IMPORTANT: MY STORY IS ONE IN MANY.
In the last three years, more than 160, 000 babies from China have been adopted by people around the world, with the US making up about half of those births.
But my tale is just that, my unique. I don’t, nor do I claim to, show” the Chinese orphan story”. Because there are as many adoptee tales as there are people, this is true.
This is one of the most essential points I learned when I co-founded China’s Children International, a nonprofit company, to join and enable Chinese kids from all over the earth with my friend and fellow adoption, Laney Allison, in 2011. Our organization’s goal is to assist Foreign child kids in developing their identities and foster their sense of belonging.
Being an adoption is a longstanding personality, just like implementation is a lifelong journey. When a child is entrusted to their adoptive parents, it does n’t end. When an adoptee turns 18 years old, history does n’t change. Even if an adoptee finds their biological relatives, it does n’t somehow bring closure in the way many may expect.
And, importantly, it does n’t end just because China has halted international adoptions. Whether the impact is positive, negative, or a combination of the two, there are still hundreds of youngsters around the world living out its effects.
Listening to those whose lives have been directly affected by global deployment is what is most important to us.
These diverse voices, in addition to honoring the experiences of the adoptive parents who had to fly halfway around the world to adopt their children, the adoptees themselves, and their own stories, will eventually help us better understand the complicated legacy of China’s foreign adoption program.
At five months old, Charlotte Cotter was taken from China. She is also the co-founder of China’s Children International, a nonprofit company that connects Chinese kids around the world.  , She studied South Asian Studies, focusing on Modern Chinese history, at Yale University and is competent in Mandarin.