Why China banned international adoptions

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The announcement came at a routine press briefing on September 5th. Mao Ning, a foreign-ministry spokesperson, said China was grateful for the “desire and love" of the foreign families who wanted to adopt Chinese children.

But, she added, China would no longer allow the practice. Exceptions would be made for foreigners adopting stepchildren and children of blood relatives in China. For everyone else the new policy would take effect immediately, meaning even adoptions already in progress would be halted.

China had long been a top country of origin for international adoptions. More than 160,000 Chinese children have been placed in homes overseas since the early 1990s, when China first allowed the practice. (Just over half of those went to America.) For much of that time, Chinese orphanages were full as a result of the state’s population-control measures.

Under the one-child policy, in place from 1980 to 2016, most families were limited to a single baby. Parents preferred boys, who would carry on the family name. Girls and sick or disabled children were more likely to be given up.

International adoptions seemed a good way to relieve the stress on orphanages and spare children from having to grow up in a grim state-run facility. Those taken in by foreigners include three being raised by the prime minister of Sweden and two by the prime minister of the Netherlands. But today China faces a different demographic challenge.

With its population declining, the government has turned to pro-natalist policies. Meanwhile, living standards have risen dramatically, along with the quality of social services. As a result, fewer children are being given up.