Why is the US worried about China's halt on foreign adoptions?

Ending a three-decade-long policy, China has decided to stop foreign adoptions of children. Since a strict one-child policy came into force in the country, thousands of young children were sent overseas for adoption. This major decision is going to hit hundreds of families in the United States, who are in the process of adopting children from China. 

Since the start of the international adoption policy in 1992, more than 1,60,000 Chinese children have been adopted by families worldwide. 

According to China's Children International (CCI), around 82,000 of those children, mostly girls, have been adopted in the US. 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning on Thursday said the Chinese government had adjusted its cross-border adoption policy to be 'in line' with international trends. 

"Apart from the adoption of a child or stepchild of blood relatives of the same generation who are within three generations of foreigners coming to China to adopt, China will not send children abroad for adoption," Mao said.

However, she also added that she expresses appreciation to those foreign governments and families, who wish to adopt Chinese children, for their good intention. 

China’s strict one-child policy faced backlash as many left their babies in front of police stations and public places to avoid severe penalties. Since the number of children in the orphanages rose, these were turned to international adoption centres to help fund their services.

Now with the latest Chinese government's decision, the US is seeking clarification on how the decision will affect hundreds of American families with pending applications. 

In the letters sent to some adoption agencies, the US state departments said they had been told by Chinese authorities that all other pending adoptions were cancelled, except those with already issued travel authorisations. 

"Will not continue to process cases at any stage," said Beijing. 

The US State Department on Thursday said its embassy is seeking clarification in writing from China's ministry of civil affairs. 

The state department said: “We understand there are hundreds of families still pending completion of their adoption, and we sympathise with their situation.”

US families have adopted 82,674 children from China, the most from any foreign country. 

However, since the Covid pandemic, intercountry adoptions have been largely suspended since 2020. 

A US consulate issued 16 visas for adoptions from China from October 2022 through to September 2023, the first in more than two years, the state department report said. 

Several overseas adoption agencies expressed concerns about the decision and some have winded up their operations after the rising concerns about fabricated documents and procedures regarding the adoptions. 

In 2023, the number of newborn babies in China fell to 9.02 million, and the overall population declined for the second consecutive year.