I've just been pointed toward a post on the Adoptive Parents-China yahoogroup (also known as "the big group") wherein is advertised the creation of a rather interesting, smaller group - the China Birth Family Search group. Some people, you know, have already gotten in contact with birth parents in China, despite all the odds against it. You might already have read some birth parent stories featured here or elsewhere. And, most importantly, your kids might be more interested in this than you could possibly know at some point in the future. And you want to give the world, right? Well, here's a part of the world. I don't know exactly what's going on in there yet, but it could be the start of something interesting and worthwhile.

Because, as those of us who've chosen this path for our families should be well aware, this is not a system that is free of ethical complexities. After all, sometimes bad things happen to people's children, as "The Saga of Ding Shuang Yuan," Brian Stuy's latest tale of domestic adoption and child trafficking in China, illustrates.

And sometimes bad things happen to people who want children. Don't click this link if the phrase "forced abortion at 9 months" in bold face type makes your skin feel too tight for your body. It's a Toronto Star story about a couple that got pregnant, then got married, then got forced to have an abortion (because premarital pregnancy, like having too many children and giving the children you have to the Social Welfare Institute, is illegal in China), and then (and this is where it gets interesting) took officials to court. Because forced abortions are also illegal in China. They may be getting a sizable settlement.

Like that's any compensation.

Then, on the other hand, you can never tell exactly who your birth parents might be. They might be heroic figures (I'd put Jane Jeong Trenka's birthmom in this category), or a little different than what you expect (Daughter from Danang, maybe), or they might be the kind of folks who are really [expletive deleted] glad they didn't have to put up with a daughter around the house. Don't click *that* link if x-ray images of needles stuck in a girl's body where they stayed for decades make your skin feel like hundreds of ants suddenly started crawling over it. "Because they really wanted a son" the article says. Maybe something got lost in translation....


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