INSIDE:
NEWS/STORIES/ARTICLES
Book Reviews
Columns/Opinion/Cartoon
Films
International
National
NW/Local
Recipes
Special A.C.E. Stories
Online
Paper (PDF)
NW RESOURCE GUIDE
Archives
Consulates
Organizations
Scholarships
Special Sections
Upcoming
The Asian Reporter Eleventh
Annual Scholarship & Awards Banquet -
April 2009
May, 2009
Asian Reporter Info
AR
Merchandise
Contact Us
Subscription Info. & Back Issues
ASIA LINKS
Asian Studies
Currency Exchange
More Asian Links
Public Holidays
Time Zones
Copyright © 2000 - 2008
AR Home
Where EAST meets the Northwest
FAMILY MATTERS. Eight-year-old Anna He, 8, center, poses with her biological family in their apartment in Memphis, Tenn. Anna was reunited with her Chinese family after a lengthy court battle for custody. (AP Photo/Greg Campbell)
From The Asian Reporter, V18, #2 (January 8, 2008), page 8.
Dad says girl at center of custody fight heading to China
By Woody Baird
Associated Press Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An 8-year-old girl who was taken from an American couple and returned to her Chinese parents after a seven-year custody fight faces another big adjustment — moving to China.
Anna Mae He rejoined biological parents Shaoqiang and Qin Luo He in July under orders from the state Supreme Court. She grew up with American foster parents who took her in as an infant to help her financially strapped parents and then refused to give her back.
Now, with the custody fight settled, Anna’s family faces deportation, and her father says it’s time to head home to China.
"We always wanted custody to move back to China as a family," He said recently at his family’s small, two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Memphis.
Shaoqiang He came to Tennessee to attend graduate school at the University of Memphis, but his student visa expired years ago. He was allowed to remain in the United States because of the custody fight, which began in May 2000 and ended with the high court ruling last January.
An immigration judge agreed four years ago to delay ruling on the Hes’ immigration status, but He said the decision can come any time now. He said he expects to return to China by the end of February.
Ashok Kara, a family psychologist working with the Hes on Anna’s transition, said she is warming toward her parents and gets along well with brother Andy, 7, and sister Avita, 5.
"At least on the surface, things are moving in a very positive direction. She’s happy. She talks. She laughs. She jokes," Kara said. "Although beneath the surface where things are not easily observed, we don’t quite know what’s going on."
A third-grader, Anna earned all "As" on her latest report card. "She participates well when called up," her teacher wrote. "I enjoy having her in class."
Former foster parents Jerry and Louise Baker won a court order five years ago barring the Hes from any contact with Anna, so she is still just getting to know her parents and siblings.
But piled up on a living room sofa one recent evening to watch TV cartoons, Anna, Andy, and Avita shared the easy laughter of comfortable playmates.
"She has been learning Chinese, but she’s a little bit afraid of the language," her father said. "But she’s becoming more curious about China. She asks about the schools, the teachers, the children, what’s the subjects that are taught."
Anna was born in January 1999 with her parents facing hard times financially and legally. Shaoqiang He was accused of sexual assault by a female student at the university, a charge that cost him his scholarship and student stipend, although he was ultimately acquitted at trial.
The Bakers, a suburban Memphis couple with four children of their own, were introduced to the Hes through a private foster-care organization. They volunteered to take Anna in for a few months but decided later to try to adopt her, even though the Hes wanted her back.
The Bakers accused the Hes of being unfit parents and argued that Anna would have a better life in America than in China.
In 2004, a Memphis judge took away the Hes’ parental rights on grounds of abandonment, a decision that drew widespread criticism as culturally and ethnically biased.
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled the Hes thought they were giving up their daughter for a short time so she could get health insurance and lost custody largely because of an ignorance of American law. It ordered the family to be reunited.
He has supported his family with a series of low-paying jobs, often working at Chinese restaurants and most recently as a church janitor. He said he expects to find a better job in China, perhaps teaching at a private elementary or secondary school that teaches English and will accept his children as students.
Kara, the psychologist, said he had hoped Anna Mae would have more time to bond with her family before moving to a country with an unfamiliar culture and language.
"But the way things were set up, they were allowed to stay here until a resolution (of custody), and the resolution has taken place," he said.