The China Center for Adoption Affairs has posted an announcement on their website on May 15, 2003 stating that due to the SARS epidemic, it was taking measures to reduce the possible spread of the disease due to adoption travel. These are the specific measures now in place until further notice:
by Jim Weaver, FCC webmaster
It has been reported that CCAA will evaluate the situation monthly: "What they have told us is that they will evaluate the SARS situation in early June, and if it's appropriate, they will mail out referrals then. If not, they will re-evaluate it in a month," said Sharon Knoepfler, China program coordinator of World Association Children and Parents in an article in the Seattle Times, 5/17/03.
CCAA has taken this step for a number of reasons. The first is that the situation inside of China has become very difficult in some areas. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), SARS is now found in 10 provinces in China. Travel restrictions are in place in some parts of the country and anyone showing any sign of respiratory disease is immediately put in quarantine for 10 days. China has put into place some very strict measures to try and contain the SARS epidemic. Evading quarantine can now be punished by up to 7 years in jail. The situation is very fluid and changes literally from day to day. This makes the complex coordination needed for adoption travel extremely difficult.
A separate consideration is the health of the adopting parents. SARS is a potentially fatal disease. Fifteen percent of all patients in the age range of 45-64 die from the disease according to WHO data. For the 25-44 age range, the death rate is 6%. In the U.S. there have already been several possible cases of SARS among people who have traveled to China for an adoption, according to press reports. While all of those in the U.S. who became sick have recovered, there will be parents who would die from this disease if travel continues. As much as we all want to get the children home with us, it is worth a delay of a few months to avoid a potentially fatal disease.
Speaking from personal experience, our family was one of those caught up in the suspension in 1996 when China implemented a major reorganization of their adoption process. Our paperwork went to China in April of 1996 when it took about 3 months to get a referral. The suspension began in May and continued until late August. Due to the resulting backlog in applications, we did not get our referral until February of 1997 and did not travel until May of 1997. It was a difficult time for all of the families caught in a very uncertain situation. I can understand the feelings of the families currently in limbo due to the SARS situation. We did get through it and our daughter is the joy of our family. The families now waiting will ultimately get their children, and looking back in later years will be able to say "It was tough to wait, but it sure was worth it".
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