WASHINGTON — Amy Cubbage’s foray into motherhood began just as it did for tens of thousands of American families before her: in a hotel room in China.
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In 2008, Cubbage and her husband, Graham Troop, were given a 2-year-old girl named Qin Shuping, who was living with a foster family in Guilin. The Kentucky couple had waited more than two years to be assigned an infant.
More than 15 years later, that girl is now known as June Cubbage-Troop, a freshman at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania who is part of the stunt team.
“I used to think about my biological parents, but not anymore because I’m happy and I love my parents,” Cubbage-Troop, 18, said.
China announced last month that it would cease almost all foreign adoptions.
The United States Department of State reports that more than 82,000 Chinese children have been adopted in the United States since 1992. For aspiring parents, particularly single people and gay couples, the program offered a path to starting a family without bureaucratic obstacles. It also provided an opportunity for Chinese children with special needs to receive medical and financial support.
The program’s reputation was tarnished when reports emerged that some babies had been kidnapped by traffickers or taken by family planning officials during China’s enforcement of one-child restrictions. The babies were then sold to orphanages, which marketed them as orphans to foreign families who were willing to pay relatively large sums of money.
According to the Chinese government, almost all foreign adoptions in recent years have involved children with disabilities.
Many Chinese-American adoptees expressed mixed feelings. Some have described struggling with identity issues and feelings of alienation and depression.
Since 2008, Cubbage-Troop has undergone 11 surgeries for cleft lip and palate.
And although her parents exposed her to Chinese culture and food growing up, she will now have the opportunity to establish her identity for herself. A shared interest in makeup techniques has allowed her to forge bonds with her roommate, also adopted from China. Next on her to-do list is joining an Asian student association.
“I want to learn more about Asian culture and be around more people who look like me,” she said.
He also found an exchange program that will allow him to spend a summer in Guilin, where he was born.
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