Submitted by admin on Fri, 2007-03-16 08:00. ::
Angelina Jolie adopted a Vietnamese boy this week in what may be the first of what many officials expect to be a surge of single-parent adoptions in that country.
While national governments such as China are strengthening requirements for foreign adoptions and accepting only married couples, prospective parents like Ms. Jolie are forced to turn to smaller countries with more lenient regulations.
In May, China's national adoption agency, the China Center of Adoption Affairs, will implement more stringent requirements for foreign applicants. The new policy will bar people who are single, obese, over 55, or who fail to meet specific standards for financial, mental, and physical well-being.
The assistant director of international adoption programs at Spence-Chapin, Jennifer Goodbody, said New Yorkers would be hit hardest by the age restriction.
"The age thing is definitely a factor, especially in New York, where we see a lot of people who are older when they get married or may have been 46-47 when they adopted in the past and wouldn't qualify anymore if they wanted a second child."
The Manhattan coordinator for Families With Children From China, Jennifer Maslowski, said new financial requirements would also hurt adoptive parents in the city. After May 1, applicants must have a net worth of at least $80,000 and an income of at least $10,000 a person in their households.
This is cache, read story here
