Orphan ministry leader hopes Christians in China will step up as country stops int’l adoptions

The photo taken on June 7, 2024, shows locals reading a flyer bearing Loulee Wilson's photographs and a message in the hope of finding Loulee's biological parents in Dianjiang county, in southwestern China's Chongqing municipality. Wilson, an American college student, was born in China but given away by parents fearful of violating the country's "one-child" policy, which punished families for having additional children until its abolition in 2015. | JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images

China has announced that it will no longer allow children to be sent overseas for adoption, ending a practice that has been in place for over three decades. The policy change stems from the country’s former strict one-child policy, which led to the international adoption of thousands of children, primarily girls and children with disabilities.

The head of a Christian orphan network expressed concern regarding the fate of these unwanted children, but said he has hope that believers in China will step up and care for the most vulnerable.

Commenting to Christian Daily International about the sudden change, Jedd Medefind, president of Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), said “China has been steadily constricting international adoption for many years. Most observers expected that to continue, but this sudden shutdown still came as a surprise to many.”

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