Flushing Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), under the direction of Dr. Daniel Chen, Chairman of the Department of Mental Health, is collaborating with New York City’s ThriveNYC Program on a project to raise awareness about “Satellite Babies” and offer services to parents in Asian communities serviced by the hospital.
Satellite babies, a term coined by researchers, is used to refer to children of Chinese immigrant parents; who have adopted the practice of sending their infants back to their country of origin to be raised by members of their extended family (i.e. grandparents and other relatives). These children then return to the United States when they are school-aged so that they can receive an education.
Some of the reasons for this practice are presumed to be:
- Preferring the parenting styles of relatives in China
- Benefits of being raised by family and not a childcare environment
- Lack of legal status
After reunification with their biological parents, educators and health professionals are finding that the children are experiencing speech and learning delays, often the result of language barriers.
The children exhibit feelings of being abandoned, missing their original caretakers, jealousy, resentment and sibling rivalry. These deep feelings often cause the child to become frustrated, irritable and rebellious.
Parents of satellite babies can often become stressed, physically exhausted and overwhelmed. They can also feel hurt by their child’s rejection and the low level of attachment they have with their child due to the distance and missed bonding opportunity.
To help parents during this difficult time, Flushing Hospital provides seminars that offer educational and coping tools which include:
- Organizing outdoor and parent-child activities to build communication within the core family and create closer relationships
- Attending further workshops on the topic
- Keeping a journal (parent and child)
- Learning to understand each other’s emotions of anger or resentment
- Learning to express your emotions in a positive way
- Learn about feelings by telling a story or through writing or drawing
Not all mental health professionals are as well-equipped in educating and counseling on the topic of Satellite Babies as those at Flushing Hospital. The collaboration with ThriveNYC has given the hospital’s mental health professionals a unique opportunity to help those families in the community who are affected.