China ends foreign adoptions leaving prospective families with questions

China has announced the end of its intercountry adoption programme, a scheme that had allowed Chinese-born children to be adopted by families overseas.

At a daily briefing on Thursday, Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said China is no longer allowing foreign adoptions of the country’s children, with the only exception for blood relatives to adopt a child or a stepchild.

Mao did not explain the decision, other than saying it was in line with the spirit of relevant international conventions.

“We understand there are hundreds of families still pending completion of their adoption, and we sympathise with their situation,” the US Department of State said on Thursday, adding its embassy in China is seeking clarification in writing from the country’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.

In a phone call with US diplomats in China, Beijing said it “will not continue to process cases at any stage” other than those cases covered by the exception clause.

While many foreigners have adopted children from China over the decades – visiting the country to pick them up and then bringing them to a new home overseas – families in the US have adopted 82,674 Chinese children, the largest number from any country.

Between October 2022 and September 2023, 16 visas were issued by a US consulate for adoptions from China marking the first such issuances in more than two years, the State Department report said. It was not clear if more visas had been issued since then.

China suspended international adoptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government later resumed adoptions for children who had received travel authorisation before the suspension in 2020, the US State Department said in its latest annual report on adoptions.

Other countries have also recently taken action on international adoption. In January, Denmark’s only overseas adoption agency said it was winding down operations after concerns were raised about fabricated documents and procedures regarding children adopted overseas. Norway’s top regulatory body also recommended stopping adoptions from overseas for two years pending an investigation into several cases.