This paper seeks to contribute to debates about how people's adult lives unfold after experiencing childhood adversity. It presents analysis from the British Chinese Adoption Study: a mixed methods follow-up study of women, now aged in their 40s and early 50s, who spent their infant lives in Hong Kong orphanages and were then adopted by families in the UK in the 1960s.

This report marks a critical step in compiling comparable data and information about children in out-of-home care in Asia, defining our understanding of the continuum of care options available and metaphors to identify the gaps, challenges, strengths and opportunities within the child care systems in 10 identified Asian countries.

This article examines the impact of poverty on looked-after children and their families, describes and evaluates the use of multiple family group therapy and other family-based interventions, and reports children's experiences and feedback from the groups. 

As part of phase one of the development of the Martin James Foundation's Asia Care Network, comprehensive studies of the care system in each country were conducted to highlight the need for developing alternative care systems across South-East Asia. This case study highlights relevant data from Hong Kong.