Chinese mom searches for daughter given away 40 years ago to give her $139,000 life savings
By Ryan General
July 12, 2023
A Chinese woman has embarked on a relentless search for her long-lost daughter who was forcibly adopted 40 years ago.
A mother’s loss: Wang Yunjuan, a 64-year-old woman from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, has captured the hearts of many in China after appearing on the local television program “Xiao Qiang Re Xian” (“Xiaoqiang’s Hotline”) on June 30 to share her story.
According to Wang, she was pregnant and alone at 21 years old in 1981 when her husband was sentenced to life imprisonment for a violent altercation.
The husband met their daughter, Jiang Ling, only once in prison shortly after Wang gave birth to her on May 12, 1982. A year later, while Wang was away from home, her husband’s older relatives took her daughter to Beijing and gave her to another family to adopt.
Disrupted plans: After her husband’s release due to a reduced sentence in 1998, the couple decided to save money and continue the search for their daughter together.
Citing the man’s criminal record, her husband’s family discouraged them from interfering with their daughter as she was already living a comfortable life. Despite the discouragements, the couple planned to visit Beijing to search for their daughter after saving enough money.
However, Wang’s husband passed away from a heart attack in 2021 at the age of 69 before they could begin their journey. According to Wang, she remains determined to fulfill her husband’s dying wish of reuniting with their daughter and gifting their life savings of over 1 million yuan (approximately $140,000) to her.
“Money can’t compensate for her loss, but it represents our heartfelt intentions and is her father’s last wish,” she told Tide News.
Relying on hope and support: Armed with limited clues, including her daughter’s birth name, a red birthmark on her left arm and a lead from 1991 suggesting her daughter was living in Beijing’s Haidian district, Wang is exhausting all efforts to find her.
Wang’s story has resonated deeply with people across China, who have expressed overwhelming support for her search.
In addition to using the show as a platform to spread awareness, Wang has also provided her DNA sample to the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau in hopes that improvements in missing person search databases can aid her decades-long search.
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