Kids crossing the cultural divide

Identity crisis

Culture shock is often seen among overseas-adopted children, according to Zhang Zhiwei, a lawyer who helps adopted kids find their birth parents, and also works to reunite kidnapped children with their families.

"Children older than 3 have a lot of memories about their past life, which heightens the cultural conflict. Sometimes, it leads to psychological problems that can hurt both the child and their adopted family," he said.

More than 80 percent of Chinese children who are adopted and taken overseas are unwanted girls. The others are usually those with special needs, who few Chinese people want to adopt. According to the CCAA, people in 17 countries are permitted to adopt Chinese children.

In China, adoptions have been declining since 2005 because the waiting list for a healthy child has grown longer and longer. Currently, people have to wait six years to adopt a healthy child, according to Joshua Zhong, co-founder of Chinese Children Adoption International, an agency that helps families to adopt.

Zhong has a special interest in these kids. He and his wife adopted a Chinese girl called Anna, who has a heart condition called tetralogy of fallot - often known as "blue baby syndrome". Having been abandoned at the age of four months, Anna, now 17, wants to know why she was rejected at such an early age and sometimes makes up stories to comfort herself.

Zhong said that Anna has sometimes mentioned that she would like to search for her biological parents. "We really hope we can figure out a way to help her. Like all adopted children, she deserves to know the truth," he said, adding that he has considered asking for information through newspapers or TV in Beijing.

Almost 85 percent of the adoptions in which his organization participates involve children with special needs, he said.

He said one of the reasons that some orphanages - especially those whose directors have visited adopted children living overseas - are more willing to place their children with foreigners is that they believe the kids will have better access to healthcare, education and community support.

Moreover, the Chinese domestic adoption system still needs to develop because it lags behind countries such as the US and Canada.

Family fortunes

Although orphanages provide homes for kids, children should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding, to ensure the full and harmonious development of their personalities, according to the Hague Adoption Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions.

In light of the psychological problems that afflict some adopted children, the convention seeks to ensure that international adoptions are made in the child's best interests and to prevent the abduction, sale, or trafficking of children. Moreover, it has suggested that children are better off if they remain in their country of birth.

That view is often echoed by those who work in the field, but some experts believe that a childhood spent in normal family conditions provides the best opportunities for adopted children.

"Growing up in a family offers adopted children the chance of a healthy, normal life," said Deng Zhixin, a volunteer with Angelmon, a charitable foundation affiliated to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation. "We've found that children who have grown up in orphanages have poor working abilities and social skills. They're used to things being given to them and often find it hard to make a living once they go outside."

Contact the reporter at yangwanli@chinadaily.com.cn