Christian Norris, of Easton, Maryland was adopted from China at age seven. At the time of his adoption, he was living in the orphanage, but he still had memories of his first family and his village. At age 14, Christian shared with his mother, Julia Norris, his hope to contact his birthfamily. The search began, and in 2009, with the aid of a Chinese organization called Baby Come Home, Christian Norris' birthfamily was found. Due to his birthmother's illness, a reunion trip was planned quickly, and Christian and his mother made the trip to China. in August.
During the trip, they found out details of Christian's early life. The people who he thought were his birthparents were truly his aunt and uncle. He was the second child born to his birthparents,and to avoid being punished according to the one child policy in China, his birthparents asked the aunt and uncle raise Christian. When Christian was six, he was returned to his birthparents to attend school, but he was so unhappy he asked to go back with the family who had raised him. Christian was scheduled to go back to the village, and his birthfather took him to the bus station, and in the crowd, Christian was separated from his birthfather. When Christian was found by police he was put into an orphanage, since it was assumed he was abandoned. The family searched for him, but to no avail.
The reunion of Christian with his birthfamily was very emotional, and during family visits during the Norris' stay in China, his grandmother would not let go of his hand. Various international news organizations such as CNN covered the event of the reunion, showing the birthparents and extended family overcome with emotion.
The future of Christian Norris' relationship with his bithfamily is perhaps confusing and unclear, since the family in China talked of him returning to China, while Christian no longer speaks Mandarin and has an established life in the United Sates. But this story shows that many adoptees do wonder about their birthfamily, and can have amazing results when they search for information about their beginnings.
For specific details about the Norris' trip to China, their blog can be followed at : http://afamilyreunited.blogspot.com
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