China halting foreign adoptions has 'no impact' on Singapore families: MSF

SINGAPORE: China’s announcement earlier this month that it was stopping foreign adoptions of children has “no impact” on Singapore families, said the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) on Tuesday (Sep 24). 

There are currently no adoption applications involving unrelated children, a ministry spokesperson said in response to CNA’s queries.

“MSF does not track the wait time taken for applicants to be matched with a PRC (People’s Republic of China) child who meets the criteria,” said the spokesperson. 

Earlier this month, China said it was ending its intercountry adoption programme, without explaining why.

It told US diplomats that it "will not continue to process cases at any stage" other than those cases covered by an exception clause.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said only blood relatives overseas would be allowed to adopt a child or a stepchild.

"The Chinese government has adjusted its intercountry adoption policy," she added.

"Henceforth, except for the adoption of children and stepchildren from collateral relatives by the blood of the same generation or within three generations by foreigners coming to China, China will not send children abroad for adoption."

TOUCH Community Services and Fei Yue Community Services are the two MSF-appointed agencies to facilitate adoption of children from China.

There are specific requirements by the China Centre for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) for people in Singapore to adopt from China.

If the child is from a social welfare institution in China, the applicant must be at least 30 years old and the younger of the applicants should not be more than 55 years old.

Only married Singaporean couples who have been married for at least two years can adopt jointly. If either applicant was previously divorced, the applicants must have been married for at least five years.

Applicants who have been divorced more than two times are not allowed to adopt. 

The applicants should not have more than five children and the youngest child should be at least three years old.

Their annual household income per capita, including the adopted child, must be at least US$10,000 - and their total net assets should be at least US$80,000.

In terms of education, the couple must have received education at least of senior high school level - the equivalent of GCE A-Levels - or vocational skills training, equivalent to an ITE certificate.

The couple must be physically and mentally fit.

They cannot have any criminal records for offences such as child abuse, sex offences, violent offences or drug or alcohol abuse.

These adopters have to undergo at least 12 hours of training from an accredited adoption agency.

They need to provide three reference letters from adult children - aged 18 years and above - from their marriage. Those who have younger children can get the letters from the teachers of their children. 

No consent is needed from the child's biological parents, but the child must be below 18.

There are different conditions for adopters who want to take in a child who is related to them, or a stepchild.