Letter to Joseph Biden

Letter

Dear President Biden,

We write to you on behalf of hundreds of American families who have been left in a state of uncertainty about the completion of their adoption from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) following its announcement that as of August 28, 2024, foreign adoptions from the country will no longer proceed. Likewise, we express our concern for the vulnerable children in the PRC who have been matched with a permanent and loving home but remain separated from their prospective adoptive families. We request that you act in the best interest of these children and families by urging the PRC to fulfill and uphold the commitment the country has made.

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Convention) concluded in 1993, with several objects to ensure that the best interests and rights of the child are recognized and safeguarded in international law. The United States and the PRC are parties to the Convention and up until the COVID-19 pandemic, have collaborated successfully to work towards permanency for over 82,000 children in the PRC. Roughly three-hundred children in the PRC, many of whom have medical and emotional needs, have been matched with an adoptive family in the U.S. in accordance with the Convention. Yet, the PRC appears to be going back on its commitment to these families.

The American families that have been matched with their adoptive children are prepared to meet their long-term medical and emotional needs, and to give them the love and nurturing they need. While these families have waited for years for their adoptions to be completed, they have become deeply bonded with their adoptive children. Many of these children know that they have a home, which in many cases have been prepared for their arrival since the families were notified that they were matched and moving forward with the adoption process.

We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Department of State to seek written clarity on the PRC’s end to international adoptions and unite these families. That said, our understanding is that the policy decision was made at top levels within the PRC, necessitating your direct intervention. We believe that the adoptions of children who have already been matched with an adoptive family in accordance with the convention should be allowed to be completed. According to a notice sent on October 25, 2024, by the Department of State to adoption service providers, we understand that the PRC may be continuing to process intercountry adoptions for families from other countries. Our hope is that American families will be provided the same opportunity and that the PRC’s participation in the Convention is not going to end with heartbreak for families who won’t ever be united with their adoptive child, and with vulnerable children left without the loving home that they knew they had. Your leadership could be life altering for these families.

Thank you for your attention to our correspondence. We hope that our plea for the families and children that have been matched is well received and that you will act to ensure the United States is dedicated to seeing that the commitment made to these families is fulfilled.

Sincerely,

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