Boston Globe article on adoption
There is an interesting article in the Boston Globe. It seems that they have noticed that the number of adoptions from China into Massachusetts has led to an overall decline of adoption in their state of about 6%.
They are specifically looking at 2003 and 2004 numbers. We are told that in 2004 there were 2392 and in 2003 there were 2553 – a decline of 161 babies. They note that during this same time period adoptions of babies from China declined by 17%, after several years of increases.
They are concluding that this drop is from China’s quota on single adoptions and their requirement that single people sign something saying they are not gay or lesbian.
At the beginning of the article they also touch on the fact that the struggling local economy might have something to do with it as well.
The singles quota was put into place on dossiers received after December 2001. Those families received their referral in February 2003. If there was going to be a drop because of the quota, then the drop would have been between the years 2002 and 2003. Those 2003 numbers should only include those who were referred in November and December and January, as they would likely have returned home in 2003. This means that about a quarter of the year 2003 may have had some potential gay or lesbian parents returning home, but the other three quarters of the year would have been severely restricted.
So, this particular 17% drop I don’t think can be completely attributed to China’s policy. We’d need to know the 2002 and 2005 numbers in order to figure that out. They don’t give us the 2002 number, and they tell us that the 2005 number won’t be available until next year.
They again note later on that economic conditions could have had an effect on international adoptions, and then they note that more parents adopted through the foster care system than the year before, which would seem to point to economics being a strong reason.
As for the rest of the story, they quote Lillian Zhang of China Adoption with Love as saying that she expects “a dramatic decline” in Chinese placements across the country. That part I agree with.