The Way it Works

In China, things work much differently than in the US. When the "One Child" policy went into effect in the early 70's, I don't think China had any idea that hundreds of thousands of children would fall into the orphanage system. The government was immediately overwhelmed with babies - mostly little girls. There has been a lot of negative discussion about this situation from people who judge the parents who could not keep these children. Contrary to what we hear (almost daily), the Chinese people are loving, family-oriented, and care deeply for these children. I can't even imagine the sorrow these precious birth parents have felt as they made heart-wrenching adoption plans for their babies.

Adoption was not part of the Chinese culture until very recently. There wasn't even a system in place for Chinese couples to adopt. The government found itself with thousands and thousands of babies and no real plan as to what to do with them. Things were bad at best and did not change much until a TV crew with hidden cameras went into several orphanages and took pictures and videos of the horrible living situations. The pictures shocked the world and created a huge embarrassment for the Chinese government; however, things began to quickly change as a result.

China set up an organized adoption agency and began to allow foreigners to adopt these precious ones. Adoptive parents made sizable donations to the orphanages and the money was used to better the lives of the children still in China. The government even allowed foreign agencies into the orphanages to provide training and medical care. As care improved in the orphanages, China began to also use foster homes to house some of the children - especially those with special needs. While many of the orphanages were open to volunteers, adoptive parents, medical teams, etc., China did not allow much contact with any of the foster parents.

Now you know the way it usually works in China - tomorrow I will begin the real story of how God worked things for us!