A bipartisan coalition of governors from 33 states this week urged President Joe Biden to advocate for orphans in China who were matched with waiting families in the United States before the global pandemic but—inexplicably—are still languishing in institutions this Christmas.
As the letter reads, “We are asking President Biden to take diplomatic action to impress upon the Chinese government the need to fulfill the humanitarian commitment already in place and honor pending adoptions.”
The policy change is grim news for the U.S. families that the Chinese government had approved as adoptive parents. But it’s even more so for the children they had been waiting to bring home. “These are children with cerebral palsy, with heart conditions, with Down’s Syndrome, not healthy infants … children that are in an orphanage and in some cases aren’t getting the resources and ongoing medical care that they need,” said Myriam Avery, executive director of the nonprofit Washington State-based adoption agency Agape Adoptions. Read the article.
. . . Myriam Avery, executive director at Agape Adoptions, a placement service in the state of Washington working with affected families, called on China to reconsider the decision.
“Historically, we have really kept politics out of child welfare,” she said. “Nobody can ever convince me that leaving a child in an orphanage is in their best interest if they have an opportunity to have a family.” Read the article.
The pause on adoptions during COVID wasn’t unprecedented, according to Myriam Avery, executive director, of Washington state-based Agape Adoptions. Similar precautions were taken during a SARS outbreak in the early 2000s. But that halt lifted in a matter of months. This pandemic pause has gone on for years. Read the article.
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