At the base of Mount Hood in the small town of Welches, Ore., 245 people from 71 families came together to celebrate the Yangchun Family Reunion. The families, representing 25 different states throughout the country, all shared one thing in common. They all have adopted children from the Yangchung Orphanage in the Guangdong province of China.
Two children from Bellevue, along with their families, joined others to share the special bond, to reconnect and, in some cases, to meet for the very first time.
The children wear matching T-shirts every four years at the reunion and enjoy a weekend of fun games, crafts, activities and performances. The parents are offered classes on various topics, from traveling back to China to what it is like to grow up as an Asian-American.
“The T-shirts say the Yangchun Family Reunion like it’s the Smith Family Reunion, but the commonality is that were all part of Yangchun,” said Kelly Kneeland, who adopted her daughter, Grace Richards Kneeland, from China in 2001. “At the reunion we feel like family when really, the only way we’re at all remotely related, is through our daughters. It’s a place to go where other families look like our family.”
Kelly Kneeland knew she wanted to adopt since she was 13 years old. After her son was born she decided to begin the long adoption process to add to her growing family.
“I felt I was never meant to just have one child. I’m a kindergarten teacher and I just love children, so I always wanted more and I always wanted a daughter, too,” she said.
Two years after first filling out the paperwork, she flew to China to meet the baby girl she would soon call her daughter. At the time, there were only three places in the world where a single parent could adopt: India, Russia and China.
“Just knowing about the one-child policy and having lived in the Philippines while in the Peace Corps, I always had an interest in that part of the world,” Kneeland explained.
She also was able to connect with families who had gone through the experience of adoption online. Using the Web as an educational tool, she was able to go onto Yahoo and type in the name of the orphanage and was connected to numerous families who had adopted from the same place.
Kneeland has been planning and saving for a trip back to visit the province in China that was once Grace’s home since she first brought her daughter to the states.
The first adoptions from the Yangchun Orphanage took place in 1995. The orphanage has since undergone some changes. When Kneeland went to pick up Grace in 2001, there were about 120 babies and only 12 caregivers, roughly one person to every 30 babies for each shift. Today, the orphanage has about one caregiver for every four babies.
Kneeland points to the fact that now there are more and more babies being adopted within China because of waved school fees for second children who are adopted. However, the one-child rule still remains intact. In rural areas, the law allows for a second child under certain circumstances and the guidelines are less rigid for ethnic minorities in a less-populated area. Enforcement varies but usually takes the form of fines to discourage extra births.
For every 800 boys born there’s 85 recorded births of girls in China, explained Kneeland, adding that it could be assumed that most of the young girls in the orphanages are second daughters because a lot of the families just don’t have the money to support paying a fine.
Orphanage director, Yu Hong Ying joins the orphanage family reunion every four years to reconnect with the children, many of whom she has not seen since they were crawling on the floor of the orphanage. The families raise the money through fundraising and auctions to fly Yu and the chairmen of bureau, Mr. Chen out for every reunion.
“It’s so neat because this woman remembers the kids from when they were babies,” Kneeland explained. “I know orphanages may not be an ideal place to grow up for anybody, but I think Mrs. YU defies the stereotype of the uncaring, closed-door orphanage. She is so invested in the kids.”
The Yangchun Adoptive Families group are hoping the next reunion will take them back to where it all started.
“We’re talking about holding the 2012 reunion in Yangchun depending on how many people can go and what the economy looks like,” Kneeland explained. “I think it’s important for every child to see where they came from and to know that they are unique and special.”
Lindsay Larin can be reached at llarin@reporternewspapers.com or at 425-453-4602.
Learn more
To find more information on the Yangchun orphanage visit http://tussah.com/yangchun.
