What can I expect as an Asian American adopting from China?

Question

I was born and raised in the US and am as American as you can get. However, I'm thinking of adopting a baby girl from China and am wondering how common this is? So far, everyone I've seen who has adopted from China has been a white couple and there are certain struggles they have to deal with. I understand as a Chinese American with little to no Chinese culture, I will have a different set of struggles that I will have to go through in this adoption process. Are there any other Asian American couples who have adopted from Asia out there? If so, what was your experience like and would you recommend it?

Answer 1

I have two friends who adopted from China.  He is second generation Chinese, she is third generation.  They had no problems adopting.

Their 2 girls were adopted as infants and know that they are adoptees.  Don't lie to your children about being adoptees!

Answer 2

Wow, I'm surprised you got two completely bogus answers. Unfortuntaley, I am NOT in the position you were hoping for, though I very much hope that some people who are asain americans and have adopted will answer your question!!

I have run accross one other couple online who were in your same position. I can't say that my opinion carries any wieght at all, but I do think you're in  a position to offer a lot more support and understanding to a child coming from China.

You will be able to relate on a very deep level the difficulties of being from a different culture while simultaneously not being actively a "part" of that culture (in the sense of living there, having certain knowledge of the culture)

You will be able to relate very deeply to the experience of interaction with "white folk" and understanding self and identity, and what it means to be asian american in a way that "white folk" can attempt to relate too, but can not really encompass in the same way.

On top of that, if your child experiences identity issues, racism, etc, he/she will not only have an understanding parent to help (which ideall ALL children of international adoption have) but also a parent who has a wealth of experience to draw from in being there. Not only that, but the child can maintain some link and value to their original culture they would not otherwise be able to maintain... (after all you are from there too!!)

you can also relate to any issues the child might have if they want to reintigrate into chinese culture but feel left out on that end also... (they might not experience this who knows?)

In any case, I'm sorry I couldn't provide exactly what you were looking for, but since there were such bad answers so far I wanted to give you something sincere!!

Answer 3

A wrecked car when the kid turns 16.

Answer 4

Hi, My husband is is Canadian born Chinese and I am Caucasion Australian. We already have one daughter who we adopted from China and are starting the process to adopt a little brother or sister for her. There are lots of families where either one or both parents are Chinese (or other Asian) who have adopted from China although we tend to be a quiet bunch.

I do think that there are many advantages to being an Asian parent adopting an Asian child. Certain issues like racism, culture and what it means to be an Asian American tend to be easier to discuss with your child as they come from a shared experience. There are also fewer unwelcomed questions from strangers.

However there are some issues that Asian families sometimes struggle with more such as family attitudes, names (traditional/family vs Western vs exsisting given name) and how to be open about the adoption when everyone assumes the child is biological (to name a few).

The process will be much the same as other families. You will need to have a homestudy (done by a Social Worker) and health and background checks and there is certain legal paperwork that will need to be completed. Once you are approved your agency will send your file to China where you will need to wait for China to approve your application and then allocate you a child.

Right now the wait to receive an allocation is long (and getting longer) however if you are of Chinese ethnicity you may qualify to have your file expedited which means that you will recieve your allocation a bit quicker. In order to qualify either you (or your husband) OR one of your parents need to have been born in China.

There are 2 excellent yahoo groups that I know of for Asian families adopting from China. One is The China Expedited Referrals Group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerg...

Which is mainly for families interested in finding out about being expedited.

The other is

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ambc...

Which is for Asian Moms and Dads to discuss issues relating to adopted children.

I wish you all the best. Our daughter is the light of our lives and we are very happy that we made the decission to form our family this way.