Birth Parent Searching in China: A Two-Part Educational Series
Part I: Presentation by Brian Stuy (Research-China)
Wednesday, February 9, 2022 7-8:30pm EST
Part II: Panel Q&A with representatives from China’s Children International, My China Roots, and Nanchang Project
Tuesday, February 15, 2022 7-8:30pm EST
FCCNY presents a two-part series designed to help Chinese adoptees and their families learn more about searching for biological relatives in China. We are excited to invite several panelists to share their knowledge of the field and help answer any questions you may have about searching. The first event will be a presentation by Brian Stuy that highlights key changes in birth parent searching over the last 10 years and gives an overview of current approaches. The second event will be a Q&A-style forum where participants can ask questions about searching to expert panelists Myah Revilock, Huihan Lie, and Erin Valentino.
Some topics we will explore are:
-
What steps can I take to start a birth family search?
-
If my adopted child expresses interest in a search, how can I best support their efforts?
-
How do I navigate the many options for DNA testing?
-
What are strategies for searching that don’t involve DNA testing?
This series is open to Chinese adoptees and parents or guardians of Chinese adoptees. Attendees do not need to have experience with birth searching or reunion to participate. Adoptees younger than 14 years old are encouraged to attend with a parent or guardian present.
These events will be held on Zoom. Please register online at fccny.org to receive the Zoom links.
-
The registration form includes both events. If you only want to attend one of the events, you will still need to sign up for the two-part series.
-
The event is free for FCCNY members, and young adult adoptees can register for membership free of charge. We ask for a donation of $10 from non-members to support our programming.
-
Registration will close 24 hours before each event begins.
-
The events will NOT be recorded.
FCCNY is the sole organizer and sponsor of this event for educational purposes only.
About our panelists:
Brian Stuy (Research-China): Brian H. Stuy, along with his wife Lan, have researched China's orphanages for more than twenty years. They have three Chinese daughters. Together they search for Chinese birth families inside China and work to reunite them with their relinquished children. The couple's work was portrayed in the award-winning documentary "One Child Nation."
Myah Revilock (China’s Children International): Myah was adopted from ZhuZhou, Hunan Province in 1992 at 9 months old. She has been actively searching for her biological family since 2018 and during that time she also created birth search posters for adoptees and adoptive parents. These posters led Myah to found a birth search group poster organization now known as ICSA (International Child Search Alliance). Myah is also one of the Birth Parent Search Coordinators for CCI (China's Children International).
Huihan Lie (My China Roots): Huihan was born and raised in The Netherlands; his parents were from Indonesia and his ancestors from China, 200 years ago. Curious about why everyone (including his family) always called him “Chinese”, even though there didn’t seem to be anything Chinese about him other than his skin color, he traveled to China to see what “being Chinese” was all about. The profound impact of his own roots searching journey made him quit his cushy expat job and start My China Roots in 2012. Since then, the company has helped many hundreds of families trace their Chinese relatives and ancestors. My China Roots has also featured in TV shows and documentaries like “Found” and “Who Do You Think You Are?” and in media like the New York Times and the BBC. Huihan is based in Beijing, China with his wife and two children.
Erin Valentino (Nanchang Project): Nanchang Project is a volunteer-led group whose mission is to serve the community of searching adoptees and birth families. Their organization offers support with navigating how to lead a successful search; including hiring a searcher and utilizing Chinese social media, as well as how to better understand all of the DNA options that exist. Since their inception in 2018, they have successfully assisted in reuniting 30 Chinese adoptees with their first families.
If you have questions, please email annieabruzzo@fccny.org.
