China Adoption Notice – February 27, 2018
A short time ago today, we received an email from the Departmnet of State – Office of Children’s Issues about China.
According to the official email, there was a meeting held on January 25, 2018 between the Office of Children’s Issues and the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) in Washington DC.
The notice tells us that the purpose of the meeting was to “discuss a range of topics related to adoption”.
It would appear that China changed a law in 2017 that that has impacted international adoptions and their internal sturcture for processing adoptions has been altered.
This change in their law was not a change in adoption law. It was a change for NGO Law. On January 1, 2017, “China’s Ministry of Public Security enacted the Law on Domestic Activities of Overseas NGOs. The primary goal of the new law is to regulate all foreign NGO activities, not intercountry adoption activities. Although the law was not targeted at intercountry adoption activities, it has directly impacted adoption processes. The new law resulted in the suspension of the One-to-One Partnership program, the hosting program, and the Journey of Hope program. During a CI visit to China in May 2017, CCCWA indicated they expected new regulations to be enacted about these issues in 2017. However, those regulations have still not been developed, and an estimated timeframe for them is currently unavailable.”
So, is China Still Open for Adoption Under the New Law?
That is the question that many of us are asking after receiving this email. The answer is not “no”. However, it may be difficult to predict delays it may bring to the adoption process. The Office of Children’s issues informs that:
“Adoption Agencies are now required to register with the Chinese government by submitting credentials for approval to the Ministry of Public Security. In addition, ASPs must register with the relevant Ministry that oversees the actions of the NGO. In the case of international adoptions, which is overseen by CCCWA and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, we understand that Civil Affairs is still in the process of creating registration regulations. No completion date has been provided. Therefore, according to CCCWA, currently, no U.S. ASPs are registered under the NGO law to conduct intercountry adoption work under a One-to-One partnership arrangement..”
It is never comforting to hear that a governemnt authoirty is “in the process of creating registration regulations” and that “no completion date has been provided”. Similar changes and delays are not uncommon and they’re not exclusive to China. However, we understand that this may impact many families who are in process of adopting from China. We’ll keep them, and their process, in our prayers.
To read the full article issued by Office of Children’s Issues, we’ve linked it for you below.
