If the new regs coming into play in adoptions from China impact your family, you may be interested in joining this new Yahoo Group.

They've been having some trouble agreeing on a name, but have settled on "People Redirected from China". Here's their self-description:

Ineligible to adopt from China? Welcome. Already have Chinese children but no longer orphan eligible? Again, welcome. Where ever you live!

From where... more

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Astoundingly to me, the situation that has developed, one in which there are now far more men than women ... see this al Jazeera report for an idea of the present imbalance ... has not increased the value of females. One would think ... okay -- I think ... that with so few potential mates for heterosexual... more

Continued from the previous post ... Wondering about any possible foundations for circumstances that could lead to dying rooms and/or a shortage of girls, a glance at history was revealing. This is from the ancient Chinese "Book of Songs" and dates back to between 1000 and 700 BC:

When a son is born, Let him sleep on the bed, ... more

(Yesterday ... actually still today in some parts of the world ... 27 January, has been designated by the UN as Holocaust Memorial Day. I won't use up this space to rant over the fact that genocide is happening at this very moment while the UN scratches its collective butt and tries to come up with yet another snappy slogan instead of doing anything that would stop mass killings and horrendous suffering, but I will publish a blog I've been working... more

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My point in all this? To vent frustration mainly, I suppose. Frustration over five years coming and going since the imposition of a sentence on innocent children that imprisons thousands and removes so much chance of ever having a family has me about to pop today ... that and the realization that it's no closer to ending now than it was ages ago ... so thank heavens I can blog, heh?

Not... more

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I'm not alone in my doubts about the Holt report giving the definitive look at last year's Cambodian orphanage situation. Others have pointed out that they know of many orphanages the Holt report did not include, some very near Phnom Penh, so much more difficult to miss than those more far-flung. If so many easy to locate facilities were ignored, how many in the provinces were left out of the tally?... more

The slug-fest (and I'm talking the cyber version of balled fists, not banana-like slimy mollusks ... is "slimy mollusk" redundant?) that is the back corner of the Cambodian adoption sandlot is once again gaining popularity as a venue for opening old wounds and pounding a jagged point into new ones. Possibly, I'm a bit tender and quick to bruise after spending last Sunday surrounded by the living, breathing proof of just how wonderful Cambodian adoption... more

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With demographers agreeing that as many as 60 million girls are presently 'missing' from the Chinese population, shouldn't everyone be asking: Where have they gone?

... demographers in China found a ratio of 117 boys per 100 girls under the age of 5 in the 2000 census. Thanks to China’s one-child policy, put into effect in 1979 in order to curb population growth, and a strong cultural preference... more

An opinion piece in the New York Times hits the nail on the head in regard to the proposed new adoption regulations coming up in China, supposedly imposed in response to a drop in the orphan population. While it's all well and good to want to think that a nation of 1,313,973,713 people would have the welfare of its small citizens at heart, this may not be the case on a planet we inhabit, and it could... more

New China regs in a nutshell from IAAP:

1. The adopters must be a male and female couple with a stable marriage. If this is the first marriage for the couple they must have been married two years before submitting a dossier. If the husband or wife has been divorced they must now have been married for at least 5 years. They can have no more than two divorces.

2. Both Husband and wife must be at least 30 years old and under the age of 50. For parents adopting special needs children they must both be at lease 30 years old and both must also be under 55.

3. Both parents must be physically and mentally healthy and... more