When You Were Born in China is a moving photo-essay that provides a child's eye look at Chinese adoptions, helping to explain some of the whys and hows that have brought these children to their new families.

With sensitive text and touching photography, When You Were Born in China brings the whole process of Chinese International Adoption to a personal scale. The book speaks directly to the adopted child, assuring her that hers is a special story, one that started in an ancient and amazing country. The text then suggests that maybe the reader has a few questions about her story, how she was born in China, who might have known her then, and how she came to be adopted. It then provides a brief overview of some of the factors that may have contributed to her story, such as China's population control policies, and the cultural desire to have a son. It goes on to tell the story of what might have happened to the reader: life in an orphanage or a foster home, perhaps, and then the formal adoption process leading up to meeting her new mom or dad for the first time, and finally the flight home.

This book will be invaluable to adoptive parents who are looking for just the right words to help their child understand some of the factors that brought them together. It sensitively addresses the difficult issue of why birthparents felt they could not care for their child, and it provides some context for the whole process. The book will be enjoyed by school-agers and adults, and can be read or paraphrased to younger children as an excellent way to integrate these topics into their daily lives.

Chinese adoptions are by far the most active International Adoption Programs, currently surpassing Korea and South America is numbers of children placed. Thousands of Chinese children needing families have been matched with families needing children, and predictions are that the number of placements will continue to increase over the coming years. Chinese-adoptive parents are also very well organized, many belonging to local chapters of Families with Children from China. On the Internet, there are a number of Chinese-adoption Web sites, and a Mailing List; there are also a great many newsletters.

There are many families who are awaiting their adoption referrals who will be interested in this book as well, for the insight it provides into the life of their soon-to-be child.

There are virtually no books like this available at this time. When Yeong & Yeong Book Company published the similar title When You Were Born in Korea, it was an immediate success, as it met a need for Korean-adoptive parents to fill in that part of their child's story. Over 10,000 copies of that book have been sold.

At the time of writing this book, Sara Dorow was an International Adoption Specialist for a major adoption agency. She is fluent in Chinese and Korean, and has a special focus on matching Special Needs children with families. Ms. Dorow has lived in Asia for over twenty years. In 2002 she received her Ph.D. and is now an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta.