From Mud To Bud
Hello! My name is Amelia.
I was adopted at 13 months from Yang Chun in China. I was a day old when I was abandoned from my birth parents and I was left in front of a middle school in the early hours of the morning. I was found by police shortly after and was taken to an orphanage a few blocks away where I was raised during that first year of my life. I don’t really remember anything prior to being adopted, but have heard stories from my caretaker who named me since I came into the orphanage nameless. I was named 荷花 (Héhuā), which means lotus flower in Chinese. My caretaker describes me as sweet, happy and fat hahaha! I was always smiling and loved to be held any chance I could. I was adopted in April of 1999, just shortly after my first birthday, by my loving parents. They had to wait about eight months to get me, and found out just a few months before traveling to China what I looked like.
Adoption is a beautiful thing. I was just one of 300 babies during that time in that orphanage. To think about all the other kids who don’t have a loving home right now breaks my heart. I hope one day to adopt children of my own and provide them with the same loving environment that my parents gave me. We went back to China as a family five years ago and visited the orphanage that was once my home. My caretaker, who is now the director, was there and I just cried the entire time as everything came full circle. ❤ My Chinese name is the perfect representation of me, since lotus flowers are rooted in mud (which Chinese consider dirty) and grow into a beautiful flower/bud. I am so fortunate I was chosen to be adopted and get this life here. I truly can’t imagine what life would be like back in China.
I have a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and information systems, and am employed by a company I love! It is surreal to think about where I am and where I could be. Adoption changes lives.