adoptee reunited with biological parents

The Secret Letter

 
 
 

Vocabulary

adopt abortion meet/met/met
adopt over there see/saw/seen
tummy heart (2) come/came/come
curious guess (2) run/ran/run (2)
severe farewell bring/brought/brought
policy force (2) bring it up (3)
fine (2) steep (2) biological parents
penalty pregnant sterilization (2)
abort feel sorry feel/felt/felt (2)
afford prepare should have
hug for a while hold/held/held (2)
cry probably forgiveness
kiss orphanage give/gave/given
birth point (3) write/wrote/written
choice abandon choose/chose/chosen
bridge sympathy meet/met/met
request heartfelt break/broke/broken
hope obviously know/knew/known
gently give away keep/kept/kept (2)
fear sound (2) grow/grew/grown
still (2) disappoint let me down (2)
pain go through uncontrollably
beg (2) off running throw/threw/thrown
care stuck (2) overwhelming
poverty sense of lose/lost/lost
dearly fulfilling contentment
exist

 
 
 
 
 

Video: The Biological Parents

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Kati is traveling to China to meet her biological parents. They have been waiting to SEE HER FOR 20 YEARS

Lida, Biological Father: “I just saw her.”
Fenxiang, Biological Mother: “Which side?”
Lida, Biological Father: “Over there.”

Kati Pohler: “I was adopted from China when I was a year old.
Mrs. Pohler, Mother: “She asked me whose tummy she came from. ‘Did I come from your tummy?’ And I said, ‘No, you didn’t come from my tummy. You came from a lady’s tummy in China. But you came from my heart. You were born of my heart.’

And she was off running, doing something else.

That was all she needed to know, and she was happy with that.”

Kati Pohler: “I guess there were times I was curious, but it never really got brought up.”
 
 
A ONE-CHILD POLICY

The penalties for having more than one child were severe, including steep fines, forced abortions and sterilization.

When Lida and Fenxiang got pregnant with their second child in 1994,

Biological Father: “I would’ve felt so sorry if we had aborted her. I thought that even if we couldn’t afford to raise her, we could give her away.

On the morning of the third day after she was born, I prepared her milk, I held her and hugged her for a while.

Then I walked to the market.

She didn’t cry. She was asleep.

I kissed her gently. I knew it was the final farewell.
 
 
Ken and Ruth traveled from Michigan to China to adopt a baby girl.

They called her KATI.

Mr. Pohler, Father: “The orphanage gave us a document written in Chinese. And it was a message from the birth parents.”

Lida, Biological Father: “Because of poverty and other problems, we had to choice but to abandon our little girl on the street.

If you have sympathy for us parents, please meet us on the Broken Bridge in Hangzhou in ten or twenty year’s time.”

Mr. Pohler, Father: “A heartfelt request to us.”

Lida, Biological Father: “Since 2004, I have visited the Broken Bridge every year. I knew there wasn’t much hope, but I still kept waiting.
 
 
Kati didn’t know any of this until last year, 20 years after she was born.

Kati Pohler: “Growing up, I never really asked questions. I asked my mum, ‘What do you know about my adoption?’ One time in the car.

And she was like, ‘Oh yeah, there’s something we probably should’ve told you a long time ago.’

I was like, ‘Oh, this sounds interesting.’

I think my biggest fear in meeting my biological family is that somehow, I’ll disappoint them more. In a lot of ways, obviously, they feel like they’ve let me down.

But I also know how much pain they have gone through.”

Lida, Biological Father: “What can I say to her when we meet? Would it help to say ‘sorry?’

No. Ten thousand sorries would not be enough.”
 
 
Kati and her birth family are finally meeting on the Broken Bridge.

Fenxiang, Biological Mother: “I will absolutely and uncontrollably throw myself at her and beg for her forgiveness.”

Lida, Biological Father: “I just saw her.”
Fenxiang, Biological Mother: “Which side?”
Lida, Biological Father: “Over there.”

Fenxiang, Biological Mother: “Finally, I’ve seen you! Mum is so sorry! I’ve finally seen you!

You look so much like your mum, but you don’t understand what I’m saying.

Come Baby, let’s go home.”

Kati Pohler: “They were stuck. They were stuck in a system that was broken. I think there was just a lot of small moments where I just saw how much they really cared.”

Mr. Pohler, Father: “We love her dearly, and she knows that. We haven’t lost anything today. We haven’t lost anything at all.

I’m just happy for her.”

Mrs. Pohler, Mother: “I’m just happy that she’s come to this point. I just hope there’s a sense of peace and contentment with her.”

Kati Pohler: “It was good in different ways for us, but for me it was definitely fulfilling.

The love is almost overwhelming. I know my adoptive parents love me, and now I have this whole other love that I never knew exited, but I guess was always there.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

1. Kati visited China to see the Great Wall and Forbidden City. True or false?

2. “You didn’t come from my tummy . . . But you came from my heart.” Who said this? What did she mean by that?” Did Kati hug Mrs. Pohler?

3. In China (from 1979 to 2015), did the government encourage large families? Could couple have as many children as they wanted?

4. Did Lida and Fenxiang raise their second child at home? Why did they give Kati up for adoption? Was Lida happy to give her up for adoption?

5. Lida had written a letter to Kati’s adoptive parents. Is this correct or incorrect? What did the letter say?

6. What happened twenty years later? How did Kati’s biological mother and father feel?

7. Did Kati remain in China with her biological parents?

 

A. I have friends who had been adopted. I know some people who had been adopted. Yes or no?

B. Is adoption common in your city or country? Why is there adoption? Who adopts whom?

C. Who are some famous adoptees?

D. Are there many couple who would like to adopt children, and many orphans who need a family?

E. Are there any controversies surrounding adoption?

F. All adopted children are curious about their past and roots. True or false?

G. What may happen in the future?
 
 
 
 
 

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