ABOUT 100,000 Chinese children have been adopted by U.S. families since China opened its doors to overseas adoption of Chinese children in 1992, according to a China Daily report yesterday.

    Since 2000, U.S. citizens have adopted more babies from China than any other country, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

    Official figures show that nearly 90 percent of the adopted Chinese children are female, 44 percent under 1 year old and 52 percent between 1 and 4 years old. About 80 percent of the adopted Chinese orphans are children with special needs, a report by the Global Times said.

    In the period from 1992 to 2009, over 120,000 Chinese children were moved to adoptive homes in 17 countries, with the United States far in the lead, adopting 74,142 children. Spain was second (13,495) and Canada third (11,471).

    Adoptions from China peaked in 2005 with 14,496 children adopted in one year and have since dropped to about one-third of peak level at 5,068 in 2009, according to Dr. Peter Selman of Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.

    The drop came from changes in qualifications for prospective parents imposed by the Chinese Government after an American father sexually abused his adopted daughter in 2006.

    On May 1, 2007, China enforced nine new eligibility rules, which restricted who could apply to adopt Chinese children.

    Children can only be adopted by heterosexual couples married at least two years. The married couple must be above 30 and below 50 years old. Each parent must have an annual income of at least US$10,000. Parents who are willing to accept children with disabilities wait a shorter time for adoption.

    Currently, couples looking to adopt have to wait an average of 54 months before getting matched with a child. Before 2007, the waiting time was about a year.

    Families looking to adopt children from China go through many procedures and sign various documents. The U.S. side will investigate the financial conditions of adopters and check whether they have a criminal record. After the investigation, the researchers write a report and get approval from the state welfare bureau. All documents are translated and submitted to the China Center of Adoption Affairs.

    While waiting for approval, a couple looking to adopt will receive information about different children that are up for adoption.

    The couple can then choose which they are interested in adopting. When the Chinese side agrees, the couple can fly to China.

    China had 615,000 orphans in January 2013 and each year about 100,000 children are abandoned by parents, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

    (SD-Agencies)