Tirza Kingma writes about adopted son Wen

With her second book 'Love from China', former Balk star Tirza Kingma has written a disarming and honest story about the adoption of her son Wen, his growing up with cleft palate and the trips the family made to China.

In 2010, Kingma traveled to southern China with her husband, their two biological daughters and Kingma's mother to adopt Wen. A year earlier he was born in the vicinity of Kunming, the city of eternal spring. He grew up in Friesland, underwent several operations on his cleft palate and followed an intensive speech therapy program. Wen developed into a cheerful and active boy. In the meantime, the family traveled to China twice more, including for a 'roots trip'.

Cleft palate

In 2014, the family traveled around the world to Thailand, Australia and Hong Kong. Kingma: “Wen was five years old and we wanted to introduce him to his native country in a casual way that was not adoption-related. At home, after a wonderful trip, he said: 'I didn't see anyone with a cleft lip in China.' We had seen that he felt at home in Hong Kong, but we had not realized that he had looked at all the faces so intently.”

Personal book

In her book, Kingma writes candidly about her experiences as a mother, which also discusses the search for her son's biological parents, the one-child policy in China, developments in the field of adoption and Chinese culture and its symbolism. “I often wonder why I share our story so openly,” says Kingma. “Adoption is usually negative in the news, I would like to tell our positive adoption story.”

Kingma made his debut in 2021 with 'It can't always be summer'. NBD Biblion reviewed her novel as a book that is different from other books and also makes you think about what is important in life and what is not. Kingma lives with her husband and children in Joure.

Love from China can be ordered from all (online) bookstores or via the website: www.tirzakingma.nl. Publisher: Paris Books, ISBN: 978-94-93280-94-6, ISBN e-book: 978-94-93280-95-3; number of pages: 360