Deperate Chinese mom get marriage offers to help her stay

A day ago, Hong Zhang and her baby were captured crying in a Toronto Sun's photo. Just one day after, they were smiling.

In the Sun's story:

Single mom Hong Zhang cried a river of tears yesterday after learning she can't leave her baby daughter in Canada with Children's Aid when she is deported to her native China.

Zhang, 39, broke down after leaving the agency's Peel offices, where she had tried to place her only child.

She was told 1-year-old Sherry will be put up for adoption as an abandoned child if left behind, but Zhang wants the girl to sponsor her back to Canada some day.

"I feel very sad right now," Zhang said. "I do not want Sherry to go to China. I want her to have a better life in Canada."

As Zhang wept, the baby started crying and had to be cradled.

"My child will not have much of a future in China," she said through interpreter Jane Lou. "At least here she has some kind of future."

After the story was published, her lawyer's office was flooded with calls and emails offering help to Zhang.

At least 10 expressed their will to foster or take care of Sherry, some offer free air tickets for Zhang to fly over every year to see Sherry. Some offer to adopt Sherry while applying to get Zhang over to be a live-in caregiver.

But what most striking is, five persons have offered to marry Zhang and help her get Canadian resident status.

The lawyer did not disclose the background of these men. Neither did he say if Zhang would accept any offers. Yet, the warmth shown by Canadians is already enough to make her and Sherry happy and delighted.

Meanwhile, the Sun explains why Hong Zhang is so worried if Sherry is to be deported, too:

Hong Zhang is among hundreds of unwedded Chinese moms fighting deportation by claiming their Canadian-born kids will be treated as second-class citizens if they are sent back to China with them.

Deported single mothers face a fine of about $140,000 a child when they return to China with children. Chinese law bans children out of wedlock, said Roy Kellog, of Scarborough's CanVisa Immigration.

He said Canadian-born children, like Zhang's 10-month-old daughter Sherry, will be stigmatized by society, will not get health coverage, be allowed to attend school or obtain Chinese citizenship.

Zhang came to Canada in 1997 and filed an unsuccessful refugee claim. During that time she gave birth to Sherry.

"My baby will have a hard time in China," Zhang said yesterday. "I will be scared for her as she grows up."

Kellogg, an immigration consultant, said he represents five Chinese moms in Zhang's situation. He said most made failed refugee claims on arrival in Canada and then filed appeals, during which time they become pregnant.

"It's either leave the children here in foster care or take them to China where they can't go to school," Kellogg said yesterday. "The government has to show some compassion."

He said the moms will have to pay foreign student fees for their kids to attend school in China.

"These Canadian-born children are being denied the right to education," he said. "They face a life of discrimination and social stigma if sent to China."

Anna Pape, of the Canada Border Services Agency, said her officers are required to deport those who do not have permission to live in Canada.

"We enforce laws in place to ensure the integrity of the system," Pape said yesterday. "We are obliged to enforce the laws."

Tags: canada, chinese, refugee, deport, china, single mom