North American parents find China's adoption program reliable. (Photo : www.china.org)
China remains as top pick of American parents for adoption, with 2,040 recorded adopted children in 2014, the U.S. State Department reported Wednesday.
Report shows that in the fiscal year 2014, which ended on Sept. 30, adoption rate reached its lowest level since 1982 as U.S. adoption to foreign children worldwide dropped by 9 percent.
The highest rate of adopted Chinese children was in 2005 where it summed up to 7,903, far below from 2,040 recorded in 2014.
China expands programs on domestic adoption and aimed to cut down rate of child abandonment. It has also made modification to its one-child policy and has set strict standards for the candidates of adoption of all children as well as those with special needs.
According to Chuck Johnson, president and CEO of the National Council for Adoption, the lower number of adaptions from China in 2014 is only an indication of what Chinese people are more “willing to do than anything else.”
Johnson stated that changes have occurred in the type of children being adopted, as most of the abandoned fall into special-needs group. He also added that China’s adoption program has been the most reliable, according to U.S. parents
The working relationship between China and U.S. regarding adoption has received positive feedback from both countries. China’s Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption marked the ties as "very strong oversight on the entire process," while for Johnson, working with the Chinese government is a little bit easier compared to other countries because China follows one central authority with one strong voice.
Despite the policies created on promoting domestic adoptions and foster care, emerging sentiments were thrown against adoption in countries like China and South Korea.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the U.S. has further increased scrutiny of some countries and of individual cases.
Bill Blacquiere, president of Bethany Christian Services, a national agency, also told the newspaper that the State Department concentrates more on making sure that children are not trafficked but refused to see the excellence inter-country adoption can provide.
State Department's adoption chief Trish Maskew, on the other hand, explains to the Journal that the U.S. aims to protect all those involved in the process because it is very troubling for families to find out that the child they are adopting is not really an orphan.
The Journal reported that some agencies have begun expanding domestic programs as international adoption detains.
Starting April, a campaign called "I Choose Adoption," which encourages women with unplanned pregnancy to consider adoption, will be launched by a Virginia-based adoption council, followed by “Families For All” in May, to introduce available foster children to parents.
