Harry Potter, Annie, Batman, and those three adorable girls from Despicable Me. What do they have in common? They all have a profound lack of biological parents. I find myself socially compartmentalized in their box filled with orphans, adopted children, and other youthful creatures without parents. I was adopted from China when I was five months old and I have lived in America ever since. After eighteen years of living in America, I have found that orphans and adopted children are depicted in a very specific way that affects the general population’s perception of them. Most exposure to adopted and orphaned children comes from the media which has developed a very specific “orphan trope”. This involves a child who is obsessed with the thought of their biological parents and an incessant yearning for what they consider to be a normal family. These characters are typically sent on a quest of some sort and their lives reach fulfillment once they find their true family. As a child, I thought it was my destiny to follow this path and abide to the characteristics of other orphans in the media. I had a heightened attention towards asian women due to the small voice telling me that there is a possibility that she could be my mother even though she would most likely be found on the other side of the planet.

Growing up, I have seen a variety of reactions when I admit that I am adopted. I am typically asked if I can speak Chinese, if I remember anything from there, and above all, whether or not I have met my biological parents. At first, I did think I would be able to meet my biological parents some day. If Harry Potter and Coraline could connect with their parents, then why shouldn’t I be able to as well? Conversely, I found it to be hard to connect with my adopted family because I thought that there would be a “real” family waiting out there for me like Rapunzel and the Prince of Egypt. I would dream of the day where a government agency would take me away and tell me that I was a princess of some foreign country and I could leave my mundane life forever while being reunited with my biological family.

Fighting the stigma of adopted children was challenging at first. In time, I realized that the media portrayed adopted and orphaned children inaccurately and that my life was not destined to be some great adventure based on the conditions of my birth. I have learned to accept the fact that I have a unique past that sometimes surprises people when I explain that I am adopted. I have learned that familial ties are not only by blood and that I am grateful for the family that I have because there is no other that can replace it. I know that I don’t look like my parents, but that doesn’t prevent me from loving them just as much. In reality, I am just as normal as everyone else and I shouldn’t allow myself to be defined by my difference like the media portrays. Being adopted is something that has given me incredible insight and allows me to see the world through a different lens that helps me be more understanding and compassionate towards those who may also be defined by their differences. 

Meredith Biechele

Sophomore studying Mechanical Engineering