Two women born in Taiwan, but adopted by foreign couples when they were babies, said yesterday they bear no grudges against their biological parents and wish only to let them know that they are well.
British police officer Larissa Nightingale, whose Chinese name is Wang E-po (王萼波), shared her experience of trying to find her birth mother in Taiwan over the past few days at a news conference sponsored by the Child Welfare League Foundation.
Nightingale said that this was her first trip to the nation and that she was impressed by the friendliness of the people.
She was left in front of a hospital in Sindian District (新店), Taipei County (now New Taipei City) 29 years ago with a note from her birth mother that said she could not raise her because she was too poor. She was later adopted by a British couple.
Nightingale said she bears no ill-will toward her biological mother and understands that to forsake a child is a difficult decision.
“I only want to tell her that I’m living well and that I’ve never forgotten her,” she said.
She said she went online for images of Taiwan’s native birds and now bears a tattoo on her arm of the Taiwanese blue magpie.
Another woman, Kimbra, 34, whose Chinese name is Chen Hsin-hui (陳信惠), was adopted by an Australian couple when she was six weeks old.
She began to search for her birth mother several years ago, with her only clue, a faded photograph taken when she was a baby.
Kimbra said in a video clip that she has four children.
She said that she wants to tell her mother that she is doing well and hopes to introduce her to her family.
Pai Li-fang (白麗芳), director of the foundation, said that in cases like these, adopted children often want to tell their birth parents that they have a good life.
Due to a lack of information about biological parents, adopted children often encounter difficulties, but the foundation hopes to solicit public assistance to give people the opportunity to meet their biological families.
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