Child Adoption

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by DivineBled

arigato, I think that was a point I was getting ready to make, but you took the words from me.

I think I`ve already pointed this out before in this thread. Maybe even multiple times. Of course, no one pays attention or lets facts encroach on their perfect dreams of having a cute little Japanese child to play with.

[DivineBled]

that is true, and I am in total agreement with you. I also think the general attitude towards children, babies is that they're adorable, and are seen as somewhat of a "toy."

[SSJup81]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I think I`ve already pointed this out before in this thread. Maybe even multiple times. Of course, no one pays attention or lets facts encroach on their perfect dreams of having a cute little Japanese child to play with.

I guess that explains why I couldn't find any useful information for that story I wrote years ago. It was a fanfiction, and one of the characters was adopted since both his parents were killed in an accident (canon). I was always curious of how it worked over there to be accurate.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by SSJup81

I guess that explains why I couldn't find any useful information for that story I wrote years ago. It was a fanfiction, and one of the characters was adopted since both his parents were killed in an accident (canon). I was always curious of how it worked over there to be accurate.

In that sort of case, the children would be taken in by a relative. If not, they would be sent to a center. Most of the time, relatives take the child. I`ve never heard of a real orphan being sent to a center.

Centers are also considered temporary. Parents don`t give up their rights to the child, and can come and get them at any time. So an adoption isn`t possible.

[SSJup81]

What if it's a situation where there are no relatives?

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by SSJup81

What if it's a situation where there are no relatives?

Then, as I said, they would be sent to a center.

However, I HIGHLY doubt you`ll ever find a situation with no relatives. The child would have to have come out of thin air. Somewhere, there will be a relative. Parents have parents, who have parents, ad infinitum. Japan keeps VERY good family records, so I would consider it an impossibility. Somewhere, there is someone who is related to the child in some way.

[SSJup81]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

Then, as I said, they would be sent to a center.

However, I HIGHLY doubt you`ll ever find a situation with no relatives. The child would have to have come out of thin air. Somewhere, there will be a relative. Parents have parents, who have parents, ad infinitum. Japan keeps VERY good family records, so I would consider it an impossibility. Somewhere, there is someone who is related to the child in some way.

Guess that makes sense, although, that just makes me even more curious. What if the only relative they could come across, turned out to be a relative who moved to, say, England, or America, or wherever. Would they solely try to find relatives right there in Japan, or would they allow the relative, who now resides in another country to take in the child?

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by SSJup81

Guess that makes sense, although, that just makes me even more curious. What if the only relative they could come across, turned out to be a relative who moved to, say, England, or America, or wherever. Would they solely try to find relatives right there in Japan, or would they allow the relative, who now resides in another country to take in the child?

I can`t really say for certain at all, as I have never heard of such a case (and there likely has never been one)... But I imagine the child would be put into a center, and with no relative available to release the child to a non-relative, they`d just be raised to adulthood there.

[tofutofu]

As someone involved in the adoption process in Japan you are very incorrect-- there is adoption in Japan, it is just very difficult to do.

There are Japanese as well as foreign children available for adoption in Japan. Adoption in Japan is a difficult process (especially if you are not Japanese) but it can still be done.

The heart breaking thing is that children must be adopted by the time that they are six years of age (or 8 if they have started the adoption process before they were six), if they are not adopted they end up in the "system" and spend their lives in an institution with little hope for their future.

You can read more by visiting the US Departmen of State's web site on adoption in Japan at:
Intercountry Adoption Japan

Or you can do a search on "Adopting in Japan" on Google to find many other sites giving the same information.

I wish I could find the site again, but there are also a few women (married to Japanese men) who adopted Japanese children who were not related to either the husband or the wife.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by tofutofu

As someone involved in the adoption process in Japan you are very incorrect-- there is adoption in Japan, it is just very difficult to do.

Go back through and read the whole thread, if you can manage to wade through the drivel.

We ARE trying to adopt in Japan. I stated that way way back in the thread, when I first posted. Japan does NOT, however, do international adoptions - which is what this whole thread is based on. People outside Japan wanting a cute little Japanese baby, which is simply not an option.