Chinese woman finds birth mother after 30 years through livestream encounter

A Chinese woman was reunited with her birth mother after recognizing her during a livestream.

A 32-year-old woman named Yan, from Zhejiang, China, was scrolling through Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) when she came across a woman with an uncanny resemblance to her in a livestream.

Xu, known online as “Searching for my Second Daughter,” has used social media since 2022 to look for her missing child and to assist others in tracing their families, the South China Morning Post reported.

Adopted as a child, Yan grew up with caring parents but never lost hope of finding her biological family. Once Yan saw the livestream, she felt an instant connection and typed into the chat: “I might be your daughter.”

52-year-old Xu urged her to contact the police. Authorities then arranged DNA testing, which later confirmed their mother-daughter relationship.

Xu, still recovering from an injury in Jiangxi province, travelled with her family to Zhejiang, where they reunited at a police station. Both women wept as they embraced for the first time in 30 years. Yan also met her biological siblings during the reunion.

According to Xu, financial struggles led to Yan being placed under the care of her aunt before her husband’s mother arranged for the girl to live with a childless couple. After that couple had their own children, they abandoned Yan outside a government office, resulting in her eventual adoption by another family less than 10 kilometers away.

“I have finally realized my long-time wish,” Xu said following the reunion. Yan has not yet shared whether she plans to live with her birth family as of writing.

China’s national DNA-based search system has reunited more than 11,000 missing children with their families since its June 2022.