Oct 15, 2018
In this episode, Autumn shares her experience locating her birth
family and finally meeting them during a trip to China, a visit
full of joy, tears and some surprises about her earliest life in
China that she would never have expected. This is yet another story
where the commonly told tale of abandonment of a child leading to
delivery to an orphanage turned out to be nothing like the
reality.
Iris Leung reflects on “unofficial adoptions” in China, when families facing an above quota pregnancy, rather than abandon or abort their baby, chose to protect their child from being seized by birth control authorities by seeking others to raise their child as their own.
Ricki shares her latest visit to her birth family in China and describes how her own birth family story has changed over time. We consider the challenges of family dynamics and drama when an adoptee becomes part of a larger biological family again.
Ricki also offers her own experienced viewpoint on a recent open letter written on behalf of adoptees to birth parents in China. This letter, along with another letter addressed to the highest officials of the Chinese government, were presented at the 2018 conference of United Chinese Americans in Washington, DC, and are intended to be officially presented to the Chinese government via press conference. Adoptees and adoptive parents can read these letters here and sign on in support:
Open Letter to Birth Parents: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XPk7CCtNoycDB2xdTsGJAns5FsA8TFbDt_LwoltasR4/mobilebasic
Open Letter to Chinese Government Officials:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx2fP5xV1JdHREstaTFTNXFIUXduTkcteEQxb0NMQ0R4a1dN/view
Submit Your Support for Letters:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DOrwvI2t5bRTEzbdP9VqYs6sgNUe2J3qPjQaqNru-k4/viewform?edit_requested=true