The Lucky Ones: Stories from Families Adopting From China

(Paperback)

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Since the late 1980s, as many as 7,000 Chinese-born girls have been adopted annually and now live in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. They are officially orphans, victims of a rigorous birth control policy limiting most families to one child. Punishing disincentives, rural tradition and outright sexism means that girls are often passed over in favour of boys. These memoirs are organised by the intrinsic logic of experience - a woman contemplates her daughters lost heritage during a visit to a temple, a mother explores grief among those abandoned. Powerful and moving.

Reviews

"Despite this collection's upbeat tone, it doesn't sugarcoat adoption--contributors wonder about birthparents, worry about prejudice, and struggle to parent children of a different culture." --"Adoptive Families Magazine"
"Lucky us who are given the chance to glimpse this brave new world of families embraced by so much hope and goodwill." --Wayson Choy, author, "The Jade Peony "and "All That Matters"
"These compelling, poignant, lovely vignettes will resonate with anyone who has ever adopted. . . . A beautiful collection that belongs in the home of adoptive families everywhere." --Jane A. Brown, MSW, creator, Adoption Playshops!

Author Bio

Ann Rauhala is a former columnist and foreign editor of "The""Globe and Mail" and is currently""director of newspapers at the School of Journalism at Ryerson University.She lives in Toronto.