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Personal Essay by a Chinese adoptee: I returned to China to find my biological family and discover my cultural roots

BY ANDRÉ-ANNE CÔTÉ

Since I was young, I always knew I was adopted from China. My parents had adopted children from different origins: China, Haiti, and indigenous people in Canada. My family has always been open to talking about my adoption, and I met many adoptees in Quebec, where I was raised.

Growing up in the only francophone province of Canada, I experienced an invisible wall separating Chinese adoptees and Chinese Canadians. The barrier was mainly linguistic and geographical. It was really hard to communicate with one another because we speak French whereas most Chinese immigrants, living in Chinatown, speak Cantonese or Mandarin, and sometimes English. On one hand, these migrants see us as part of Western society, with white privileges. On the other hand, Quebecers often ask us questions about our origins. “But, I mean, where are really you from?” They would say. When I arrived in China, I also felt like a “banana” – yellow on the outside, but white on the inside. My cultural identity is Western, but my physical appearance is Chinese. I felt like there was still a piece of the puzzle I had to find in order for me to truly understand myself.

Before becoming André-Anne Côté, my former name was Chenxinhua or “???,” which means “new nation.” I was born in 1995 in Nanchang, in the province of Jiangxi. I was part of the generation that was supposed to make China rise again, following the era of reform by former party Chairman Deng Xiaoping, who led the country from 1978 to 1989. Instead, I became an object of collateral damage in China’s period of growth: one of many orphans that became a victim of China’s severe family planning policies during the period. My life started with my abandonment. I was left in a basket in front of a market, and struggled against death before I eventually reached an orphanage. I survived and am here now, able to write these lines – but I know very few details about those initial years of my life. Those years seem to me like a blackout. It feels like my life started from an empty hole.

Photo of all the Nanchang children adopted by Quebecer parents taken at a hotel in 1995. Credit: André-Anne Côté.

'Instant Family' uses laughter to shine a light on adoption

Image Source : AP

'Instant Family' uses laughter to shine a light on adoption

NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Wahlberg may be known for his tough guy image thanks to movies including "Mile 22" and "The Departed," or for his comedic roles like in "Ted," but he tugs at the heartstrings in his latest movie, "Instant Family."

Out Friday, it stars Wahlberg and Rose Byrne as a couple who adopt three siblings. The story is based on director and co-writer Sean Anders' own adoption experience.

Although there are funny moments showing the challenges of a couple taking in three kids and trying to learn to parent on the spot, Wahlberg says they were careful to be respectful of the process.

Campaign for betterment of orphans, abandoned children launched in?Pune

Pune,abandoned children,Where are India’s Children

(From left) Protima Sharma and Smriti Gupta discuss regarding their campaign page in Pune, on Tuesday. (Photo by Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

Protima Sharma and Smriti Gupta, adoptive mothers and certified adoption counsellors in Pune, have launched the ‘Where are India’s Children (WAIC)’ campaign, on the occasion of Children’s Day on November 14.

The digital campaign on social media, and via email, comprises an open letter to the prime minister seeking answers from the government on the alarming numbers of orphaned and abandoned children in the country.

Sharma said the campaign was conceived by adoption counsellors and child rights campaigners after reading reports by the United Nations that despite 30 million orphaned and abandoned children in India, only 0.5 million reach child shelters and only 2000 reach the adoption pool.

Over 600 adoptions from Chile to Sweden investigated in 'children of silence' probe

Over 600 adoptions from Chile to Sweden investigated in 'children of silence' probe

@thelocalsweden

16 November 2018

Over 600 adoptions from Chile to Sweden investigated in 'children of silence' probe

In total, thousands of babies may have been taken from their parents against their will in Chile. Photo: Christine Olsson / TT

The investigation of illegal adoptions is growing - 600 children may have been affected

The investigation of illegal adoptions is growing - 600 children may have been affected

published today 06.10

The Chilean criminal investigation on suspected illegal adoptions from Chile is growing. Now more than 600 Swedish cases are included in the investigation. The adopted requires a Swedish investigation - but it is still far away.

Nina Hugosson from Burträsk which is one of the cases included in the investigation . She thinks the scope is hard to grab.

"Crazy, that's crazy," she says.

A gay Canadian man, a ‘well-rehearsed’ cover story, and a struggle to adopt a foreign child

David McKinstry always wanted a family to call his own. But as he writes in his new book Rebel Dad: Triumphing Over Bureaucracy to Adopt Two Orphans Born Worlds Apart, his battle to adopt children as a gay man quickly turned into a years-long fight with the Canadian government, social workers and adoption agencies. The following excerpt features David in India in January 1998, as he visits adoption agencies while keeping his sexuality a closely guarded secret.

Vinod [my guide while I was in India] was standing outside my bedroom door when I emerged looking ashen. I handed him the list of five orphanages I had scheduled appointments with that day.

The first was a state-run facility, Delhi Council for Child Welfare. The building rose up in front of us as we drove into an upscale neighbourhood with white stucco houses, each lot divided by rows of 50-foot-high trees. The narrow streets of this cul-de-sac were cobblestoned; the labourers who swept the streets spotless would take home only a few rupees for their daylong effort.

Nisha, the director of this facility, was a stunningly beautiful thirtyish woman with a kind and gentle manner as she greeted me and then led me to her office. She had just placed a child the previous month with a family in Ottawa and she was happy to see another Canadian inquiring about adoption. Scanning through my file, Nisha asked me thoughtful questions while frequently making encouraging observations about my readiness to adopt children.

However, after 30 minutes, she announced that this orphanage’s charter denied single people, widowed or not, from adopting their children. She suggested I visit Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity orphanage, just up the road and the next place on my list. Nisha asked if I was Christian and gave me a warm, bright smile when I replied, “Indeed I am.” After a short walk around the compound full of nicely dressed and happy-looking children playing under tall shade trees, she bid me goodbye and good wishes for a successful adoption.

Sathwik finds a new home in the US

Sathwik with Ruth, the US national who adopted him, and Kerala State Council for Child Welfare officials.

Sathwik with Ruth, the US national who adopted him, and Kerala State Council for Child Welfare officials.

Child abandoned in Ammathottil adopted by American woman

One-and-a-half years after he was abandoned in ‘Ammathottil,’ Sathwik has found a new home, in another continent. The child, who had come under the protection of the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare just two days after his birth, was adopted by Ruth Anne O’Connor, an American, on Friday.

A spinster, Ms. Ruth, 44, is a legal complaints manager based in Washington. She had registered for the adoption process through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). Steps to hand over the child got under way following the satisfactory completion of the home study undertaken by CARA. Later, the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare was accorded permission to proceed with the adoption formalities.

Adoption au Maroc : des parents belges trompés ?

Adoption au Maroc : des parents belges trompés ?

Soraya Ghali

Soraya Ghali

Journaliste au Vif/L'Express

09/11/18 à 15:15 - Mise à jour à 15:45

Mother Teresa nun refused bail ?in India over adoption scandal

Mother Teresa nun refused bail ?in India over adoption scandal Missionaries of Charity centre in Jharkhand, India

The High Court in India’s Jharkhand state has rejected the latest bail plea of a Missionaries of Charity nun accused of selling babies from a congregation-run home for unwed mothers.

Sr Concilia was arrested on July 4 at Nirmal Hriday, the home she managed for unmarried mothers in the state capital Ranchi. She was initially remanded in custody for 14 days. She and her congregation have denied the illegal trading of babies.

Courts have since refused her bail several times, most recently on October 30, on the grounds that the investigation of the case and a probe into the activities of her congregation could be hampered if she is released.

Sr Concilia was arrested along with a staff member following complaints that the staff member took money to give a baby to a childless couple but failed to keep her promise.