Experiences of Parents Adopting from Shangrao

One of the 1994 mothers writes:  "Our babies were escorted to us in Nanchang, we were told it was quite a long drive to the orphanage and the Chinese authorities tried to make things easier by bringing the babies to us.  We did meet all the directors/managers of the orphanage and two of the workers who helped take care of the babies on the trip to Nanchang (5 people came to escort 2 babies).  Everyone was wonderful, it was very obvious that these babies were loved and well cared for.  Although both resided in the orphanage it us our understanding they spent many nights in the homes of employees.  I'm not really sure this happened though, since we had some bonding issues with our daughter.  Mainly this was her acceptance of hugs and signs of affection, but within a few months this all went away.  I would love to work with this orphanage again!" (DA/KR)  

    From a 1996 mom: "She was healthy and obviously well cared for."   And another in 1996: "Our daughter was brought to us at our hotel along with another baby from the same orphanage.  Others in our group received babies from other orphanages in the Nanchang area.  The two from Shangrao were probably the healthiest of the group.  We did not get a chance to speak with the people who brought her so we had no information on her diet, habits or anything else.  Our daughter was very tiny, 14 lbs. at 9 months old.  All the babies in our group were relatively small, within about a pound of each other.  At 18 months she is now about 19 lbs.  She caught up developmentally very quickly.  She went from a 9 month old who couldn't sit up by herself to a crawling 10 month old and a walking 14 month old.  At 18 months she runs and jabbers constantly.  She is very on target developmentally and is a sweet, bright little girl."  (MG)

   And July 1996:  "We went to Nanchang, China to pick up our daughter in July 1996.  She was ten months old.  There were six families in our travel group and two of us received babies from the Shangrao  orphanage.  The babies were delivered to us at dinner our first evening in Nanchang.  Unfortunately we were unprepared as we didn't anticipate their arrival for another hour or so.  When the workers from the orphanage came, all I could do was stare at my baby so I didn't really pay much attention to the women bringing in the babies.  We tried to feed them then decided to take them upstairs to clean up and begin the process to get to know them.  We were told the orphanage workers (I have no idea if the director was there or if these were "nannies" or what) would come up to our rooms so we could talk to them.  About an hour later we finally figured out that they had left and were not coming back so we were never able to get ANY information about our babies.   Our daughter was very tiny (13 lbs at 10 months) and obviously malnourished.  Both babies were dirty and ended up having scabies.  The other baby appeared healthy as she was quite chubby (at approximately 18 lbs at 10 months).  However, it turned out she had a mild case of rickets and upon reviewing her medical condition when she got home was determined to be malnourished also.  I have heard that most babies that come out of the Shangrao orphanage have been malnourished.  It may because this is such a rural, poor area of China.  There was no foster parenting program available in Shangrao at that time.   However......our daughter clearly responded to our affection and love within 24 hours and was laughing and playing with us after 48 hrs.  She is now 2 years old and on target (or ahead) in every area.  She is still small for her age, but I believe this is due to hereditary factors more than early malnutrition.  The other baby in our group from Shangrao is also perfectly healthy and on target for her age.  If you have a referral from this area, don't despair, but please plan on probably getting an underweight, malnourished, possibly ill child who will most likely bloom in your love and care at an unbelievable pace!" (DA)

    Another mom:  "I travelled to get my daughter in July of 1997.  We went to Nanchang and the babies were brought by train from Shangrao.  I was in a group of 11families. My daughter was thinner than the other children and she was under-nourished, though our medical doctor upon our return said she was not malnourished.  She is taller and leaner than any other child in our travel group and filled out well once on American food; she is now above the norm for American girl babies on both areas.  On the second day I received her in Nanchang she had a high fever and was diagnosed by a doctor in our travel group as having ear infections.   I had taken antibiotics with me and as soon as she was on these, she improved rapidly.  As she got well, she was able to play, laugh and enjoy the toys I brought her and also the other children.  My daughter was 17 months when I got her and was walking; a fact the orphanage caretaker was eager to show off to me.  As I write this, my daughter is now 26 months old; she is a happy, active child with a great sense of humor who has bonded to me very well and is very well adjusted.  She is a few months behind in language development but is catching up quickly.  I feel that the Shangrao orphanage did probably the best it could under the circumstances; I know that it is a poor area and the facilities are not the best.   She smiles when she sees pictures of the orphanage workers and doesn't show any bad effects from her care there.  It was also personally gratifying to me when it became clear in Nanchang during my interview that the orphange director (who had her own daughter with her) and the caretaker who brought my child to me were thrilled to hear about children who had been adopted; I had brought other adoptive parents' pictures and notes with me.  They laughed and talked about the babies, obviously remembering them and delighting in seeing pictures of them once they were adopted. (LB)

    A group returning from adopting Nov 1997 received some children who were ill and/or undernourished but they are recovering with medical treatment and appropriate nutrition.  From one of the moms, "The orphanage is four hours or more by train away from Nanchang.  The children in our group did not receive foster care and had never left the orphanage.  They were fed milk-based formula or milk and seemed to like the Nuk 2 nipples the best.  One of the children in our group clearly had a very dedicated nanny who had a hard time letting her go.  The rest of children did not seem to have a special nanny who was very close to them."  (MC)

        A mom adopting in April 1996 wrote to me in February 1998 to say:   "I just found your website and was surprised to hear that the children mentioned were not in foster care.  Our daughter spent only about a month of the first 19 months of her life in the orphanage itself and was then in two foster homes; one for about 6 months, the other for about a year.  She was 20 months old when she joined our family.  Unfortunately we were not able to find out much about her foster families.  We know she was in a foster family with other foster children initially but was taken out of that home for reasons unknown to us.  She spent a year in the care of an "old woman", who, as it turned out, was a woman in her fifties who is a widow and lost her only child, a son.  While in Nanchang we asked if we could go to Shangrao and were told it was too far away.  Apparently the children were brought to Nanchang by train; our agency representative told us it was a seven hour journey.  No wonder the children had such shocked, weary looks on their faces when they arrived at the hotel!   There were two other girls from the Shangrao orphanage who were adopted in our group.  All of the girls were healthy, although quite dirty.  They were all small for their age but not really malnourished.  All are quite beautiful.   I met a woman from Hubei the other day and she saw a picture of my daughter in my office and said "She must be from Southern China".  I thought that was an interesting comment but didn't at that time ask her how she knew that.  While in China we were told that Shangrao is known for their beautiful women." (DL)

    A February 1998 group: There were three girls from Shangrao in our travel group, they were 15-16 months old.  Our daughter had very bad diaper rash and a slight cold but was otherwise in very good health.  She was 16 months old and was furniture walking but could not crawl.  She ate everything in sight and liked the enfamil with iron formula we brought.  Another girl had bad diaper rash and a very bad ear infection.  She was walking independently before we left Nanchang. The third girl had a bad cold and no diaper rash.  All of them did fine with dairy products.  All of the girls
liked to be held.  Their faces and hands were very tan and wind burned.  They were all happy babies and we noted no developmental delays.  In fact, our pediatrician said Antonia was right on target developmentally.  Four people came with the babies, three caregivers and the director.  They were very friendly and obviously cared for the girls. (JD)

    A group traveling in March 1998 did not travel to Shangrao but they were told that local Chinese regulations had changed and that the next group would have to travel the seven hour train ride to Shangrao to process the local adoptions through the Ministry of Justice. (RK)

Another family:  We traveled to Nanchang late in May of 1997 with ten other families. Only two girls came from Shangrao, both about 8 months old. They too were somewhat malnourished, but mostly underdeveloped in the area of muscle tone. They could barely hold their heads up and could not sit up at all. Our baby rolled over for what was probably the first time two days after we got her. She also gave us a huge beautiful smile!  The two Shangrao girls were still on formula only - no solids. Both had scabies which we were not able to treat until we returned home.  (If you are going, take medicine with you!) They were also quite dirty with ragged little clothes on.   The most important thing I want to mention is that both of the Shangrao babies had blood lead levels of over 30. (Under 10 is acceptable in U.S.)  Shangrao is a mining town and there are likely high metal levels everywhere - air, water, soil, etc.   While doing a search for Shangrao on the internet, I found out that there is a uranium mine there, and where there's uranium, there's lead.  The Chinese don't seem to be aware of the danger. Get your babies tested as soon as you get home!  There are many ways to deal with the problem once you know, ie., red meats, distilled water, lead leaching, etc. Your doctors will help you. Don't despair!  Our daughter was down to a 9 within a year. She is about 30 months old now and developmentally is quite a bit ahead of many children her age.  She is also quite tall at 36" and is the happiest, healthiest little sweetheart I've ever known! She is very affectionate and well adjusted.   We feel that though our daughter was most likely neglected in the orphanage, just due to sheer quantity, she was never abused or mistreated. In fact, while we waited at the U.S. embassy, I picked up a book for the first time to read to her. When she reached out her little hand to turn the page, I almost cried. It was then that I realized that someone had been reading to her and to this day she loves nothing more than books...and her mom and dad of course. And yes, like many Shangrao women, her face is strikingly pretty, so we are told all the time. We think she is just darn CUTE!  (JB)

Thoughts on traveling to Shangrao:  "I recently returned from two very hot weeks in China, mostly in Jiangsu Province. I was there as a volunteer escort for an adopting group and did not go to Jiangxi Province but learned something about Shangrao that others may be interested in.  I have been curious about the rumor? fact? that Shangrao is closed to foreigners.  My four-year-old daughter is from Shangrao and we very much want to take her there in a few years.  We had a wonderful Chinese guide in Guangzhou who had visited many orphanages in many provinces, and I asked him about this. He said that Shangrao was "officially" closed to foreigners because the Chinese feel there's nothing of interest there for foreigners and, I assume, no special services and accomodations for them.  But he said that people (foreigners) could easily go there, just not in an official capacity. So grab your guide book and Chinese phrase book, get on the train, and go!  (BB, 8/98)

I believe that our daughter was well cared for and seems to be adjusting well. She has been to the doctor and he feels that she is healthy. All of her blood tests came back fine. The pediatrician did check on whether or not she had been immunized... there was no trace of immunizations even though we received a shot record. So she has begun her immunizations. She has had ear infections since we first met. We had her hearing tested and she did have a mild hearing loss, but the ENT (ear doctor) felt that this would be corrected with tubes placed in her ears. Even though she has had a lot of ear pain and no sleep she is an amazingly happy little girl.  She is walking and running and has a mouthful of beautiful white teeth and she just celebrated her first birthday on Dec. 8th!!!  (JS, two months after adopted 10/00)

Please e-mail me at webmaster@gurrad.com if you have any additional information or if your child is from here and you would like to post a picture here or other contact information.