Posted by John Nichols on December 23, 2005 at 01:24:26 from 72.12.195.162 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Re: Catriona's Start in China posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on December 21, 2005 at 11:05:07:
Andrew:
I have two adopted Australian daughters. The eldest Eliza has a birth mother who is of Italian descent. The birth mother, Ida, recounts stories of being called names in school because of her Italian name. Eliza looks just like the birth mother, if they are side by side.
Eliza with an English name has not had the same name calling at school. She is proud to have a name no-one else has and one that has a strong association with the stage. Perception of names can be a very strong precursor to intolerance in Australia. This was one of the reasons I wanted the girls to have strong Anglo-Saxon names in the Australian culture. I know this is condemning in one way my culture, but I suggest the recent riots point out the hidden problems in Australia.
I know a lot of teachers that hate boys with the name Jason. It is quite interesting from a social perspective.
Whilst Eliza and Ida are both born in Australia. The cultural differences in them from their upbringing is significant. I saw this recently with the death of their grandmother and mother. The differences are to the point where Eliza is refusing to talk to Ida because of Ida's reaction to the death.
I also read a story of 150 Chinese babies taken from Hong Kong in the mid 1950's after some riots(?) and the parents were killed(?). The girls were adopted in England. These girls were studied in the 1970's to see if they had adapted to English culture. The person who showed me the article was anti-adoption, but the article said "compared to a control group of 150 English girls the Chinese girls had better social skills, were better academically and were well rounded people. I am not saying this is normal, I am merely recounting a Journal paper I had read in the early 1980's. The person showing it to me was complaining about the children being taken out of Hong Kong.
Were the riots in Hong Kong in the 1950's bad? Was there a need to evacuate children? I have no idea.
I see myself as being slightly selfish to want to see my wife have a child. I am selfish taking the child from China. Will the child be better off in the long run? I have no idea but I will give it the old Tarboard try. I also prefer not to adopt in the US because of the horror stories.
JMN
John Nichols