From the US to China and back again by age six. Why ‘satellite babies’ struggle

Amid skyrocketing living costs in New York City, many Chinese Americans are choosing to have relatives abroad care for their children until they’re old enough to attend school. The financial logic is sound, but what’s the emotional toll on a child raised between two worlds? According to Lois Lee, the director of New York City’s Chinese-American Planning Council, the ‘satellite baby’ phenomenon disrupts vital years of parent-child bonding and development, resulting in a ‘post-traumatic stress experience’ for these children once they return to the United States. A poignant and multifaceted look at a new struggle facing many immigrants to the US, Satellite Baby premiered at the DOC NYC film festival in 2015.