Chen Yu: Just Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, He Finally Found His Birth Father | 陈渔：中秋前，他终于找到了亲生父亲
“My name is Chen Yu.”
For someone searching for their origins, even this simple introduction may carry a question that has remained unanswered for years:
Where is my family?
Now, Chen Yu finally has an answer.
A Search That Began with Another Adoptee
In September last year, Chen Yu was put in touch with overseas volunteers from Baby Come Home, a Chinese organisation helping separated families reunite, through Jin Fudi, who was also searching for her birth family.
On 1 November that year, Chen Yu provided a DNA sample at an in-person gathering in the Netherlands.
But searching for one's birth family rarely brings answers straight away.
Several rounds of testing followed. It was not until the second Y-DNA test that a significant breakthrough emerged, opening up a new direction in his search.
In August this year, volunteers in China followed up on the new leads, contacted people believed to be possible relatives and arranged for DNA samples to be collected.
Then came the wait.
24 September: The Answer Finally Arrived
On 24 September, the long-awaited news came: the DNA results confirmed a match.
Chen Yu had found his birth father.
From the beginning of his search in September last year to the confirmation almost a year later, the journey had stretched from the Netherlands to China, involving volunteers on both sides, repeated DNA testing and the careful pursuit of new leads.
At last, the search had brought him the answer he had been waiting for.
And the news arrived just before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In Chinese culture, the Mid-Autumn Festival has always been closely associated with family reunions. For someone searching for his birth family, discovering where he comes from at this particular time of year gave the idea of reunion a special significance.
Chen Yu has since met his birth family through a video call.
Separated by a screen, people who had previously been connected only through DNA results and fragments of information could finally see one another and hear each other's voices as family.
One Person's Search, Many People's Efforts
There are others whose contributions deserve to be remembered in Chen Yu's story.
It began with Jin Fudi, another person searching for her own family, who helped him make that first connection. Overseas volunteers from Baby Come Home then assisted with DNA collection and followed up on the testing process. When new leads emerged, volunteers in China continued the search, contacted possible relatives and coordinated further DNA testing.
This is often how family searches unfold.
One person shares a piece of information. Another helps collect a sample. Someone else follows up on a lead.
Many seemingly small efforts, connecting people across different cities and countries, can eventually bring together family members who had no idea where to find one another.
Advances in DNA technology have also opened up new possibilities for searches that might otherwise have reached a dead end, particularly when the available information consists of little more than places, dates and fading memories.
From “Who Am I?” to “I've Found You”
At The Mothers' Bridge of Love, we have shared many stories of people who are still searching for their birth families.
Some have a place name. Others have a date. Some have been searching for several years, while others have spent more than two decades looking for answers.
Not every search brings a quick result.
That is why, when a search finally succeeds, the story deserves to be told.
For those who are still waiting, Chen Yu's experience offers a reminder that a search without answers is not necessarily a search without hope.
An inconclusive DNA test may lead to further investigation. Families separated by thousands of miles may still find their way back to one another through the dedication of volunteers and the possibilities offered by DNA technology.
After almost a year of searching, Chen Yu can finally say: “I've found my birth father.”
And this year, the reunion so closely associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival was no longer just a distant hope.
May Chen Yu's reunion with his family mark the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. And may those who are still searching, wherever they are in the world, one day receive the answers they have been waiting for.
Click here to watch Chen Yu’s story.
“我是陈渔。”
对于一个寻找自己生命来处的人来说，这句再简单不过的自我介绍背后，也许藏着一个很长的问题：我的家人在哪里？
如今，陈渔终于等到了答案。
从另一个寻亲者开始的寻找
去年9月，陈渔通过同样正在寻亲的金福娣，联系上了宝贝回家海外志愿者。
同年11月1日，在荷兰举行的一次线下聚会中，陈渔完成了DNA采集。
但寻亲很少能够一次就得到答案。
此后经历了多轮检测，直到第二次 Y-DNA检测，终于出现了重要突破，为寻找亲生家人带来了新的方向。
今年8月，国内志愿者根据获得的线索联系到疑似家人，并帮助对方采集DNA。
接下来，便是等待。
9月24日，答案终于来了
9月24日，好消息传来：DNA比对成功。
陈渔找到了自己的亲生父亲。
从去年9月开始寻找，到今年9月得到确认，将近一年的时间里，从荷兰到中国，从海外志愿者到国内志愿者，从一次次DNA检测到最终的比对结果，这场寻找终于抵达了那个等待已久的答案。
而这份消息，恰好赶在中秋之前到来。
中秋，在中国人的文化记忆里，总与团圆联系在一起。对于一个寻找亲生家人多年的人而言，在这样的时节知道自己的家在哪里，这份“团圆”也有了格外特别的意义。
如今，陈渔已经通过视频与亲生家人相认。
隔着屏幕，曾经只能通过DNA和零散线索寻找的人，终于成为了可以看见彼此、听见彼此声音的家人。
一个人的答案，也是一群人的接力
陈渔的故事里，还有一些值得被记住的人。
最初，是另一位寻亲者金福娣为他牵起了这条线；之后，是宝贝回家海外志愿者协助采集DNA、跟进检测；有了新的线索之后，又由国内志愿者继续寻找疑似家人、协调DNA采集。
寻亲有时就是这样。
一个人提供信息，一个人帮助采样，一个人继续追踪线索。许多看似微小的努力，在不同的城市、不同的国家之间连接起来，最后才可能让两个原本不知道彼此在哪里的人重新找到对方。
而DNA技术，也让一些仅凭地点、日期和记忆已经很难继续的寻找，有了新的可能。
从“我是谁”到“我找到你了”
在母爱桥，我们分享过许多仍然在寻找中的故事。
有的人拥有一个地点，有的人拥有一个日期；有人寻找了几年，也有人已经寻找了二十多年。
并不是每一场寻找都能很快得到答案。
所以，当一份寻找终于迎来结果时，它值得被记录下来。
因为对于仍在等待的人来说，陈渔的故事也意味着：有些暂时没有答案的寻找，并不一定已经走到了尽头。
一次没有结果的检测，可以继续寻找新的线索；相隔万里的两端，也可以因为志愿者的接力和DNA技术重新建立连接。
近一年的寻找之后，陈渔终于可以说：我找到我的亲生父亲了。
而这一次，中秋所说的“团圆”，不再只是一个遥远的愿望。
愿陈渔与家人的重新相识，成为一段新的开始；也愿每一份仍在路上的寻亲牵挂，都有机会等来属于自己的回应。
点击这里，观看陈渔的故事。