An uncomfortable truth lingers in the wake of the recent suspension of the baby hatch program in Guangzhou,namely that the 262 children who were abandoned in the six weeks before its closewho all suffer some sort of illness, disease or birth defect are the luckier ones.They are lucky, firstly, to be in an orphanage, in a country where orphanages are stretched for resources or do not exist in many regions at all.Being in one, the children may have the opportunity to be adopted by domestic Chinese citizens or foreigners.However, this will likely be a long wait.Strict requirements for prospective adopters of Chinese childreninclude proof of marriage for at least two years and that the couple show they aren't overweight.The focus, moreover, is on adopting healthy children, who are becoming the minority in China's orphanages as the One-Child policy is relaxed.While the waiting list for special-needs children is much shorter,it is often a longer, more costly process of selection and screening before a suitable family is found，assuming the adoption program is ethical.A lack of a unified welfare system means that China's system for helping the sick and disabled,which relies on a combination of NGOs is piecemeal at best
