Chinadopt
The Children Can’t Wait--China's Emerging Model for Intercountry Adoption
by Laura A. Cecere, MSW, JD, LLM
Review by Edward S. Hume, M.D., J.D.
Laura Cecere has put together an indispensable reference for everyone concerned with adopting children from China. She answers questions about why children are available for adoption from China, why China’s adoption laws are the way they are, and how future adoptees are cared for in China. She also puts some sensationalistic reports into perspective. She does a fine job of giving an answer, where an answer can be had, to most every question adoptive parents have about the process that brought us our children. This is the book that children adopted from China will want to have when they grow up.
Ms Cecere brings impressive credentials to her work. Initially trained as a social worker, she became an attorney and practiced international law. She assisted in developing China’s current adoption law. And she is not simply working from an ivory tower: she has adopted two girls from China and she remains involved in helping people to adopt children from China.
The book is organized into several chapters covering current and past adoption and orphan care in China, why Americans adopt from China, and chapters on legal matters. The material is self-contained enough that the book may be consulted topic by topic. For someone who is used to reading research, I find its academic approach comforting: Ms Cecere makes clear where the uncertainties are in the data. She shows the reader that some information simply is not available. Finally, she includes the texts of Chinese laws and procedures on adoption.
Laura Cecere’s book is balanced, comprehensive and thorough without belaboring any issue. Children Can’t Wait is exactly the book I have wanted since we adopted our own child from China in 1995.
Bravo, Laura Cecere.