Pnyin - Stricter rules for adoption by foreigners

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Stricter rules for adoption by foreigners

(chinanews.cn)
Updated: 2006-12-26 09:52


Chinese government has mapped out a new plan to impose stricter criteria
on foreigners who want to adopt Chinese children, such as a stable
marriage, good finance records and sound physical and mental health.

Xing Kaimin, director of the China Center of Adoption Affairs under the
Ministry of Civil Affairs, also specifically confirmed a highly disputed
criterion that applicants should not be overweight.

They must have a Body Mass Index (BMI) -- a measure of body fat based on
height and weight that applies to both adult men and women -- of less
than 40, said the guideline, which go into effect on May 1, Beijing-based
China Daily reported on Monday.

A BMI of 40 means extreme obesity, for example, in a person who is 1.7
meters tall and weighs more than 115 kilograms.

"Obese people are more likely to suffer from diseases and might have a
shorter life expectancy," Xing Kaimin told the daily.

"The priority criteria are meant to protect children's interests and
shorten the waiting time for more qualified applicants," Xing said. "It
does not mean we are prejudiced against less qualified applicants, who
can still apply."

According to the new rules, the applicant couple must be married for at
least two years; and those who were earlier divorced should have been
currently married for at least five years.

Xing said a complete family is essential for adopted children.

The current law allows single foreigners to adopt Chinese children, but
requires the father to be at least 40 years older than the adopted girl.

Another change is that couples must have less than four children and be
in the 30-50 age group, according to Xing. The current law does not
specify the number of children of adopting parents, but they should be at
least 30 years old.

He stressed the guidelines are temporary and might be subjected to
further revisions.

Xing's center, the only institution authorized to deal with foreign
adoptions, has received a soaring number of applications to adopt Chinese
children in recent years.

Prospective adopters now have to wait for 14 to 15 months on average from
the time of their applications till they receive an initial match.

"We want to pick the most qualified so that our children can grow up in
even better conditions," Xing said.

More than 100 licensed adoption agencies in 16 countries have been
informed of the revisions.

More than 50,000 Chinese children are reported to have been adopted by
foreigners in the past 10 years, of which US families make up four in
five. About 8,000 Chinese children were adopted by US families last year.
The figure was 5,000 in 2001.










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