The Chinese government's "One Child" policy permits most Chinese families to have only a single child. Because of cultural bias, and the belief that boys will be around the family household to care for parents as they age, many couples prefer to have a male child.
Some Chinese couples are permitted to have two children. If both parents were only children, then they are allowed to have 2 kids. I think there are also some differences in rules depending on whether the parents live in the country or in the city.
The "Two Child" approach sometimes encourages abandonment of female children. If a mother has a girl as her first child, they often hope for a boy the second time around. If this child is also a female, I've read that the mother (by choice or after being "convinced" by her darling husband) will abandon the baby, claiming to the local government that the baby died in childbirth. This leaves her free to have yet another "second" child, hoping for a boy.
The Chinese government does not permit a mother to legally give her child up for adoption. She's expected to care for the child, and raise it. This leaves her only a few alternatives - abortion (illegal), abandonment (illegal), adopting the child out (illegal), and raising the child (which may be undesirable to her & her husband due to cultural biases).
Babies are abandoned for a variety of reasons. Perfectly healthy baby girls are abandoned just because they're female. Children with easily corrected physical problems (such as a club foot, a cleft lip or palate, or more complicated medical issues like heart defects) are also abandoned since they're not "perfect", and the parents may not be able to afford medical care. These children are referred to as "special needs" (SN) children among the adoption community. If you're interested in adopting a SN child, you might be able to adopt a boy, or an older child. Sometimes the corrective surgery will have already been done before the child is offered for international adoption.
Cultural Heritage
Something that Dyanne and I realize is that years down the road, Zoe is going to start asking more questions such as:
- Where did I come from?
- Who was my mom?
- Why was I given up for adoption?
- Where was I born?
Some of these questions will be more easily answered than others, and some we won't be able to answer
at all. We realize that although Zoe will be raised as an American, China will remain an important
part of her history, her culture, and her sense of "self."
She's bound to ask us about our adoption trip to China, and we'll share with her our pictures, videos, and impressions of the people and places we've seen.
Abandonment & "Finding"
When a child is abandoned, sometimes the birth mother leaves a note with the baby. The baby is typically left in a cardboard box, dressed in warm clothing, in a place where the mother knows the child will be quickly found. This might be near a police station, a temple, or a government building.
Upon discovery, if it's not obvious who the mother is, the child is turned over to a local orphanage. There are about 38 orphanages in just Hunan Province itself. Not all are accredited for international adoptions. In Zoe's case, she was found on 5/27/04, at the (estimated) age of 2 days old. She was cared for at the Changsha #2 Social Welfare Institute (Lang Li Town, Changsha City, Hunan Province China). Since Changsha #2 SWI is not accredited for international adoptions, those babies (including Zoe) are adopted through Changsha #1 SWI, which is accredited. This leads to some "secret" paperwork that's not much of a secret at all.
Although Zoe's paperwork all states that she's from Changsha #1 SWI, her "family" name (Gui) is the same one given to all babies from Changsha #2 SWI. From what I've heard, this is common for all kids adopted from China. I don't know if the first name changes year by year, but for this year, all Changsha #2 SWI kids names started with "Gui." #1 SWI kids names started with "He", and all kids from Maoming SWI have names starting with "Nan". So this makes it pretty obvious where a child is from.
When a child is found, the law in many locations require that a "Finding Ad" be placed in a local newspaper. This typically incudes a small picture of the baby's face, information on when and where the baby was found, and how the baby was dressed. This is Zoe's Finding Ad, with a translation by our in-China guide, Genie:
Zoe's Finding Ad is circled in red. Note that she was found "by the wall of Taogong Temple." This is as detailed a description as we can ever hope for.
This is a closeup of Zoe's Finding Ad.
This is the note written to Zoe by her Changsha #2 SWI caregiver (we got this from her the day after receiving Zoe).
This is Genie's translation of the note above.
When we received Zoe on 9/13/05 at the Changsha Civil Affairs Office, we did not receive the clothes she was wearing when found (her "Finding Clothes"), or any sort of note from her mother. The day after we received her, her Changsha #2 SWI caregiver (Ms. Ping Huang) visited our hotel room with Genie. She brought some gifts for Zoe (embroidery), as well as her Finding Clothes. Here's what baby Zoe was dressed in before being left by the wall of Taogong Temple:
Her jacket (stuffed with cotton wadding).
Her pants (a "Hello Kitty" print).
It's amazing to hold these clothes, thinking that our daughter was wearing them a year and a half ago when she was left by the temple wall.
On 9/16/05, the day before leaving Changsha for Guangzhou, I asked our in-China guide (Genie) if I might be able to visit Taogong temple, where Zoe was found. I wanted to see the place for myself, to photograph it and video tape it for her in the future.
Genie was VERY reluctant to allow me to go there. Apparently, Taogong temple is in Lang Li town, very close to Changsha #2 SWI. No foreigners are permitted to visit #2 SWI, so Genie said that she must first call the orphanage director to see if it would be OK. I did my best to reassure her that I didn't want to visit the orphanage, I didn't want to photograph the orphanage, I didn't even want to SEE the orphanage. I just wanted to visit the place where my baby was abandoned & later found.
Things must have worked out OK, since I was allowed to visit Taogong temple. Genie set me up with a taxi driver I called Mad Max (of Mel Gibson "Beyond the Thunderdome" fame, for his combat driving skills). He was to drive me to the temple, wait 20-30 minutes while I visited the area, then return me to the Dolton Hotel.
What a ride!
We're talking pedestrians walking pushing carts, people riding bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, all in the same lane of traffic as Mad Max (not all heading the same direction, though!).
Trust me, I know what I'm doing!
Good Luck Charms needed when driving a Changsha taxi: Jade pendant hanging from rear view mirror, along with several Chairman Mao medallions for good measure. Note the stack of cash by the speedometer.
Mad Max had Genie's cell phone number, which he used a couple times for directions, and he also stopped every 10-15 minutes long the way to ask the "locals" for better directions.
Here's one of the guys that gave MadMax directions.
The drive each way was 35-40 minutes.
See the green light timer? There's 15 seconds left until it goes yellow.
Need any tires??
Finally, we reached Taogong temple, built around the year 507 AD. It's down a fairly narrow street, dead ending into a river, intersecting with another narrow street. Directly across from the temple is what appears to be an apartment building with some small shops on the bottom floor.
Front of Taogong temple.
When you walk through the temple doorway, you see:
The red & black small structure at the very top of the stairs is an incense burner, filled with ashes and burning incense.
Incense sticks I lit (with the help of a few young Chinese people), in honor of Zoe & her biological mother.
Jeff at Taogong temple. This was a VERY emotional visit for me.
Mad Max...Live at Taogong!
When I got out of the taxi, I offered him a spare granola bar I'd stashed in my camera bag. As I was about to climb up the front stairs to the temple, Mad Max approached me & gave me a nice cold bottle of purified water. Fair trade! He wasn't an environmentalist taxi driver, though. When my visit was done, I saw the granola bar wrapper on the ground next to the taxi.
View of wall & street in front of temple. Note apartment building to the right of the picture.
Was Zoe left along this wall?
Or was it this wall (along the river)?
We'll never know.......
After half an hour at the temple, it was time to head back to Dyanne and my new daughter. Zoe Yuguang JOHNSON.
Mad Max patiently waiting...
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Jeff Johnson
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