But as early reports of COVID-19 began making waves in late January 2020, China quickly closed its borders to all flights and halted all adoptions to reduce the spread of the virus.

“China has a really stable adoption process that spans a few decades…just with COVID that’s really thrown things off,” said Kym Lee.

Now, as COVID’s year anniversary has come and gone, the Lees are among hundreds of families still left in total darkness waiting for China to begin processing paperwork so that they may travel to bring their children home.

The hardest part about waiting has been “wondering how she’s doing, and not having regular updates,” said Lee.

Since China began international adoptions in 1992, it has consistently been the top country for international adoptions, as it typically has the easiest and least expensive process. During the year 2005, a peak of 7,903 Chinese children were adopted by Americans.

Although, as China’s economy has grown and domestic adoptions have increased, international adoption numbers have significantly declined since 2005 to an average of around 2,500. Yet, as a result of COVID, 2020 has the lowest number, with only a handful of successful adoptions before things were shut down. 

Katie Chaires knew immediately after the adoption of her first son, Asher, in 2016 that she didn’t want him to be an only child. So, in December of 2018, she filed for a second adoption. She received clearance to fly to China on January 28, 2020, to bring her daughter Noa, 3, home, but three days prior, she received word that China had officially ceased all travel. 

Katie Chairs and her son Asher, 6, March 7, 2021. Photo by Julie Johnson

“I feel like the hardest part has been not knowing how she’s doing, not being able to see her grow,” said Chaires. “I feel like I’ve missed a year of her growth and development and getting to know her. Because at this point, she should’ve been home for a year already.”

Chaires said Noa has Global Developmental Delay, and she suspects medical issues as well. Still, without many updates other than the occasional photo and short video clips the orphanage provides, she doesn’t know a lot about Noa’s wellbeing. 

Initially, adoption agencies had prepared families for a one to two-week delay. But, as COVID grew to a global pandemic, they have stopped predicting when things might resume. What was once the most prominent international adoptions system has swiftly fallen to radio silence, even as other countries like Bulgaria and Columbia have slowly reopened to international adoptions.

On New Year’s Day of 2020, Cynthia and Andrea Bonezzi touched down in Maoming, a city along the tip of China’s southern coast, to adopt their second daughter Anna, 3. 

During their two weeks in China, there were no emerging reports about COVID-19. The city was getting ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year and, “everything was normal,” said Cynthia Bonezzi.

They remain amid the few families to successfully bring their daughter home on January 18, 2020, before China halted all adoptions. 

“We were able to get it done in record time and just made it before everything shut down in the pandemic,” said Bonezzi.

Families who were on their way to China with connecting flights were turned away at their midpoint destinations and returned home childless, Bonezzi said. 

And if the Bonezzis had been one of the families turned away, Anna probably wouldn’t be alive, as she was in a fragile state medically due to a chronic illness, and required immediate surgery when they arrived home in New York City.

Cynthia Bonezzi and her two daughters Lily and Anna in China’s White Swan Hotel, January 2020. Photo Courtesy of Cynthia Bonezzi

 There have been no reported cases of COVID outbreaks in any orphanages or institutions as a result of the lockdown.

But studies have shown, the longer children are in these orphanages and institutions, the more significant setbacks in motor skills and cognitive function they may encounter. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia attributes these delays to a lack of verbal and physical stimulation from caregivers. 

According to Lisa Nalvin, MD, once a child is placed into an adoptive family, they typically “demonstrate remarkable ‘catch-up’ rates when given the appropriate support.”

The Lees celebrated their daughter’s fourth birthday in December by sending a cake and goodies to the orphanage. And as the days, weeks, and months slowly pass still with no word from China about when adoptions might resume, Kym Lee continues to remain hopeful that her daughter will be able to spend her next birthday at home.

“Everything’s really up in the air,” said Lee. “We’re praying and hoping and believing that she’ll be able to come home maybe this year.”

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 “With the pandemic and Scott and I not having to commute to the city, now is the time to get a dog,” said Sur. 

However, Sur’s search for a dog wasn’t easy, as most of the animal shelters and rescues near her in Westchester were emptied. 

“Nobody had any dogs because people had been adopting them so much since the beginning of the pandemic that there were literally no dogs, no puppies,” said Sur of her search that began in early November.  

The ASPCA reported a spike in the number of interested adopters by more than 177% in March 2020 through October 2020 compared to that of the previous year. And on a national scale, the same trend followed with data from PetPoint showing a jump in pet adoptions from 58% to 85% by the end of March 2020. 

Experts attribute the spike in adoption rates to people’s desire for companionship during isolation. 

After a couple of weeks of long waitlists that led to dead ends, Sur connected with a high school friend who fostered for SNARR Northeast Adoption Center. 

SNARR had just rescued a litter of puppies from Texas and after receiving photos and videos of the puppies, Sur knew immediately that Roxy was their dog.

“It was love at first sight for all of us,” said Sur. “All she has done has add happy things to our lives. She’s a responsibility, but it’s always lots of love and kisses and tail-wagging.”

Another pet rescue, Best Friends, which has locations across the country, saw exponential growth in fostering requests, especially in their Northeastern states. 

Amy Gravel at Best Friends’ animal sanctuary in Utah. Photo Courtesy of Amy Gravel, February 1, 2021.

“A lot of the reasons that people don’t adopt, especially in New York is travel or having a lot of busy work hours,” said Amy Gravel, the Communications and Outreach Specialist at Best Friends.

 But with many people working from home and little opportunity to travel, many are left with extra time to devote to an animal. 

“People want to have somebody to quarantine with if they live alone. And I think on top of that it was also a mental health booster,” said Gravel. 

Over the years studies have found a positive correlation between animals leading to mental health improvements. According to Mental Health America, owning a pet can alleviate stress, anxiety, depression, and feelings of loneliness and social isolation.”

“With the stress of the pandemic and my recent move I was just very stressed and feeling down. And having an animal in my space was very strong in terms of emotional support,” said Courtney Miller, who lives in Brooklyn.

Yua relaxing in the sun. Photo courtesy of Courtney Miller, January 28, 2021.

Miller had a lot of experience fostering cats prior to adopting her kitten Yua and had thought about it for a while, and with the circumstances of the pandemic, it became an opportune time. 

Studying and working from home allowed Miller to devote extra attention to socializing Yua while Yua offered Miller companionship

After hard losses due to the pandemic, increased animal adoption and fostering have added a silver lining to an otherwise dreary year.

Over 600,000 pets on average are euthanized annually, but Gravel says that if the community stepped up and everyone brought those pets into their homes even for temporary fostering, there would be no need to kill anyone of them. 

“I do understand that the adoption process can be difficult sometimes, but it’s definitely worth it to find the right rescue that works for you,” said Gravel. “And there are a ton of them out there, and they just want to get their pets out there.”

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