Baptist Press
By Diana Chandler, posted September 5, 2024 in Foster Care & Adoption, International News
BEIJING (BP) – The Chinese government has officially ended its international adoption program, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced Sept. 5, ending hopes for hundreds of U.S. families who were matched with children before the COVID-19 pandemic but had adoptions put on hold in 2020.
Karla Thrasher, senior director of international adoptions at Lifeline Children’s Services based in Birmingham, Ala., said the announcement was shocking to the adoption agency and to the 48 families it serves who were matched with Chinese orphans before the pandemic.
“They were definitely in shock. This came very suddenly,” Thrasher told Baptist Press. “We actually had thought things were moving in a more positive direction over the past couple of weeks, and then received this email out of the blue regarding China no longer carrying out the foreign adoptions.”
Lifeline was serving more than 100 matched families when China suspended adoptions in 2020, Thrasher said, but the number dwindled due to various family circumstances.
The remaining 48 families waited with anticipation and suffered a range of emotions including anger, sadness and disbelief at the news, Thrasher said.
“Some of them were just a couple of pieces of paperwork away from traveling to meet their children and finalizing their adoption,” Thrasher said. “That’s how close many of these families were.”
Some of the children had participated in Lifeline’s hosting program.
“Several of these families had actually met their children and spent time with them through a program that we have where we host children here in the United States,” Thrasher said. “So several of these children had been a part of that hosting program where they had come to the U.S., actually spent time in the family’s home. So these families knew these children.” More Here
