[Tsuwabuki]

Originally Posted by MMM

Will US adoption agencies adopt to non-US residents?

I haven't seen anything legally that would prevent it. And US adoption agencies are not the only option; agencies in the ROC itself, as the example used, are allowed to deal directly with US citizens.

The ROC is tightening things up in terms of letting its children out of China recently, as is Korea.

I knew the PRC had, but according to State, adoptions from the ROC to American citizens is on the rise.

Living in Japan you probably know that adoption outside of families is almost unheard of. I am curious as to Nyororin's opinion on this, but I worked for a Japanese newspaper and we did a story on this very topic as it is so rare in Japan.

Sometimes adoptees in Japan don't even know they are adopted until they register for marriage. Even in these cases it is most often adopted to an aunt or uncle after the parents die in an accident or some case like that.

I do, and Nyororin and I have spoken about it elsewhere another thread. However, that thread was directed at a teenaged poster with a fantasy of adopting a Japanese child.

This might be seen as the "adult's conversation" in regards to adoption.

I would think hard before subjecting a child to the Japanese school system as not only a gaijin, but as a adoptee to a single parent, which I think might be more alienating than the gaijin part.

My concern is that my income and high standard of living is not transferable to all parts of the country, and Fukuchiyama is pretty rural. I do think I could afford an international school. I do not think I would have any way of getting the child to the international school, however. Biological parents are restricted by these constraints, so I don't feel my case would be special.

I have several gaikokujin students, and I haven't encountered any widespread bullying or racist behavior, even when I intentionally observe when students are unaware of my presence. My experiences is these students: acquire English better, and that time in Japan is what determines acquisition of Japanese.

Take my student Kaori verses my student Marlex. The former is actually Brazilian of limited Japanese ancestry. Her name is not the original name she was born with, her parents changed it for easier integration, but her Japanese is perfect, and she does not remember a time before Japanese. Of course, she also speaks fluent Portuguese, as that is the language at home. Her friends know she was from Brazil, and her parents definitely don't look asian (surprisingly, Kaori does to a degree, in skin and hair color, but not in facial construction at all), but I have never seen her have any issues.

Marlex is another issue entirely. He's Filipino and his parents are Filipino immigrants. He's a late arrival and while he speaks fluent English, Filipino and some Spanish, he struggles with the Japanese school system because it's fully in a language he doesn't completely understand. He knows next to no kanji, and I don't think he should be in a Japanese school at all. He's bright, and funny, and a great kid, and his Japanese is good enough for friendships, but he doesn't belong in a school where the language of instruction is not one of his fluent languages.

I believe this is largely why adopting out of the country is restricted to child under school age: language acquisition. Kaori spoke some portuguese at three or four, but was able to pick up Japanese in Kindergarten. I do not see why a child of mine, living in Japan, in an English household, should not be able to do the same with Japanese/English.

As for the adopted/single parent bullying you imply is possible, I am not sure you can really say. Do you have anecdotal evidence? Obviously, I would think hard about any decision relating to adoption, and this is not something I intend to do this week on my trip to Taipei. At this point I don't think separating the child from the Japanese school system seems to be a good idea. Not just because of constraints imposed by job and geography, but also because I feel strongly that if the child lives in Japan, the child should have the opportunity to live as "normal" a life as possible in the country of residence. Fukuchiyama is very small, most my students live in walking distance of me, students' parents went to school with their teachers... That sort of thing. My friend Dave's children go to Taisho, a feeder elementary for my JHS. And they're pretty obvious with white skin, light brown hair, and green eyes. So far, Dave has not mentioned any issue they have had with the school system here. I highly doubt that it would be as big of an issue as you seem to suggest, at least at the elementary level. At the JHS or HS, if integration seems seriously strained, I could look into an international school in Kyoto.

I don't foresee this happening in the next year, but sometime between now and when I turn thirty. I think that's a reasonable timeframe with which to consider this decision.