Serendipity (In Chinese “yuanfen") By Charlotte C.

In Chinese, the concept of yuanfen (缘分) is difficult to explain. It loosely translates to fate or serendipity. The concept behind it has to do with situations that one cannot seem to find an answer or an explanation for; they are just there. And the way that it turns out, the ambiguity is the beauty of it all.

For adopted children from China, I think it is fate that we ended up where are right now. Our birth parents gave us up, but somehow we seemed to find a life that was perfect for us. We cannot say how we ended up where we are, but we did. I think this is definitely yuanfen.

And to build on that, we have created an organization for adopted Children. We may not have anything else in common, but there is something intangible in being all adopted from China that pulls us together. It must also be yuanfen.

In the future, I believe that we can work wonders for our birth country and America too if we so want. It’s that luckiness that came with the circumstances of our birth that gives us the power to change the world. This must be yuanfen.