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China’s DNA Database Lets Adoptees Trace Birth Families

8/29/2026

30 4 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Chinese authorities launched a DNA database in 2009 to check if adoptees are sought by birth relatives before adoption.
China opened international adoption in 1992, enabling foreign couples to adopt over 150,000 babies.
During the one-child policy, many infants were torn from families and sold for overseas adoption.
FRANCE 24 journalist Yena Lee follows an adult adoptee using the DNA system to trace her origins.

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Story summary

Chinese authorities launched a DNA database in 2009 to check if adoptees are sought by birth relatives before adoption.
China opened international adoption in 1992, enabling foreign couples to adopt over 150,000 babies.
During the one-child policy, many infants were torn from families and sold for overseas adoption.
FRANCE 24 journalist Yena Lee follows an adult adoptee using the DNA system to trace her origins.