Parrie Liu Miao

Hello! My name is Parrie Liu and I am a college student in north Texas.

Currently, I am studying biology and I want to be a pediatric radiologist. Since I have a disability, I think that I could relate better to patients  than others who do not have a disability.

In my spare time, I like to hang out with friends, eat Asian foods, do hand lettering, and watch Netflix. My family is very big and my parents adopted from China before I was adopted [Parrie has an older sister, also adopted from China]. I was adopted at around 3.5 years old from Changsha first social welfare centre. In China, my name was Liu Miao 刘苗.

I do not remember China, but recently I have gotten the chance to learn about my time in the orphanage. This past spring, I got in contact with one of the workers from the orphanage. She has been able to tell me things that I didn't know about my past. Since I started contact with her, I have been becoming involved with the adoption community.

I read articles about adoption topics online or blog, talk with adoptees via texting, and I have started sharing my adoption story/thoughts. In my article on No Hands But Ours, I said that adoption is like a coin. A coin has two sides and adoption has two sides.  There should not be more focus on one side than the other. Both sides should have equal attention. There are so many wonderful things involved with adoption; but there are struggles involved too.

Adoption has given me the opportunity to be a daughter, to be loved, and to share a story.

Parrie's essay about adoption can be found here: http://www.nohandsbutours.com/2016/07/23/adoption-looking-sides-coin/

Story published October 2016