For almost two decades, China’s children have been adopted by foreigners, placing China at the forefront of international adoption in Western culture. By the end of 2010, 120,000 Chinese children, mostly girls, have been adopted to 27 countries, with 80,000 going to the United States alone.
With a whole generation of Chinese girls growing up in places far removed from their life beginnings and having little information about their birth family, Chinese journalist Xinran seeks to tell the stories of love and loss from the perspective of Chinese mothers in Message From an Unknown Chinese Mother (Scribner, 2011).
Adoption in China From 1990s to Present
Using her frank yet compassionate journalistic style, Xinran explains how the politics of China, and more specifically the Cultural Revolution, plays a major role in how female children are viewed by society. Aside from what the international media has shown the global public in terms of the poverty of some parts of China, the author cites these three reasons for adoptions taking place:
- Female babies born in China’s farming culture have been abandoned for hundreds of years as a matter of keeping family property with male heirs.
- Sexual ignorance and freedom among the younger population combined with the economic boom of the early 1990s.
- Government imposed one-child policy as a way to manage China’s population.
Officially, Chinese adoptions began in 1993 but had been taking place since 1990 on an informal basis. Everything from family honour to economics is described to help shed light on the underlying complexities of Chinese adoptions. To further help readers understand the laws and policies surrounding adoption, the book includes an appendix that outlines the laws governing the process.
Chinese Birth Mother Stories Written for Adoptees
Written from an investigative journalist perspective tempered with a subjectivity that makes the reader feel like part of the conversation, Xinran asks the hard questions – why and how could these Chinese women give up their children?
The answers across all 10 stories are similar, yet unique – life for Chinese girls is so difficult that their mothers want to give them an alternative to the infanticide that was commonplace in rural China. She tells of a midwife who helped deliver babies throughout China and also gave several of her own daughters away. In another chapter, Xinran describes her experience as a guest in a village while her host’s daughter-in-law gives birth to a daughter. She also shares the story of meeting a loyal daughter who was kidnapped as a baby to be given to another family and the mother who still searches for her.
By dedicating the book to Chinese adoptees, Xinran has honoured the wish of many Chinese mothers who wanted these stories to be told so their daughters would know they were loved and missed, regardless of their individual circumstances. In providing a voice for the Chinese birth parents who live with these emotional scars, this book will help adoptive families develop a fuller understanding of the circumstances around their child’s relinquishment and orphanage experience.
Adoption Book Specifically for Chinese Adoptive Families
In addition to this sixth book by Xinran, the author has touched the lives of adoptive families all over the world through her radio program, her published works and as well as a charitable organization, Mother’s Bridge of Love. Scattered throughout the book are letters from adoptive parents asking for her insight on cultural issues and encouraging her to share the stories of Chinese birth mothers.
Xinran’s bold storytelling in Message From an Unknown Chinese Mother gives adoptees and their families an opportunity to see what life is like for birth mothers in a way that pulls at the heartstrings and enters the imagination. Even though some of the hardships are difficult to read, the underlying message that these children are loved and thought about by their birth mothers is an especially important message for Chinese adoptees to hear.
Source:
Xinran. Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother. Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc., 2011 (ISBN:978-1-4516-1089-5).
Other Suite101.com Adoption Book Reviews:
Don’t Call Me Mother by Elizabeth Elias
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Without a Map by Meredith Hall
Angela Krueger - As an adoptive parent and PRIDE adoption trainer, Angela uses her insights to help others on their adoption journey.
