How Chinese Are You? Adopted Chinese Youth and Their Families Negotiate Identity and Culture

302 Pages·2015·6.64 MB·English

by  Andrea Louie

How Chines e Are You?
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How Chinese Are You?
Adopted Chinese Youth and their Families
Negotiate Identity and Culture
Andrea Louie
NEW Y ORK UNIVERS ITY P RESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2015 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the
author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or
changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Louie, Andrea.
How Chinese are you? : adopted Chinese youth and their families negotiate identity and
culture / Andrea Louie.
pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4798-9052-1 (cl : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4798-9463-5 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Interracial adoption—United States. 2. Intercountry adoption—United States.
3. Intercountry adoption—China. 4. Adopted children—United States.
5. Chinese Americans—Ethnic identity. 6. Chinese—Ethnic identity.
7. Multiracial families—United States. I. Title.
HV875.64.L646 2015
362.734089’951073—dc23 2015010014
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials
are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppli-
ers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Also available as an ebook
For my son, Adán Tomás “Toto” Quan
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. Introduction 1
2. A Background on Transnational and Transracial Adoption 39
3. Beginnings: The Adoption Trip 61
4. Asian American Adoptive Parents: Freedom and Flexibility 88
5. White Parents’ Constructions of Chineseness:
Preemptive Parenting 139
6. Negotiating Chineseness in Everyday Life 185
7. Don’t Objectify Me: Chinese Adoptee Teens 226
8. Conclusion 259
Notes 271
References 277
Index 285
About the Author 291
vii
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Allison Berg, Steve Gold, Kirsten Fermaglich, Vic-
tor Jew, Michael Largey, Janet Louie, Terese Guinsatao Monberg, Mindy
Morgan, Anna Pegler-Gordon, Brandt Peterson, and Steve Rohs, as
well as the participants in the Fall 2008 CIC Asian American Studies
writing workshop, particularly Josephine Lee, for their comments on
various versions of these chapters. I would especially like to thank Susan
Brownell for her careful reading of larger portions of the manuscript and
general guidance regarding the revision and publishing process. Sara
Dorow also generously spoke with me about my research, read and com-
mented on the whole manuscript, and suggested directions for revision
and for finding a publisher. Her comments were invaluable. My work
benefited from discussions with others studying international adoption,
including Heather Jacobson and Eleana Kim. I am grateful to Martin
Manalansan for his guidance and support. All errors and omissions are
of course my own.
Two anonymous reviewers for New York University Press provided
insightful comments that guided the revision of the manuscript.
Finally, I would like to thank those adoptive families and their sup-
porters in the St. Louis area, in the Bay Area, and in China for sharing
their stories with me for this research. I am sorry that I cannot thank
them individually and still maintain their anonymity. I could not have
conducted this research without the support and assistance in St. Louis
of Melody Zhang of Children’s Hope International; Jane Ogden and
Donna Schneiders in their capacities as president of the St. Louis branch
of Families with Children from China; Kathy Ferris, Donna Coble, and
Donna Schneiders for hosting Parents’ Night Out gatherings for adop-
tion discussion; and Maggie Charity, Bob Charity, and Mary Neal for
their friendship and support. In the San Francisco Bay Area, I benefited
greatly from the help of Peggy Scott (FCC Northern California), Beth
Hall, and Amy Klatzkin, who spoke with me and hosted a Parents’ Night
ix