Chinese Adoptions to the US: Older Than You Think

The history of adoption, like our own individual history as adoptees is often hidden, forgotten or never recorded. While we recover our own pasts and the rights taken from us, it is also important to recover the lost history of adoption. It is part of us. We own it. When we think of Chinese-US cross border adoption, for instance, we think of the 1990s and beyond. The truth is, the “placement” of Chinese children to the US began much earlier, in the 1950s, when Chinese refugee children from Hong Kong were sent to the United States to be adopted by Chinese-American and American couples. News to you? It was to me! Google “Hong Kong Project” and see what you come up with. Friday I attended a lecture at Ohio State by Catherine Centiza Shoy, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies at UC-Berkeley. The lecture was part of OSU’s Center for Historical Research’s ongoing seminar The Intersection of Diaspora. Immigration and Gender in World History. Choy’s topic: “The Hong Kong Project: A History of Chinese International Adoption in the United States.” Prof. Choy is not adopted. She developed an interest in Asian-US adoption when Korean-American adoptees, trying to fill in some Continue Reading →