Narrated by: Wang Taomei Written by: Jin Yang Translated and edited by: Clyde Xi November 7, 2024 Abstract This is the account of an ordinary mother navigating extraordinary constraints. Set against the realities of rural life, family obligation, and state policy, the narrative traces how private choices are shaped—and sometimes broken—by forces beyond one’s control. Written in a mother’s own voice, the story does not seek judgment or absolution, but bears witness to what end

Original Author: Jin Yang Editor: Clyde Xi Source: Nanchang Project 4/15/2023 Birth Parents Two days ago, I met a mother in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, who has spent many years searching online for her daughter. In phone calls and WeChat messages, she told me that she has not gone a single day without thinking of her child since the moment the baby was taken from her. Her daughter was born on September 30, 1995, her second child. The birth took place in secret in Xin

Narrated by: Zhang Guifang Compiled by: J Yang Edited by: Clyde Xi February 6, 2026 Abstract In this heartfelt memoir, Zhang Guifang describes the extreme hardship her family endured in late-1990s China. After years of costly infertility treatments and crushing debt from family illnesses, their long-awaited daughter was born in 1999, only to be diagnosed with a rare, severe congenital heart defect. Unable to afford or access life-saving surgery in China—where the risks incl

Narrated by: Lily Zeng Chinese Writer: Jin Yang English Editor: Clyde Xi Date: November 20, 2025 Abstract This memoir is a firsthand testimony of a mother separated from her child under China’s one-child policy and her thirty-year journey through fear, loss, endurance, and eventual reunion. Through lived experience rather than retrospection alone, the narrative documents how state policy intruded into the most intimate realms of life, turning pregnancy into risk, motherhood i

（from Weixin Account 诗意恩典， 9/13/2023） Oil painting Breastfeeding Shen Hanwu I Always Thought a Mother's Embrace Was the Safest Place in the World. Until I heard Brother Zhuo recount something he had personally experienced — a story that overturned everything I believed. Sometimes, a mother’s embrace is not a sanctuary. Sometimes, not even a baby’s right to feed at her breast can be protected. Brother Zhuo is from Shenzhen. A few years ago, he flew thousands of miles to vis

By Sharri Black September 2, 2020 https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life/adoptive-parent-hard/ As an adoptive parent, have you ever had the fleeting thought that perhaps you didn’t hear God right? When you believed He called you to adopt, or that He made a mistake in calling you? Maybe you’ve expressed to God, a close friend, or even a therapist (your child’s or your own) about how hard this journey has become. Or, have you ever heard yourself saying, “I didn’t sign up for

The Chinese Class for Adoptees is offered by Wholistic Education ( https://www.holisticedu.us ) and sponsored by Village of the Stars (VoS). Classes are conducted online, typically once a week, with each session lasting about one hour. Program Details: Dedicated Volunteer Teachers – Our instructors are not only professionals in Chinese language education but also have a deep commitment to supporting adoptees and children with special needs. Tailored Curriculum – Teaching mate

Original video story by Shaojian Kang Translated by Cathy He Revised by Clyde Xi and Weiming Zhao If I tell you I was found in a trash can, would you believe me? It's true. 43 years ago today, on March 1st, 1981 according to the lunar calendar, my mom picked me up from a trash can. That moment shaped who I am today. My mom found me in a trash can at our local hospital during a cold night, with temperatures around 6 or 7 degrees Celsius. Up to that point, my mom had carried me

By Shannon Guerra at Copperlight Wood The noise could almost make your heart stop. Your mind tries to process whether it is a scream or a cry, an unnatural wail that sounds like a mythological animal dying, heaving its last gasps of breath. Then it stops…and you realize the kids are just blowing through blades of grass. Is any other innocent summer pastime as guilty of inducing heart attacks as this one? It’s just grass blades and air. Nothing to be alarmed by. But that know

By Shannon Guerra at Copperlight Wood In a patch of the yard, a two-year-old boy plays in a dirt pile with his red plastic shovel. You can’t really see him but you know he’s there because of the haze of dirt suspended eighteen inches off the ground in that general area, floating lazily to the west. And down the hill, an older boy gathers a bucket of dirt. But no, he’s not doing it for fun, but as a consequence for refusing to do school. He didn’t tell us he didn’t want to s