So, You Have Been Notified of a Match to Your Birth Family In China, What Comes Next?

If you are reading this, you may have received a link to this blog in an email notifying you that you have been matched to a birth relative living in China. If so, congratulations. We understand that you have a ton of questions, so we have set up this blog to provide you with answers. So, let's start with, Who is DNAConnect.Org?

Brian and Longlan Stuy started researching the origins of Chinese adoptees as soon as they met in 2002. For the past two decades, they have travelled all around China collecting finding ads, visiting and filming orphanages, and collecting as much information as possible to assist adoptees in learning about their origins. They started a research firm, Research-China.Org, to provide this information to adoptees and their families. They also have three adoptive daughters from China (the photo on the left is of our family, taken at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 at the premier of "One Child Nation".) We started a public blog in 2005 to help educate families on various aspects of China's adoption program. 

In 2008, they began assisting adoptees in locating birth families. To make greater progress, they formed a non-profit organization in 2013 called DNAConnect.Org. This organization is an all-volunteer group of Brian, Longlan (Lan), a board of directors, and various volunteers inside China. No one gets any pay for doing this work. The collection and processing of the DNA is done through donations to DNAConnect.org when a match occurs, or previous to match. As a result of DNAConnect's efforts, more than a thousand birth families have been located inside China, and almost 200 adoptees have been reconnected with their birth families in China.

In 2019, our work in China was featured in the award-winning documentary "One Child Nation," which you can see on Amazon Prime. You can also see us in trailers for the film if you don't have Prime. We strongly suggest you watch this film to understand who we are, and how you may have come to be adopted. It is a fantastic film. 

Trailer One: https://www.thirteen.org/programs/independent-lens/baby-recruiting-network-one-child-nation-zpuwgo/

Trailer Two: https://youtu.be/gMcJVoLwyD0

Here is another documentary we were profiled in in 2023 which centered on a reunion we facilitated:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/3016160/?fbclid=IwAR0z25Ap1p4GVX_0JnDSOQ7c3R-IyPRBboYpSCSsEPCB6kp7L1DEMYoCw00

Here are other articles about our work:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/814829.shtml (Global Times/China)

https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/this-researching-couple-finds-answers-for-adopted-chinese-daughters/ (PBS)

https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/07/kidnapped-and-sold-inside-the-dark-world-of-child-trafficking-in-china/278107/

So, we know that you have probably been told that locating your birth family in China is impossible, or maybe you have never even thought about it. We have connected with thousands of people inside China (Lan is Chinese), and they themselves are looking for a child, or they know of a birth family that is looking. We have contacted these families, collected their DNA, and put that DNA into the data base where you had tested to see if we can help them locate their birth child. That is how you were matched.

We understand that this is a lot to process. You may have questions (most reconnected adoptees do), so we have set up a Facebook group (private) with adoptees who have reconnected with their birth families. These adoptees are excited to help you get answers. You can join the Facebook group here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/639674373138198

A few of our reunited adoptees have done press stories about their experience. 

Zoe Halbeirsen, adopted from Changzhou, Jiangsu, and a current board member of DNAConnect.Org:

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/06/03/baby-abandoned-china-20-years-ago-one-child-policy-birth-parents-found-her/3765759002/

Lily Poynter, adopted from the Guangchang orphanage in Jiangxi Province:

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/centerville-teen-adopted-infant-discovers-birth-family/DYrrQ72TavnCNCgn2c045I/

In addition to the press stories above, here are some stories that were sent to us by adoptees:

https://dnaconnectorgreunions.blogspot.com/2019/04/this-is-too-good-to-be-true.html

https://dnaconnectorgreunions.blogspot.com/2019/04/no-that-is-impossible.html

https://dnaconnectorgreunions.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-glimpse-of-miracle.html

So, now that you know who we are, and have read the stories of other adoptees we have reunited, the next steps are up to you. If you are interested in getting into touch with your birth family, please contact us and we can set things up for you. If you have watched "One Child Nation," you will realize that the information provided to you and your family by the orphanage was most likely fabricated (the press reports above go into this, as does this article and this birth parent story). There are many reasons that happened, but the important thing to realize that you really don't have any idea what happened. You will need to put everything you think you know aside, and approach your birth family with a clean slate. They will be able to tell you the truth of what happened.

The next step if you are interested in reconnecting with your birth family is to let us know. You can friend Lan on Facebook, who can add you to our adoptee group. This is a great forum to get your questions answered. Also check with your parents to see if they have donated to DNAConnect.Org in the past. If not, there is a fee involved to help pay for more DNA kits to test more birth families, so that other adoptees will have this opportunity just like you.