Chinese woman in search for daughter who was forcibly adopted 40 years ago wants to give her US$138,000 inheritance, wins support online | South China Morning Post

Chinese woman in search for daughter who was forcibly adopted 40 years ago wants to give her US$138,000 inheritance, wins support online

• Mother who became a single parent when her husband went to jail has not seen her daughter since her in-laws took her more than 40 years ago
• Only clues she has are daughter’s name, fact that she has birthmark and that she is in Beijing

A 64-year-old woman’s search for the daughter she was forced to give up four decades ago to give her more than 1 million yuan (US$138,000) in inheritance has captivated China after being aired on television.

Wang Yunjuan from Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, southeastern China, shared the story of her separation from her daughter in a forced adoption on the programme Xiao Qiang Re Xian, or “Xiaoqiang’s Hotline” in English, on June 30.

In 1981 when 21-year-old Wang was expecting her daughter, her husband was sentenced to life imprisonment for assault, briefly meeting their daughter just once in prison after she was born on May 12, 1982.

Wang said that because of her “poor situation”, a group of elders from her husband’s family came one day in 1983 when she was away from home, took her daughter to Beijing, and gave her to another family to adopt. Wang has not seen her daughter since.

Wang has not seen her daughter since 1983 shortly after she was born. Photo: Baidu/Hongxingxinwen

The pain of the separation weighed heavily on Wang afterwards, and in 1998, when her husband was released from prison on a reduced sentence, they decided not to have another child and to look for their daughter together.

“My husband told me we must find our daughter and save some money for her,” Wang said. “However, his sister told him that the child is living well and not to go looking for her.’”

Initially, the couple decided not to disturb their daughter’s new life. But as they grew older, their longing for their daughter only increased.

Wang told Tide News: “In between, I couldn’t bear it and even asked a friend in Beijing to inquire, and was told my daughter doesn’t even know she was adopted.”

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The couple had reservations about finding her, feeling guilt over their more than 40 years absence and worried that the husband’s criminal record could affect their daughter’s future.

However, when they finally felt ready in 2021 and started looking for their daughter, her husband died from a heart attack in 2022 aged 69.

Since his death, Wang has been just as determined to find her and fulfil her husband’s dying wish of passing on their life savings of more than 1 million yuan.

“My husband was really thrifty, and we managed to save over one million yuan,” Wang told Tide News. “Money can’t compensate for her loss, but it represents our heartfelt intentions and is her father’s last wish.”

Besides her daughter’s birth name Jiang Ling and a red birthmark on her left arm, Wang’s only other clue is from 1991, when she was told her daughter was living with a nice family in the Haidian district of Beijing.

After going public with her story Wang received strong support on social media, where her story trended after the television broadcast. Photo: Baidu/Hongxingxinwen

Wang has also provided her DNA to the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau, hoping that technological advancements in missing person search databases can help reunite them.

After her story was broadcast and trended online in mainland China, many people expressed their support for Wang’s search.

One person said: “I completely understand the mother. Her husband was imprisoned when she was 21, and she gave birth to the child alone at 22. In such circumstances, it was beyond her control when the family took her child away.”

“Nothing is more touching than a parent’s love. I hope she finds her daughter soon,” said another person.

A third person questioned the legality of their daughter’s adoption: “The so-called elders of the husband’s family are not legal guardians and do not have the right to send the child to someone else. If they received benefits in the process, it could constitute human trafficking.”