As more and more Americans are looking abroad to adopt, it is getting increasingly difficult to find a child. In 2005 alone, Americans adopted 7,906 children from China. Today, China’s adoption agencies receive more applications from foreigners than they have children up for adoption. Due to this recent jump in application numbers, Chinese officials decided to create new rules barring certain individuals from adopting.

Although the new regulations have not been formally announced yet, it is reported that they will prohibit people who are single, obese, older than 50, or fail to meet certain standards in financial, physical or psychological health from adopting. These new rules may change before taking effect on May 1, 2007.

In terms of health concerns, the guidelines require applicants have a body-mass index of less than 40, are free of certain health problems like AIDS or cancer, do not take any medications for psychiatric conditions including depression and anxiety, and do not have a “severe facial deformity.” These guidelines seem very rigid, yet at the same time it is sensible to try to find a child a home in which the parent will be healthy and able to support the child for a longer period of time.

Other rules state that prospective parents must be younger than 50, married, have no criminal record, have a high school diploma, and have a net worth of at least $80,000 and income of at least $10,000 per person in the household, including the potential adoptive child. If adopting a child with special needs, parents may be as old as 55. Couples must be married for at least two years with no more than two divorces between them, and if either spouse was previously divorced, the necessary number of years of marriage changes to at least five years.

Although these rules seem to go a bit overboard, according to Ms. Harrah, an employee at the government-run China Center of Adoption Affairs quoted in The New York Times, “what the CCAA really wanted was the cream of the crop.” In implementing these regulations, they are taking steps to ensure that each child ends up in a home most likely to provide a good life for that child.

I believe that these restrictions do not necessarily ensure a good home for a child, nor should they be so rigid, because successful, healthy singles may still provide great lifestyles for children. On the other hand, there are some benefits that may come from this plan. Hopefully, more people will look to other countries for children, and there is no doubt that there are an abundant number of children in the world who are still searching for safe homes. In many countries, there is not enough money to provide children with quality orphanages, so simply escaping these countries can save lives. Although prospective parents may not be thrilled with the new rules, I would hope they will still want to adopt and look for other options to help children around the world.

As for prospective parents who have already started the process and do not meet these criteria, they are being advised to get their applications in before May 1, when the rules officially take effect.

But international adoption agencies have already begun turning away applicants who do not meet the new regulations. Last week, Great Wall China Adoption in Austin, Texas posted the new rules on its website and said, “Some families were just turned down. … One was a couple where the husband had social anxiety disorder and takes Zoloft.” Although that couple would be turned away after May 1, they should technically be given a fair chance to adopt until that date.

Despite the fact that I do not agree with some of the new restrictions, it is China’s right to set rules about who they do and do not want adopting their children, especially given that they need some way to control the recent influx of applications. It is not right, however, for parents who apply before May 1 to be turned away due to new rules that are not yet even legally in effect. Until that time, every parent should be reviewed under the previous rules, which did not strictly deny people due to age, marital status, or mental or physical illness.

Gabbie Wade ([email protected]) is a freshman intending to major in journalism.