Missing Chinese Children in the US

More than 100,000 Chinese children had been adopted by western families at Chinese government run orphanage. In the year 2010, according to 'China Adoption', 3,401 Chinese babies came to the United States through adoption process sponsored by the Chinese government.

American couples were told their Chinese babies were orphans, often discarded by their parents. However, a brave reporter showed many of these babies were 'confiscated' by the local government to be sold to American couples for profit against their parents' will.

The picture on the left is Yang Ling, daughter of Mr. Yang Libing, before the 10 months baby was taken away by government officials in May, 2005. Yang Ling is the first child of the Yang family, therefore it is not even about the infamous One Child Per Family policy. Yang family was given a one day window to collect $1,600 (Y10,000 RMB) to get the baby back. At the time, Yang Lining was working as immigration labor out of town and the poor family couldn't get the money in time. When Yang got back, it was all too late. The girl had been delivered to a government run orphanage in a big city, and there was little the local officials could do. Yang was beaten up by the local officials many times for keep bothering them asking for his daughter. Other family would have given up, but Yang and his wife were persistent, until his wife mentally collapsed in 2009 and had been missing since. Today, through help of a responsible reporter, Yang was able to trace his daughter to the United States, the picture on the right. However, the original contact no longer worked.

The higher level government agencies and the orphanage fabricated the entire dossier, including public notary, police report, and government records even an application with Yang's signature to claim the girl was found in a park, for the little girl to make the adoption process 'legitimate'. According to the journalist investigation, at least dozens of babies were taken away in the same county to be sold to the western families, disguised as orphans during 2002-2005. Many of these children were first child of a family taken away by force.

Before the source Missing Children with family name 'Shao' is to be harmonized by the Central Propaganda Department, reader can view the news article published on "New Century" as long as a video of interview of the father Yang Libing.

According to the investigation by reporters, among 13 babies taken away by government in one village (Gaoping) between 2002 and 2005, 3 were first child of their families.

Yang Libing is still looking for his daughter. The Yang family is waiting for the girl. Anyone reading this with information of the girl please let the adoption family know that the parents of their adopted girl were still looking for her. The mother had gone insane and was missing. The father hadn't worked a job for 7 years. They wanted their baby girl back. One clue, the baby's official last name was 'Shao', named after the upper level government 'Shaoyang'. If you have any information regarding the whereabout of the child, please contact ontact the editor at newsroom@caixinmedia.com, or call by phone at +01186 (10) 8590-5000, FAX: +01186 (10) 8590-5101. Their contact information can be found at the website of the news article.

This was not the first exposure of questionable, to an extend, illegal, practice of the local governments in handling adoptions. It had been reported earlier that some local government would 'purchase' second-born babies at low cost from residents who couldn't afford fines of the One Child Per Family policy, then sold them to westerners for profit.

The message to the western family who plan to adopt a child from China: regardless whatever the story you were told by Chinese officials regarding the source of the child, no matter how many government records came along as evidence, they were probably not true. People who are willing to raise a child of others must be of great sense of humanity and caring. For the sake of broken families in China and parents who are still desperately looking for their own babies, stop adopting children from China. In the least, you should point the article linked to Chinese official sellers, and demand the situation to be improved.

Former Utah governor and the US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Jr. adopted a girl Gracie Mei from China in 1999. Mr. Huntsman had been told the girl was a girl given up by her family and was found in a park. Mr. Huntsman probably should think the story over again. Gracie's parents might be looking for her return for the past decade, every day and every night.

The reporter's name is Shangguan Aoming. The cover story published on "New Century", issue of No. 18-2011, May 9, 2011.