Flying in from as far away as Hawaii, 27 families who have adopted Taiwanese children gathered July 19 on New York’s Long Island for their fourth annual Taiwan R.O.C.ks “family reunion,” an event that aims to bring together Taiwanese adoptees and their American parents to celebrate their children’s Taiwanese heritage and identity.
Lisa Reitan, one of the group’s cofounders who lives on Long Island and arranged this year’s reunion, said it attracted more East Coast families than ever before. As in past years, the gathering included a host of cultural events, such as a showing of the popular Taiwanese cartoon film Grandma and Her Ghosts (魔法阿媽), as well as fun time at the beach to let the kids be kids.
“I think the most important thing to come out of Taiwan R.O.C.ks are the friendships that the kids develop,” said Reitan, 50, a New Yorker who adopted her five-year-old daughter, Paige.
Photo: Chris Fuchs
“The girls and boys are very comfortable with each other, even though they only see each other once a year,” she said.
Reitan, along with Julie Rockaway, Lisa Chaney and Tiffanie Yee, who have all adopted from Taiwan, established Taiwan R.O.C.ks (Reuniting Our Children for Kinship and Support) in 2010 after connecting with one another through blogs and social media. A year later, the group held its first family reunion in Texas, where Rockaway and her husband, David, live.
“We have an appreciation for this particular culture,” said Rockaway, 47.
CHALLENGES
Cross-cultural or interracial adoptions are naturally filled with challenges for both adoptees and parents, which makes support groups like Taiwan R.O.C.ks all the more important, the mothers said.
Besides helping parents from around the US who have adopted Taiwanese children connect with one another to share their experiences, Taiwan R.O.C.ks gives the dozens of Taiwanese adoptees a chance to build an unbreakable bond of friendship that will last well into adulthood.
It also introduces parents and children alike to Taiwanese culture — something that groups like Families with Children From China, which is focused on parents who adopt from China, cannot do.
“By opening up your homes to these children, you have created for them a world filled with love and support,” New York’s Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Deputy Director General Brian Su (蘇瑞仁) told families at this year’s Taiwan R.O.C.ks reunion.
“Just as you have given them an American experience, we hope they can inspire you to experience Taiwan,” Su said.
Compared to just a decade ago, American international adoptions today, whether from China or Taiwan, are not as common as they once were. The number of children from abroad adopted by Americans dropped steeply from 22,734 in 2005 to 7,094 in 2013, according to the US Department of State. China, which leads the world in international adoptions, also recorded a marked decline from 7,903 American adoptions in 2005 to 2,306 in 2013, the data show.
STRICT LAWS
Stricter adoption laws are one big reason for the drop. Owing in part to fears of human trafficking, many countries, including China and Taiwan, have taken steps to encourage more domestic adoptions and have significantly lengthened the time it takes to bring home an adoptee.
For China, the average adoption took 257 days to complete in 2013, and for Hong Kong 338 days, according to State Department figures. Although the numbers did not list an average completion time for Taiwan, Rockaway said the process was long.
“Our kids came home at 7 or 9 months,” said Rockaway, who adopted before Taiwan changed its laws in 2011. “Now they are typically two and older.”
American adoptions from Taiwan indeed appear to be slowing. After a spike between 2008 and 2010, which a 2009 Taipei Times article attributed to parents giving up children because of the bad economy, the overall number of adoptions began to plunge from 282 in 2010 to 94 in 2013, State Department statistics show.
Despite this, Rockaway said some Taiwan R.O.C.ks parents who have already adopted from Taiwan are still going back for a second child. Three families, she said, were unable to make this year’s reunion because they were busy bringing home their new family members — all boys — from Taiwan.
Rockaway and Reitan said they hope to travel back to Taiwan someday to let their daughters experience the country where they were born. Rockaway suggested that Taiwan’s government could sponsor heritage tours, similar to those offered by China, that allow adoptive families to travel around the country on an 11-day trip. China’s heritage tours are free, thanks to grants provided by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Heritage tour or not, Rockaway said they are still waiting for the right time to make their journey back with Hayden, 5, who is studying Mandarin.
“We want her to be old enough to appreciate what we’re doing and to be able to understand,” she said. “When we see her foster mom, I want her to be able to communicate with her.”
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