The Lost Daughters of China: Abandoned Girls, Their Journey to America, and the Search for a Missing Past

"This book calls attention to the pressing issues of abandoned baby girls in China, the result of a combination of historical and cultural prejudices against women and the current draconian, one-child policy. The Lost Daughters of China is an evocative memoir that will not only attract parents or would-be parents of Chinese baby girls but will touch the hearts of us all." (Chicago Tribune)

Proclaimed an instant classic upon its hardcover publication, The Lost Daughters of China is at once compelling and informative. Journalist Karin Evans tells the story of adopting her daughter, Kelly, who was once one of the hundreds of thousands of infant girls who wait for parents in orphanages all over China. Weaving her personal account with extensive research, Evans investigates the conditions that have led to generations of abandoned Chinese girls and a legacy of lost women.

With a new epilogue added for the paperback edition, this book will appeal to anyone interested in China and in the emotional ties that connect people regardless of genes or culture. In the words of bestselling novelist Amy Tan, The Lost Daughters of China is "not only an evocative memoir on East-West adoption but also a bridge to East-West understanding of human rights in China."

"There has been much press about rescuing (adopting baby girls from China's oppressive sociopolitical climate, but little about the women and men who are losing their daughters. Here, Evans gives us a whole story, both moving and jarring. This is the book I have been waiting to see." Jan Waldron, author of Giving Away Simone

"Clear, interesting, thorough, fair and important. What's most impressive about Evan's feelings for her daughter is how they have led her to care about all the lother little Chinese daughters who have lost their birth parents, and about the 'lost mothers' who feel compelled to give them up." San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Book Review

"Breath taking — an unforgettable story." Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking

This bestselling journalistic memoir explores Chinese and American culture at a unique point of intersection: the baby girls who, each year, are abandoned in one country and adopted in the other.

A personal and journalistic exploration of American and Chinese culture at a unique point of intersection: the thousands of baby girls who are abandoned in one country each year and adopted in the other.

Today Karin Evans is the mother of Kelly, a thriving Chinese-American toddler. But two years ago, her daughter was one of the hundreds of thousands of infant girls abandoned in orphanages all over China. The story of how Kelly came to be there is rooted deep in China's history, in an ancient political, economic, and cultural preference for baby boys that began in the time of Confucius and was still going strong when China's notorious one-child policy was introduced in the 1980s.

Through extensive research combined with the moving account of bringing Kelly home, Evans investigates the conditions that engendered generations of abandoned girls in China and a legacy of lost women. She provides insight into the historic place of sons and daughters in the Chinese family, the philosophical underpinnings of filial piety, as well as the selective abortions and other desperate acts undertaken by contemporary families convinced of the need for a son to perpetuate the family line. In this eloquent journalistic memoir, Evans compellingly links the lives of an abandoned Chinese baby girl, an adoptive American mother, and a Chinese mother hidden in the shadows.

"Not only an evocative memoir on East-West adoption but a bridge to East-West understanding of human rights in China." Amy Tan

Lyrically written, precisely observed and emotionally evocative...Evans is simply dazzling." Tim Cahill