China's adoption practices and possible changes are discussed in this article. I have been hearing a great deal about this subject including lots of anger and outrage. Mainly it seems because people are disturbed that less children may be adopted due to more restrictive policies.

I can understand that the thought of children remaining in orphanages in China when they could instead be adopted is upsetting to people. The reality of orphanages is very vivid for many adoptive parents with international adoptions. I believe that many, but not all orphanage are crowded places with horrible conditions. Even in the best ones, children still must have grave difficulty at times surviving let alone thriving. For children in bleak circumstances in orphanages in poverty stricken countries, I believe that adoption is their best hope for life.

However, I also would like to play devil's advocate regarding this whole situation with the purported changes in Chinese adoptions. From what I am gleaning from the little I have read about U.S. adoptive parents adopting from China, apparently some of the standards for who is eligible to adopt in China have been less stringent than in some other countries, and in the U.S. Therefore, some Americans adopt from China due to the less restrictive requirements. Even in the U.S., people sometimes adopt from certain agencies that require less from adoptive parents.

Although I certainly do not relish the thought of fewer children languishing in Chinese orphanages, I question the anger among adoptive parents when countries decide to require more of adoptive parents. In general, it seems to me that while birth parents in general support stringent standards for adoptive parents, adoptive parents favor less restrictions. This article mentions that parents in a certain sector in New York are reacting with dismay upon hearing of the changes in Chinese adoptions.

Is it a question of entitlement or real outrage that fewer children will be adopted? I suspect that it varies depending on the adoptive parents who are reacting. Some of our adoption.com bloggers have experienced first hand the dire conditions in some foreign countries, and are on a mission to save more children. I do not question their motives, nor do I think that they object to stricter regulations because they feel entitled to adopt.

To Be Continued...................