An April 28, 2009, article by Time magazine writer Kayla Webley reports that adoptions of Chinese children by U.S. parents have declined dramatically over the past two years.

Webley attributes this decline to heightened standards that the Chinese government put into effect in May 2007:

The stricter guidelines, intended to limit the overwhelming number of applicants to China's well-regarded adoption program, have been effective -- adoptions of Chinese children by U.S. citizens have dropped 50 percent, according to the U.S. State Department.

The new regulations require, among other things, that adoptive parents be married, under 50, not classified as clinically obese, not have taken antidepressant medications in the past two years, not have facial deformities and meet certain educational and economic requirements.

Webley's Time article noted that the number of children who were adopted by U.S. citizens through the state-run China Center for Adoption Affairs fell from 7,906 in 2005 to 3,909 three years later.

Labels: international, adoption rights

Posted By: Aspen/CRC