US Family Reunion: What It Meant to Laura Squire

In a photograph taken at Mother’s Love in Nanning, China, two babies sit side-by-side. Neither could know that nearly 30 years later, on the other side of the world, they would meet again. 

Born in 1995, Laura was one of the 1,500 babies cared for at Mother’s Love, a 20-year project led by Kit Ying Chan who was also the first local volunteer at Mother’s Choice in 1987. Created in response to the issue of infant abandonment at the time, Mother’s Love provided a loving home for children without families. A year later, Laura was adopted by an American family and grew up in the Midwest. 
 
Like many internationally adopted children, Laura began to wonder more about her roots and started her years-long journey. In high school, she made her first trip back to Nanning, arranged through an outside organisation, but struggled to connect with the other adoptees who were much younger than her.  

Several years later, Laura returned with her parents and reconnected with Kit Ying. Using a photo Laura had brought, Kit Ying tracked down the foster mother who had cared for her as a baby. Her foster mother knew immediately which baby she was, recognising the ring she wore in the photo. Before Laura left China, she received one last gift: that same ring, which she still wears around her neck to this day. 
 
After this second trip, Laura felt ready to explore deeper into her past and began her root tracing journey in search of her birth family. Around the same time, Kit Ying published Hidden Treasures: A Letter to the Children of Mother’s Love, Guangxi, China which included Laura’s story as a baby. It would take Laura four years before she could finish reading the book and fully process the weight of it. During these years of searching and reflection, she also accepted that she would likely never find her birth family. 

But her journey did not end there.  

While visiting Hong Kong for her 30th birthday, Laura attended a gathering for adult adoptees. This experience sparked her desire to connect with more adult adoptees and learn the full story of Mother’s Choice and Mother’s Love. So when she heard that Mother’s Choice was hosting a US family reunion across four states, she knew she wanted to be part of it. She signed up for every location and offered to support the team as a volunteer with event logistics and to help build connections among attendees. 

One of those connections proved especially meaningful. 

During the reunion in Montrose, Kit Ying showed Laura the photo of herself as a baby sitting beside another baby at Mother’s Love. She then told Laura she would soon meet this baby, now an adult.  

“I’ve met other Mother’s Love adoptees,” Laura says, “but meeting someone I was sitting right next to in a photo when we were babies was really cool.” 

For Laura, the family reunion helped fill a missing piece of her story. “Once I told myself I would never find my birth family, my mindset shifted to who else I could connect with who was part of my story. On this trip, I found a second family that I get to hang out with and get to know.”  

Adoptees created WhatsApp groups to stay in touch, and Laura plans to keep those relationships growing. “I told them, even if I’m just travelling through, I’ll message them: ‘Hey, I’m in your city. Do you want to grab dinner?’” 

Her advice to fellow adoptees is simple:  

“Everyone is on their separate journey with their adoption identity, but I think it just takes time. It took me 31 years to get to a place where I was ready to search for my birth family, reflect on myself and know what I want. It’s okay that people are on different paths and timelines. There’s no right time.”