Official statistics show that since 1999 over 64,000 Chinese babies, most of them girls, have been adopted by Americans. China’s one child policy has caused an increase in the number of children abandoned, many of whom end up in orphanages. But China has changed a great deal in the last two decades, and so has its attitude towards adoption. The Chinese government recently paid for 90 adopted Chinese children and their families to travel from the U.S. to the country of their birth on a “heritage tour” – billed as an opportunity for these children to learn more about their roots. Danielle Caccamise, a 17-year-old from Colorado, was one of those who was selected to visit. Patti Waldmeir, Shanghai correspondent for the Financial Times and mother of two adopted Chinese children, wrote about the tours for Slate.
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