelled by the country's stringent one-child policy, which led to the placement of many children, particularly girls, in orphanages. The policy, enforced beginning in 1980, restricted most couples to having only one child. By 1990, Beijing had tightened the rules, preventing families from placing children born outside the policy with relatives.
In 1992, China formally approved overseas adoptions, quickly becoming a leading country of origin for adopted children. This, in turn, fueled a surge in international adoptions. Between 2004 and 2022, more than 89,000 children from China were adopted by families in over two dozen nations, according to data from Peter Selman, a scholar at Newcastle University. The United States, which adopted over 82,000 Chinese children between 1999 and 2023, was the primary destination for these adoptions, with most adoptees being girls.
Adoption activity reached its peak in 2005 when U.S. families adopted more than 7,900 Chinese children. However, numbers began to decline after the revelation of an illegal trafficking ring in 2006, where babies were sold to orphanages in Hunan province and then adopted by foreign families, often under questionable circumstances. The scandal shocked the international adoption community and led to tighter regulations and greater scrutiny of the process.
Since then, the number of international adoptions from China steadily decreased, with a sharp drop during the pandemic. In 2020, only 202 children were adopted by U.S. families, and no adoptions occurred in the following two years. In 2023, only 16 Chinese children were adopted by U.S. families, according to State Department data.
China's decision to halt international adoptions aligns with similar moves made by other countries in recent years. For example, Ethiopia, once a leading source for international adoptions, banned the practice following high-profile cases of abuse. European countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark have also imposed stricter rules or halted foreign adoptions amid concerns of corruption and exploitation.
As China's demographics shift and its population ages, its focus has moved from overpopulation concerns to efforts encouraging family growth.