A New Year celebration at the Chinese Embassy in Washington Monday evening included the touching attendance of 70 American families who have one thing in common; they have all adopted a child from China, with one from our very own Nanjing.
Logan Hurler was adopted in Nanjing by his parents, a couple from New York City, when he was 17-months old. Now 10, he has two adoptive siblings. Their parents had intended to only adopt one more, but found themselves incapable of separating the two siblings when they found them in Hefei, Anhui province. “When we saw their pictures, my husband and I felt like we couldn’t break them apart”, said Kathleen Hurler.
Among the others on the guest list was host of the US’s National Public Radio “Morning Edition” programme, Steve Inskeep. Speaking with the English arm of China News Service, he told of how proud he is to have an adopted child from China as part of his family. “I’m grateful that the immigrant in my family comes from China and connects our family with the great stories in China”, he said.
Interviewed by China Daily, Maryland resident Mark Willcher remarked on how much he himself needs to learn; having adopted a child from China, he feels he now need come to some of an understanding of China’s culture, language and traditions. Yet, he added that the experience has also brought him much joy; “I’m a first-time father at 65, and it’s been wonderful having him, just a lot of happiness”.
Despite such happy times that will be remembered by all for many years to come, it is far from plain sailing for such adoptees in foreign countries. At some point, there comes a time in these children’s lives when they begin to question their origins and place in the world.
Then there is the tumultuous period when the transition to adolescence can lead to worrying situations. As an 8-year old, Meg Garrison, a Chinese adoptee in Seattle, threatened to run away from home back in 2004, peak year for American international adoptions. Talking with MSNBC at the time, her father Bill, who works in real estate said, “She says, ‘I’m running away, to China!’”.
Things have improved since with the upside that the situation is hardly new. Despite numbers declining ever since, adopting a child from China has nevertheless become almost commonplace in the USA; with a history of 20-plus years, there is now is a large support network in place.
Melissa Ludtke adopted Maya when she was 9-months old, from an orphanage in Xiaxi, not far from Suqian in northern Jiangsu province. Speaking with Public Radio International in 2016, she said, “What we learned, as a community of adoptive parents, really instructed us to engage our kids in activities that would give them a sense of who they were very early on”.
Back at the Chinese Embassy New Year bash in Washington, Kathleen Hurler says her and her husband are planning to take their three adopted children back to their home in China when they are older. “We are trying to figure out what is the best way for them to learn the Chinese language. We would love for them to do that.”
Li Kexin, Minister Counselor at the Chinese Embassy, was also in attendance at the event, gave thanks to adoptive parents present. He said such joint-venture families have a “unique opportunity to help the China-U.S. friendship prosper in the future”.
A total of 78,257 children in China were adopted by US citizens between 1999 and 2016.
