Neglected Chinese Orphans

Although, many healthy infants are adopted in China of the 15 million, many also live in orphanages for the rest of their childhood.  For example two thirds of children under orphanage care have special needs, but only ten percent are adopted a year worldwide.  This means special needs kids almost zero chance of being adopted.  Also, many older children can be found in orphanages, because they were abandoned when they were older, and people don’t have the desire to adopt them.  Finally, a big problem is “closed orphanages” or orphanages not open to adoption. 

       The worst thing that happens in orphanages is death due to deliberate negligence.  An example is especially in the 1980’s and 1990’s when it is reported that the majority of children who entered orphanages in Shanghai and throughout China died within a year.  These children were starved knowingly.  This was called the “summary resolution.”  Children were diagnosed with alleged medical problems, and were abandoned because they were born “disabled.”  Fortunately, adopting in China has increased in the last few years and so has some of the orphanages conditions, but they still have a long way to go. 

For more detailed descriptions of the abuse in Chinese orphanages visit http://www.hrw.org/summaries/s.china961.html

Created By Becky Skledar November 8, 2007

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