China halts foreign adoptions for its children

For decades, many foreigners have adopted children from China, traveling to the country to bring them home. International adoptions were temporarily suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, but were later resumed for children who had already obtained travel authorisation. In the past year, the US consulate issued 16 visas for adoptions from China, the first in over two years. It remains unclear if any additional visas have been issued since then.

In recent months, concerns have been raised about fabricated documents and procedures in overseas adoption agencies, leading Denmark’s only agency to wind down operations and Norway’s top regulatory body to recommend a two-year suspension of overseas adoptions pending an investigation.