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News
2023-07-11
American trafficking victim back in Taiwan to find birth parents
Kuo Reese (郭慧如), an American flight paramedic who might have been the victim of a Taiwanese children trafficking ring in the early 1980s, on Thursday appealed for the public's help in finding her birth parents.
2023/07/07 [Focus Taiwan]
American trafficking victim back in Taiwan to find birth parents
Taipei, July 7 (CNA) Kuo Downing-Reese (郭慧如), an American flight paramedic who might have been the victim of a Taiwanese children trafficking ring in the early 1980s, on Thursday appealed for the public's help in finding her birth parents.
"Ni hao, my name is Kuo Downing-Reese," the suspected victim said over a pre-recorded message featured on her YouTube mini-documentary. "I am adopted from Taipei, Taiwan. I am one of the Julie Chu Babies and I am looking for my birth family."
Accompanied by her adopted mother Mary Reese, Kuo Downing-Reese has returned to Taiwan after a lengthy journey in an attempt to locate the birth family she was separated from due to the involvement of the very "Julie Chu" which she mentioned in her mini-documentary on the video streaming site, made by Taiwan-born New York filmmaker Cheng Hsi (程熙).
At the press conference organized by the Child Welfare League Foundation, Reese disclosed the Chinese name and age on her registration papers.
She also revealed her identifying features and physical characteristics to assist with her pursuit, exposing a mole located on the back of her neck.
Kuo Reese (郭慧如), an American flight paramedic who might have been the victim of a Taiwanese children trafficking ring in the early 1980s, on Thursday appealed for the public's help in finding her birth parents.
Reese said she initially wasn't optimistic at all about finding her birth parents.
As private companies that provide genetic testing to help clients locate relatives is not a common service in Taiwan, Reese said her search over sites such as Ancestry.com and 23&me had proven unfruitful, further diminishing her hopes.
However, after a number of adoptees who shared her plight reported success in reuniting with their families in Taiwan, Reese said she became hopeful and decided to embark on her own campaign.
She went on to explain that the reason why she wanted to find her biological family is simply just to have the chance to know them.
If she has to go home empty handed, Reese said she will try to use the opportunity of this trip to get to know Taiwan and its people better.
Julie Chu Babies
Although Reese provided Taiwanese media with her birth information, the details might prove unhelpful due to her status as a suspected victim of "Julie Chu."
Chu, more commonly known in Taiwan as Chu Li-ching (褚麗卿), was a law clerk who had been arrested as the suspected leader of a children trafficking ring that was exposed in 1982.
Through her law expertise, Chu was alleged to be the middleperson who helped families in Western countries such as the United States, Australia, Finland and Sweden adopt children from Taiwan.
The families were all made aware of the adoption opportunities through Chu's coconspirator who was a British lawyer based in Thailand.
After the families arrived in Taiwan, it was Chu's job to take the parents through the process of adoption.
However, not all of the Taiwanese parents who gave up their children were who they claimed to be.
It was found that a large number of children adopted through Chu were either given up by their birth parents or even abducted at an early age.
To legalize the status of those toddlers, Chu was suspected to have hired people to pose as birth parents alongside retaining the services of medical professionals to forge birth certificates and names of children, going as far as to sometimes combining two children up under a pair of fake parents to be passed off as twins.
As a result of the falsification, it is unknown whether or not Reese could have been either a victim or a child who was legally put up for adoption.
If Reese is a victim, her name and birth date could have all been created out of thin air, proving unhelpful to her search.
For her involvement in the ring, Chu was convicted and served time for forgery, and maintains her innocence in kidnappings and the ring to this day, saying that she is only guilty of falsifying papers to help orphans get a better life.
On Chu, Reese said she has been aware that the former was involved in her adoption.
Reese said she has mixed feelings towards Chu, saying that while Chu stripped her of her identity and story, she was also given the chance to meet a mother who loves her.
At the presser on Thursday, Child Welfare League Foundation's Executive Director Pai Li-fang (白麗芳) said the foundation has assisted in over a thousand adoptions, which means that it fully understands the desires of adoptees wanting to find their biological families.
Aside from Reese, the foundation also presented the information of two other Taiwan-born women whose adoption was mediated by Chu.
Both women, Sabina (范嫚倫) and Kimbra (陳信惠), have attempted to find their biological families in Taiwan to no avail.
News from: Focus Taiwan