Looking Back on 2014

As I look back on 2014, I feel this has been one of our most productive years yet.  Not only have we continued to provide finding ads, DVDs, and orphanage reports to thousands of adoptive families, but we have been able to provide important information and data to those families that want to know how their child came into the orphanage, or how China's evolving program has impacted their adoption.

1)  After three years of writing, modifying, editing, fact-checking, etc., Research-China.Org finally had their first article on China's adoption program published in a scholarly law review journal.  "Open Secret" has been the foundation of our adoptive family presentations, and it is very gratifying to finally introduce the records, transcripts, interviews, and orphanage data to those adoptive families seeking to truly understand the China adoption program.  This article is available for free download here.

2)  This past year saw our collection of available data books explode, as we added forty-five orphanage data books to our collection.  It is hard to understate how important these data books are to understanding a child's orphanage program.  By having the finding data for every child internationally adopted from the orphanage since 1999, one can form a very good idea how reliable the information is.  This becomes critically important not just for birth parent or sibling searches, but to simply address questions your child may (and will) have about their abandonment.  By having the hard data behind each child adopted, you can make very good assessments, and provide data-based answers to your child.

3) This past year also saw the launch of DNAConnect.Org, a service dedicated to collecting and matching birth parent DNA to adoptees.  With nineteen birth parents already in the process of being submitted, or having DNA already in the 23andMe database, and two matches already having been made, we believe this program represents the best hope for many adoptees of ever finding their birth parents.

With 2015 visible on the horizon, we are excited about what new discoveries will be made. Lan is conducting a huge birth parent search project early next year, which we are confident will add a lot more birth families to our growing data base.  We also look forward to continuing our assistance of interested adoptive families, those who are strong and interested enough to learn as much as possible about their child's origins.  And we are especially excited about the increasing number of adoptees themselves who are contacting us for help.  As the torch moves from adoptive parents to adoptees, we will do everything we can to help each child understand their history.  Our jobs are satisfying indeed.

All the best for a happy and prosperous 2015!