Adoption Dialogue Series 8: When “Daughters of the Bamboo Grove” Meets “Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother”
Designed by Yuchi Zou
In this upcoming event we hope to highlight both Barbara and Xinran's personal experiences as writers to share their observations and reflections on adoption from China. We hope to explore the nuanced and often overlooked realities behind mainstream narratives and the insights through their writing, reporting, and interacting with families on all sides of the adoption process.
MBL Adoption Dialogue Event Overview:
The Adoption Dialogue was set up by The Mothers’ Bridge of Love in 2024 with the aim of helping international Chinese adoptees and adoptive families communicate with each other, raise social awareness around adoption, and support other adoptees and adoptive families across the world. Previously, we have successfully collaborated with Canada, the United States, Norway, and the United Kingdom to hold multiple adoption forums.
In 2025, this series of events revolves around adoption healing. We hope to highlight real, personal experiences and feelings from adoptees and adoptive families and connect people through sharing and healing together.
Series 1 (January 2024)
The Mothers’ Bridge of Love & Asian Adoptees of Canada (Canada) — Q&A with Author Xinran
Series 2 (June 2024)
The Mothers’ Bridge of Love & International Child Search Alliance (the United States) + Hong Kong Adoptee — Birth Family Searching, Adoption Documents Consultation, Q&A with Chinese Adoptees
Series 3 (September 2024)
The Mothers’ Bridge of Love & Kinaforeningen i Norge (Norway) + Writer of Adoptert Fra Kina — Dialogue about Adoption
Series 4 (December 2024)
The Mothers’ Bridge of Love & Chinese Adoptees from the UK and Canada — How Are We? Lived Lives, Inner Realities, and Personal Experiences of Being Adopted
Series 5 (March 2025)
The Mothers’ Bridge of Love & Chinese Adoptees from the US and the UK—Being Adopted: Difficulties, Struggles, and Hope
This event features the inner realities of adoptees as they grew up. Two guest speakers from the UK and the US shared their experiences and advocated for greater awareness of the challenges faced by adoptees, especially during their teenage years. The stories shared deeply resonated with many adoptees and adoptive families.
Series 6 (June 2025)
The Mothers’ Bridge of Love & Adoptive Mothers from Canada and Italy/the UK—Having Adopted: Concerns, Difficulties, and Love
This event focuses on adoptive parents—whose experiences and stories are often overlooked in discussions around adoption from China. Two adoptive mothers from Italy/the UK and Canada shared their experiences raising their adopted children, concerns and difficulties faced, as well as their determination and strength in loving their children.
Series 7 (September 2025)
The Mothers’ Bridge of Love & adoptee from the UK and her biological brother from China—When Adoptive Families Meet Birth Families
This event focuses on the true story of a British Chinese adoptee recounting her reunion experiences with her adoptive parents and her biological family from China. We invited both the adoptee and her biological brother from China to share their experiences of separation and reunion, highlighting how the two families, across countries, overcame many challenges to finally be reunited.
The Mothers’ Bridge of Love Adoption Dialogue (Series 8)
THEME — When Daughters of the Bamboo Grove Meets Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother
GUEST SPEAKERS: Barbara Demick and Xinran
GUEST — Barbara Demick is a prize-winning author and former foreign correspondent who spent seven years as Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times. Previous books include Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town and the bestselling Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, which won the Samuel Johnson (now called Baillie Gifford) prize. Her work has been shortlisted for the Pulitzer, National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle award, and has won awards from the Asia Society and Overseas Press Club. She also contributes to The New Yorker.
GUEST — Xinran is a British-Chinese journalist, author, speaker, and advocate for women's issues in China. She is the founder of The Mothers’ Bridge of Love and the author of nine bestsellers including The Good Women of China and Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother. She frequently contributes to The Guardian and the BBC.
HOST — Siwei was adopted from Gansu, China and raised in Northwest China. She is a PhD candidate at SOAS, University of London. She is the founder and director of a grass-root initiative in China promoting gender equality.
HOST — Adaline Bara is a Chinese American adoptee based in Scotland, co-author of Whatever Next? On Adult Adoptee Identities, an MBA student, and mother. She has appeared on BBC Radio Scotland, STV, and KSHB 41, and The Kansas City Star.
EVENT PROGRAM:
Opening remarks
Introduction to MBL and the Adoption Dialogue
Story sharing by guest speakers
Q&A and open discussion
Introduction to MBL’s program designed for Chinese adoptees seeking to reconnect with their roots in China
Closing remarks
Date & Time: December 28 2025, 20:00 (UK Time)
15:00 US/Canada East, 12:00 US/Canada West, 04:00 December 29 China, 07:00 December 29 Australia (Sydney)
Venue: Zoom Meeting
https://brookes.zoom.us/j/89570396665
Meeting ID: 895 7039 6665
No password needed
The event will be conducted primarily in English, with simultaneous interpretation provided in Chinese.