Adoptee Story: Christina Williams

May 3, 2019

Adoptee Story:

Christina Williams, born in India, adopted to the US

Intro: Christina Williams, fellow transnational, transracial adoptee shares her story with us. She has found guidance out of the fog through her writing and blogging. Her story is similar to my own although we are adopted from countries on opposite sides of the earth… Read Christina’s story in her own words…

“My name is Christina Williams and I am a transracial international adoptee. I was born in Akola, Maharashtra, India in October 1987 and adopted through Holt International in December 1988. My file says I was found abandoned behind the District Collector’s bungalow in Akola, just a few days old. I don’t know my actual birthday or how much time passed from the time I was abandoned to the time I was found by police.

Once found, I was produced before Juvenile Court and committed as an unclaimed child. I remained under that status for six months waiting to be adopted by any Indian family. During those six months, I was housed at a government-run home called Shishu Sadan. Around 2 months old (late November 1987), I was placed at Preet Mandir, an orphanage located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. In May 1988, I developed measles and was admitted to a local hospital with bronchopneumonia. I was discharged in September 1988 – 4 months later. In October 1988, I began to walk by myself. While in the hospital, the government of Maharashtra granted unconditional release of me from the commitment of the Juvenile Court, clearing me for intercountry adoption.

In December 1988, I flew on an airplane from Pune, Maharashtra, India, to Chicago, Illinois, USA to meet my new adoptive parents. I made the trip with four other female infants from the same area, two of which I have recently met in person (and was one of the most fulfilling moments of my life).

I, unfortunately, don’t have any information about my first parents, but I have completed DNA work through many DNA sites in the hopes of one day connecting with an immediate family member or first or second cousin.

Around the time of turning 30 years old, I started blogging about my adoption. Once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. My words were honest, transparent and heavy. I was coming out of the adoption fog through my writing. I found myself grieving the loss of my first family, exploring all the impacts adoption has had on my life and trying to understand who I am apart from my adoptive family. I love to write and have found it to be the best and healthiest way to express my feelings towards my adoption. Speaking of which, my feelings toward adoption are very much a grey area. On one end, I am grateful for what I have because of adoption, but on the other, I am not grateful in the slightest for my adoption itself. Adoption doesn’t mean a better life; it means a different life – and who am I, or honestly who is anyone to say that my life is significantly better because of my adoption?

As a transracial international adoptee, not only did I lose my first family, but I lost my culture; my roots in all aspects were severed. It is incredibly sad to think that my foundation is so unstable, yet I am resilient enough to continue building upon it, discovering who I am and embracing the culture that I lost. I am very determined to use my voice as an adoptee to help more adoptee voices be heard. Every adoptee has a story, and we should be able to tell it. I blog about my adoption journey at iamchristinaw.wordpress.com. I hope most that transracial international adoptees like me will find my words to provide some comfort in knowing they are not alone in how they feel, and that despite what anyone says, they are enough.”

Written by
Christina Williams

You can find Christina and connect with her on her blog HERE.

Amanda Medina

I was adopted from Medellin, Colombia to Sweden in 1985. I was about a year and a half when I started my life as an adoptee, and it would take 32 years until I was ready to face what that means, what that has always meant, and what that will always mean.