Globalisation and international adoption from China

Abstract

Chapter 19 studies international adoption from China. Since China introduced its one-child policy in 1979, at least 150 000 children, mostly girls, have left China through international adoption. For ten years between 1995 and 2005, China was one of the major countries from which children were adopted overseas. This chapter examines how particular aspects of globalization _ that is, worldwide communication, the influence of international organizations, and economic inequalities in China _ have continued to influence international adoption from China. It examines the factors that have contributed to the outcomes for Chinese adoptees and their adoptive parents, and for international non-government organizations and their staff based in China. She also explores cultural and historical attitudes toward population growth, child abandonment, and adoption, and reflects on how China’s social, economic, and welfare policies have affected policies and practices concerned with ‘the best interests of the child’ in relation to international adoption and those left behind in state care in China.