U.S. govt regulations forces family to leave adopted daughter in China

In a modern day version of Sophie's Choice, an American couple must leave their newly adopted Chinese daughter or risk losing their jobs in the U.S. should they remain with their daughter.

According to the recently enacted Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, all immigrants must pass a TB screening. Harper Yue Ye, the 4 year-old girl at the center of this case, tested positive for TB two months ago. She quickly recovered and tested negative after another round of culture tests. Unfortunately, the new set of tests were not performed at a CDC approved facility, rendering them invalid and requiring Harper to undergo yet another set of tests.

If Harper was an American citizen, she would have been allowed to come into the U.S. with no questions asked. But as the case stands now, she cannot come to the U.S. until the new set of culture tests come back as negative.

These tests can often take 42 days or longer to process. Since Harper's parents, Jay Scruggs and Candace Litchford, cannot afford to lose their jobs in America if they stay in China with their daughter, they have been forced to leave their daughter in China and come back for her once the culture tests come back as negative.

Jay Scruggs maintains a Livejournal blog with updates and information about the adoption and current struggles. They also have a few videos of them saying goodbye to their daughter, Part I and Part II. Warning: The videos are heartbreaking.