Gabi plays guitar at her bedroom in Virginia. In 2001, Marty and Sissy adopted her from Xinjiang Urumuqi City welfare house. The couple have also adopted other four children from South Korea and Russia including a pair of twins. She loves singing, jogging and going into nature. Gabi works in the only Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood during the summer vacation to make some money for her tuition fees. Her colleagues are all from China. Photo by Han Meng

Adopted from China, raised in the USA: images of Chinese children and their new American families

Photo feature highlighting the lives of some the 88,000 Chinese children adopted by Americans since 1991, many of them girls and many of them with special needs

SCMP Reporters

Published: 12:42pm, 6 Jan, 2016

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These photographs taken by Meng Han highlight Chinese children who have been adopted by American families, lading new lives in the USA. More than 88,000 have left China with their new parents since 1991, when adoptions from the mainland first became possible. Eighty-eight per cent of them are girls, according to the US State Department. Applicants currently have to wait an average of 54 months before getting matched with a child – compared with about a year before 2007 – although the period can be shorter for children with disabilities. The Global Times newspaper has suggested that about 80 per cent of adopted orphans are children with special needs.

Siping and Sinan performing a Chinese fan-dance in an old people’s care centre of Maryland. These twin Chinese girls were adopted by a from the Welfare Centre of the Yan Ping District in Nan Ping, Fujian Province in 2002. Photo by Han Meng

Chinese New Year celebrated in the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center. Lily performed a Chinese Dance together with her Asian friends from the dance course. Photo by Han Meng

Anaka (L) was born on May 25, 2006. She was adopted from the Yangjiang Welfare House in Guangdong province in July, 2007. She takes a walk with her sister Kine in the bush near their home in Montana, US. Photo by Han Meng

Alyssa is a nine year-old girl who was born in China. In this picture, she is in the arms of her adoptive single mother, Cheryl Wu. They celebrate together on Thanksgiving Day in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. Alyssa was adopted in 2010 from Fuzhou Welfare Institute. Photo by Han Meng

Samantha sits on her bed in her home in a two-story house in New Jersey. She has her own room in the family, which her adoptive father painted with green, her favourite color. Samantha was said to be born on May, 2005. A couple adopted her from the Changsha Children’s Home. “The most nervous moments were the dozen minutes waiting for the orphanage worker to carry the baby out,” said Lynn, the adoptive mother. Lynn said she and her husband had been waiting for the moment for about 11 months. Photo by Han Meng

Amelia holding a bunch of flowers, standing at the entrance of the church. She greeted and says

Sarah is learning to swim with a coach in Virginia. She is a burns victim who lost 70% of her skin., suffering her limbs being stuck together because of the extent of the injury. Now she is able to walk, run and perform many other sports. Sarah was born on June, 2010 and was abandoned at the gate of the Hangzhou Welfare House for Children in March, 2012. Her parents Teresa and Michael met Sarah the first time in the Welfare House in August,2013. Photo by Han Meng

Juliette and her adoptive father Marc visiting the Portland Museum of Art. Juliette was born in Gaozhou, Guangdong province. She was adopted by Marc and his wife when she was one year old. She used to live with her adoptive parents in Dubai before they moved to Hong Kong. She says that she enjoyed her life in Dubai, Hong Kong and America a lot and she is not interested in any information about her birth parents. She loves sports, music and art and says she does not care much about what happened before she came to America. Photo by Han Meng

Matthew (left) and Hope compare who is taller in Maryland in January. The Greens adopted four children in total from China. Both of the boys are cleft affected and the two girls are healthy. Matthew was adopted in 2003, in Taiyuan, Shanxi and was from Datong SWI . Photo by Han Meng

Faye lays on the couch at home in Massachusetts. She has been always hoping to find their birth parents, to know what they look like and if she has any siblings. She wants to thank them for bringing her to the world and let them know that she is fine. Faye was born on January, 2004. and was deserted two hours after birth for a series of diseases. Faye was sent to the Yixing Children's home on January, 29, and was adopted by her new family in November, 2004. Photo by Han Meng

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