Wanted: Young, pretty, slim parents to adopt orphaned Chinese babies

By JOE McDONALD
The Associated Press

BEIJING — China is imposing new restrictions on foreign adoptions, according to U.S. adoption agencies, barring applicants who are:

• Unmarried

• Obese

• Older than 50

• Taking antidepressants

The restrictions are in response to an enormous spike in applications by foreigners, which has far exceeded the number of available babies, said leaders of American adoption agencies who were briefed this month.

The new regulations, not yet formally announced by the government-run China Center of Adoption Affairs, are expected to take effect May 1 and have raised concern and anxiety among prospective adoptive parents.

China has in recent years been the No. 1 source of foreign-born children adopted by Americans — in fiscal year 2006, the State Department granted 6,493 visas to Chinese orphans — and its regulations on who can adopt have been less restrictive than some other countries.

Now the Chinese government has created guidelines intended to recruit adoptive families with qualities Chinese officials believe will provide the greatest chance the children will be raised by healthy, economically stable parents.

“Their feeling is that while singles can be good parents, it is better for a child to be raised in a two-parent family, it’s better for a parent to be educated, it’s better for a parent not to be obese because they have a chance of living longer. What CCAA really wanted was the cream of the crop,” said Jackie Harrah, executive director of Harrah’s Adoption International Mission in Spring, Texas.

Several agencies said they had been flooded with confused, anxious or disappointed calls and e-mails from people wanting to adopt. Most were told that if they got all their paperwork in by May 1, they likely would be approved. But international adoption agencies have already begun turning away applicants who did not meet the new criteria.

Among China’s new guidelines are that applicants:

• Have a body mass index of less than 40

• Have no criminal record

• Have a high school diploma

• Be free of certain health problems such as AIDS and cancer

Also, couples must have been married for at least two years and have had no more than two divorces between them. If either spouse was previously divorced, the couple cannot apply until they have been married for at least five years.

In addition, adoptive parents must have a net worth of at least $80,000 and income of at least $10,000 per person in the household, including the prospective adoptive child.

Parents can be as old as 55 if adopting a child with special needs.

Timothy Sutfin, executive director of New Beginnings Family and Children’s Services, an international adoption agency in Mineola, N.Y., said the new guidelines put China in the middle of the spectrum — not as restrictive as South Korea, but stricter than Guatemala and Vietnam.