Bridging Oceans to Help Children

"Yet there's another side of China that many people don't see. Much of the wealth resulting from China's economic success story remains in the hands of a tiny fraction of its 1.3 billion people. Moreover, because of China's policy of allowing couples to have just one child, parents simply abandon many unwanted children and leave them to the care of government orphanages. A traditional preference among the Chinese for male children led to more girls going into welfare institutions."more>>

Laws haven't kept up with changing family structure

"As much as American families have changed, some things remain the same. For instance, although out-of-wedlock births in the United States now account for 37 percent of births, it still takes the sperm of a male and the egg of a female to make a baby. When unmarried couples with children go their separate ways, they are faced with the same emotional trauma that accompanies divorce. Only in these cases, parents are trudging on new ground. That is even more true when the children are adopted."more>>

Adoptive families embrace Asian culture

"The 2007 La Cultura series at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg will celebrate China, starting with a Jan. 13 dinner on campus."more>>

Babies' best interest

China awkwardly but appropriately changes its adoption rules.

"CHINA IS BECOMING positively picky about which foreigners can adopt its babies, and its new restrictions are causing angst and anger among some who yearn to adopt there."more>>

Off the bed and into the gallery

"Linda Thomas of Westminster made a quilt featuring images of Chinese children and written Chinese characters, representing her and her husband's love for the country.

The couple is in the process of adopting their second child from China, and she has made and sold China-themed quilts to help cover adoption expenses."more>>

MY CHINA DOLL

WALL STREETERS ADOPTING FROM PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

"Adoptions of Chinese children are now wildly popular among the cream of Wall Street society - and shouldn't slow with China's planned new restrictions coming next year."more>>

Media meet Huntsmans' newest addition

"Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. knew what was coming when he reached out his arms to his newly adopted baby daughter just hours after the family arrived from her native India on Friday."more>>

Boy finds a family

An 8-year-old adopted from China will celebrate his first Christmas with his new family.

"JAMES CITY -- Jane Chambers looks forward to seeing her 8-year-old son's face on his first Christmas morning."more>>

Open hearts and empty arms

"f you ache to have a baby and nature doesn't cooperate, the news from China is disheartening: The Beijing government is tightening guidelines on foreign adoptions. Prospective parents who are older than 50, or obese, or taking antidepressants, need not apply. You must have a spouse, a high school diploma, no criminal record and a Body Mass Index of less than 40."more>>

Families urged to adopt orphans

"GUANGZHOU: Ordinary households in South China's Guangdong Province are being encouraged to adopt handicapped children and orphans."more>>

LIFE -- Thought adopting a baby from China was tricky?

Beijing is now changing the rules. JENI O'MALLEY tells her adoption story.

"This pregnancy feels like an elephant's -- 19 months since we began trying to conceive and no delivery in sight.

Ours is not a biological pregnancy, but a paper one. It's a journey of the heart that has taken us to China once before. But now our dreams of bringing home a baby sister for our 3-year-old daughters could hinge on China's new definitions of suitable parents."more>>

Young adoptee from China is big panda fan

"To say that 11-year-old Maggie Shiffert has a penchant for the Giant Panda bear would be, well, a giant understatement.

Maggie — or Maggie Melinda Grace Anne Fu De Long Shiffert, to be exact — has been collecting Panda Bear toys, memorabilia, history and statistics since she was brought to this country from her native China at 10 months old by her adoptive parents, John and Faith Shiffert."more>>

Chinese Adoptions From U.S.

"Single people hoping to adopt a child from China may soon be out of luck. The country is tightening restrictions on prospective parents."more>>

Welcome to Maine, Baby Jing

"ELLSWORTH — A Chinese baby girl, abandoned when 6 days old under a highway overpass in Hunan Province, is getting ready to spend her first Christmas with her adopted family on Riverside Lane."more>>

China Tightens Adoption Rules for Foreigners

"China plans to tighten rules on foreign adoptions, barring people who are single, obese, older than 50 or who fail to meet certain benchmarks in financial, physical or psychological health from adopting Chinese children, according to adoption agencies in the United States."more>>

An American Mom Adopts a Special Chinese Son

"A Chinese orphan too old to be adopted, an American mom too determined to let go. They finally got together in the U.S. But life takes surprising turns. For producer Roger Hsu, Elaine Lu tells the story of Emmy and Xiaofu."more>>

China Tightens Adoption Rules, U.S. Agencies Say

"BEIJING, Dec. 20 — China is planning to issue new, tighter restrictions on foreign adoptions of Chinese children, which would prohibit adoptions by parents who are unmarried, who are obese or who are older than 50, according to adoption agencies in the United States."more>>

China Tightens Child Adoptions to Bar Singles, Obese, Over-50s

"Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- China, the largest source of overseas children adopted in the U.S., plans to bar would-be parents who are obese, single or over 50, according to notices posted on the Web sites of three leading U.S. adoption agencies."more>>

China to tighten rules on adoptions

"Single adults and many with disabilities who want to adopt a Chinese baby or child will no longer be able to under new rules China will enact next year."more>>

Premeditation, paperwork essential before adopting

"The first thing Laura Tischler recommends for families thinking about international adoption is research."more>>

Reaching across the world

"The day the Gartners met their son his 10 little toes were jammed into a pair of too-small shoes. His jacket was pink, a hand-me-down whose color didn’t matter because it shielded him from the cold."more>>

Allen: Mother uses firsthand experience to help adopt from China

"At the Allen Public Library, several North Texans are leaping continents and traveling thousands of miles away on the wing of a wish to adopt a child from China."more>>

A name to go with the face

"The baby panda slept as hundreds of visitors filed into Zoo Atlanta early Friday morning. As dignitaries from China spoke about the 100-day-old cub, she stretched a few times. Her head twitched a few times and as Lt. Gov.-elect Casey Cagle spoke, she even let out a yawn."more>>

Cherished Daughters

"Three months ago I returned from an incredible journey to China, where my sister adopted a 2-year-old girl. My sister chose international adoption because she did not want to live with the fear that the birth parents would "reappear." She had visited China earlier and had seen the plight of so many abandoned girls."more>>

A miracle from China

"HARVEST — Sept. 24, 2004, in Yongxiu County, Jiangxi Province, China was for one young woman a day of agonizing decision about what to do with a newborn child she could not keep. Even though it is a largely neglected province, Jiangxi has enjoyed a distinguished place in China’s history. Though China itself is a young country, having been founded in 1949, its varied civilizations are thousands of years old. Jiangxi is often hailed as “The Cradle of Red China.” It was here, in the Jinggang Mountains, that Chairman Mao (Mao Zedong) began developing his philosophy of government and leadership."more>>

Demographer Warns United Nations About Abortion War on Baby Girls

"At the UN this week, renowned scholar Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) warned delegates of the growing global gender imbalance due to prenatal sex selection and sex selected abortions. Calling the trend a “Global War Against Baby Girls”, Eberstadt delivered extensive statistics on the rise of “son preference” in every part of the world."more>>

A mother's love

"REHOBOTH - Jackie Lantry has four Chinese-born adopted children and she said it's possible to love them the same way parents love their biological children."more>>

Overseas adoptions triple: new report

"Glenys and Bill Gayfer adopted their first two children from the Philippines in 1979, long before celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Madonna raised the profile of overseas adoptions."more>>

Chinese adoptees to sing at panda-naming party

"They are Americans, many still new to this four-lane land where neon competes with sunrise.

They also are Chinese, natives of an ancient place that has given the world one of the most beloved creatures ever to walk the planet.

On Friday, when they sing during the naming ceremony for Zoo Atlanta’s baby panda, the girls will be ambassadors whose smiles beam in both directions — east and west."more>>

Exit the dragon … Why China wants to ditch the icon before the Olympics

"China is considering slaying the dragon as its national emblem, because it fears the mythical beast suggests an aggressive nation."more>>

From anywhere, with love

Families adopting from other lands find it rewarding despite the hassles

"Five sons weren't enough for Dan and Karen Young of the Northeastside."more>>

Families with Chinese children gather in Nanuet

"NANUET - Sarah Quinn sat comfortably on her mother's lap while munching on pasta at a holiday party last night.

Her mother, Alice Quinn of Nanuet, gently asked if her 2-year-old daughter wanted more to eat. The girl answered with a nod and a smile.

The Quinns were one of about 300 families gathered in the St. Anthony's School cafeteria that had adopted children from China and were getting help from the China Support and Adoption Information Group."more>>

China Shows Signs of Shedding Modesty

"BEIJING, Dec. 8 — China’s Communist Party has a new agenda: it is encouraging people to discuss what it means to be a major world power and has largely stopped denying that China intends to become one soon."more>>

Meeting aimed at aiding overseas adoption

"A meeting later this month in Topeka will provide information for families interested in adopting a child from overseas."more>>

Tyra Banks Makes Adoption Plans

"According to the website Contactmusic, Banks has had an interest in adoption since childhood."more>>

Christmas Gains Favor in China

"BEIJING, China - With seventeen days left before Christmas, many people in communist China have just a handful of days to finish their holiday shopping."more>>

Here and There

"The joy of welcoming a child into a family usually comes after the pain of childbirth. That’s one aspect that most parents who adopt internationally probably don’t miss."more>>

International adoptions hurt Canadian children

"The latest trend in Hollywood isn’t hot pink pants or driving fuel efficient cars, it’s adopting children from another country. Maddona and Angelina Jolie are just a few of the elite who have chosen to bring a child to North American rather than adopt one of the thousands waiting in North America - 1,000 in B.C. alone."more>>

Twin Bridges woman specializes in bringing overseas orphans to families here

"TWIN BRIDGES - Tang JiaQi was found in a doorway in her native China, less than a day old, abandoned by a birth mother who couldn't care for her."more>>

Gotcha!

Adoptive families celebrate the day they and kids 'got' each other

"The telephone rings somewhere in New Jersey.

Jeff Young picks it up to hear a "Happy Gotcha Day" message from a fellow adoptive father." more>>

Family with 4 adopted children finds a home and support in Harpswell

"HARPSWELL - In 1992, Maine native Lorraine Turcotte, then 37, wondered if she'd ever get married and have children. That was the year she met Phil Ingle, a Baptist pastor, at a church function in Kansas. The pair fell in love, married and began an adoption adventure that would lead them around the world, forming the family of six - Phil, Elaine, Gavin, Dani, Piper and Jared - and eventually to Harpswell earlier this fall."more>>