MBL Adoption Dialogue Series 11: When Birth Families’ Voices Are Finally Heard
On 13 September 2026, The Mothers’ Bridge of Love (MBL) hosted its 11th Adoption Dialogue, bringing together adoptees, birth families, adoptive families, volunteers and adoption organisations from different countries.
This year’s theme asks a deliberately difficult question: “Lucky, Unlucky, or Somewhere in Between?” Series 11 turned to a side of the adoption story that is heard far less often — birth families, their emotional journeys, and the search for reunion.
Two Families, Thirty Years of Separation
Our first two speakers, Jen and Xiao Lai, both shared the experience of losing a younger sister during a very different period of China’s social history.
Jen spoke about her family’s nearly 30-year wait for her younger sister, who was adopted to the United States in 1997. Her story reflected on separation, historical circumstances and the complicated coexistence of loss and opportunity. After three decades, the sisters finally found one another again.
Xiao Lai shared another extraordinary family journey. Her younger sister Wang Yu (Gwen) left the family at around one year old in 1996. Contact was lost, and for decades the family did not know where she was. In 2026, DNA matching finally connected them. On 29 July 2026, Gwen returned to Chongqing and reunited with her birth family after 30 years.
Their stories reminded us that reunion is not simply the end of a search; it can be the beginning of an entirely new family relationship.
How Can Overseas Chinese Adoptees Search in China?
Our third speaker, Yang Jin, a China-based birth-family search volunteer and partner of the Nanchang Project, introduced practical pathways currently used by overseas Chinese adoptees searching for birth families. These include China’s national family-search DNA database, 23Mofang DNA matching, in-person searches and geographically targeted search videos through Chinese social media.
SEARCH → MATCH → REUNION
The discussion continued into a lively international Q&A. Participants raised important questions about DNA privacy and safety, navigating cultural differences after reunion, foster-family records, how adoptees were matched with different receiving countries, and whether additional regional DNA databases exist in China.
One particularly moving question came from an adult adoptee already in reunion: How do we build a relationship with a Chinese birth family after growing up in a Western culture? The discussion highlighted patience, mutual initiative and understanding cultural differences rather than expecting an instant family relationship.
With simultaneous interpretation supporting the multilingual conversation, voices from China could be heard internationally — and adoptees overseas could speak directly with families and search volunteers in China.
Adoption rarely has only one story. There can be love and loss, opportunity and separation, gratitude and grief — sometimes all within the same life.
By allowing every side to be heard, perhaps we can understand one another a little better.
And sometimes, understanding is where reunion begins.
🌍 Special Thanks to Our Interpreters
This Dialogue was made possible across languages by our dedicated volunteer interpreters. Our heartfelt thanks to:
Chinese → English: Qingling Yang & Gene
English → Chinese: Fiona （Xiao Chang）
English → Spanish: Nikolle
Their professionalism, concentration and generosity enabled participants from different countries and language backgrounds to hear one another, exchange experiences and take part fully in the discussion. During the live event, participants also expressed their appreciation for the interpretation support.
Click here to watch the replay.