"A girl is found on a street in Ma'Anshan, China, in May 1993. Her paternal grandfather, the story goes, set her down and walked away. No explanation. It's unclear how long she's been outside when somebody arrives and takes her to the orphanage. A white woman adopts the girl and brings her to America in August 1994. She gives her an English name."
"In spring 2010, when Youxue (her Chinese name) was a high school sophomore in Dallas, Texas, she decided to start searching for her birth parents. She knew it wouldn't be easy. Given the international nature of her adoption and the under-the-table circumstances in which most Chinese children were relinquished, there was a strong likelihood she would never find them. But her adoptive mother was supportive and found a "searcher" through Yahoo groups, one of the first forums where adoptees connected online."
"Looking at photographs, Youxue thought she could see a resemblance. For the maternity DNA test, she sent off a cotton swab with buccal cells from the inside of her cheek, along with a few strands of hair. In November, she received a text from her adoptive mother that the DNA results had come back positive. There was a match! She wanted to tell all her friends and family; she felt whole."
More Chinese adoptees in the US are trying to reunite with their birth parents. A girl found in Ma'Anshan in May 1993 was taken to an orphanage after her paternal grandfather reportedly set her down and left. A white woman adopted her and brought her to America in August 1994, giving her an English name. In spring 2010, as a Dallas sophomore, she began a search; her adoptive mother found a "searcher" via Yahoo groups who posted flyers and checked the police station listed on her abandonment certificate. Several families came forward; a maternity DNA test using a cheek swab and hair produced a positive match, and she began taking Mandarin lessons and texting with her birth parents.
Read at WIRED
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]