Question 1

What are "finding ads"?

Accepted Answer

Finding ads are small newspaper announcements placed by the orphanages as part of the adoption process. It seems that in some provinces, only the children placed for adoption have an ad placed, since many of the ads bear 'retroactive" dates for the children found many years before. I have ads for children found back into 1991. Early finding ads were text only, meaning that only the child's finding date, location, and the orphanage that housed them were given. Sometimes, however, interesting tidbits of information are included, such as a description of the outfit the child was wearing, physical markings, etc.

Gradually, most provinces transitioned to photo ads. These photo ads often picture children who are newborn to several months old. The ads almost always contain a picture of the child younger than the referral photo received by the families. Occasionally an older child can be found in these photo ads, if their paperwork was submitted to the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA). Thus, the most important key to determining if an ad for your child was published isn't necessarily when they were found, but when they were adopted. If you adopted your child in November 1999 or later, most likely an ad was placed for her.

Question 2

How do you know if the ad is really for my child?

Accepted Answer

I am able to determine how many children were found in a given city on a particular date. By matching such information as birth date, finding date, finding location and your child's Chinese name, we are able to determine which ad was published for your child.

Question 3

What do the "finding ads" look like?

Accepted Answer

They look like small newspaper ads, often with an early photo of the child. Research-China is the only source that reproduces the Finding Ads from the original newspapers. Others use photocopies and send scans via e-mail. Don't settle for poor reproductions of something so important to your child. We also often have extra copies of the original newspapers.
Go our main Finding Ad page and click on the various provinces listed to see samples of differing finding ads.

Question 4

Why do some provinces publish pictures and not others?

Accepted Answer

Chongqing has utilized photo ads from the inception of finding ads. Other provinces have migrated to photo ads over the last few years (Guangdong 2000, Jiangxi 2002, Hunan and Hubei 2003, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu 2004). Now, almost all provinces print photo ads.

Question 5

What kind of newspapers carry the ads, and how often are they published?

Accepted Answer

The ads are placed in fairly small newspapers (usually police or legal papers) which have very small circulations. Each ad is published only once, and is contained in a group of ads from the same orphanage. Each orphanage publishes ads a few times a year.

Question 6

How come my child's ad was published several months after she was found? Isn't that a long time?

Accepted Answer

Since each orphanage publishes ads anywhere from two to six times a year, depending on size, it is possible for up to six months to go by before a found child's ad is published.

Question 7

Do you have all the ads for each province?

Accepted Answer

We have done our best to seek out and obtain every ad from every province, but circumstances sometimes prevent us from accomplishing our goal. Sometimes we are unable to locate or purchase archive copies of the newspapers. We are constantly trying to complete our collection, so if we are unable to provide your child's ad at this time, check back in the future.

Question 8

Won't I get a copy of my child's finding ad from the orphanage when I adopt my child?

Accepted Answer

A few orphanages have been providing photocopies of the finding ads to families, but these are usually of very poor quality. We provide an archive print of the ad taken directly from the actual newspaper. Additionally, we provide a photo of the newspaper page on which it appeared. We also provide a certificate giving the name, date and location of the newspaper which contained the ad. There is no better way to obtain this important piece of information.

Question 9

How and when do I pay you to search for my child's ad?

Accepted Answer

There is no fee until we locate your child's finding ad. You begin by e-mailing us your child's Chinese name, birth date, finding date, finding location and orphanage. We will search our files and respond to your request with the fee ($25-$35) and payment options.

Question 10

How long does it take to process my ad order?

Accepted Answer

Guangdong and Jiangxi requests are usually shipped within one week; other provinces are shipped in 14 days.

Question 11

What if I would like more copies of my child's ad in the future?

Accepted Answer

Additional copies can be ordered at any time.

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about the histories of children adopted from China