Man reunites with rich parents after separated from birth, growing up poor
MANILA, Philippines — A man in China reunited with his wealthy biological parents over 30 years since he was thought to have died during his birth, when in fact he was stolen by his doctor.
Back in 1991, the rich Li couple entered a hospital in China's Zhejiang Province, expecting their second child to be born.
The baby was born prematurely and the doctor claimed the child did not survive the birth, however, the doctor instead took the child and gave him to relatives who were unable to have children of their own.
The child grew up to be Zhang Huaiyuan, living in poverty with a disabled "father" in the rural Anhui Province, which was 400 kilometers away from Zhejiang.
Zhang ended up dropping out of school at 17 to work in able to support his "parents," but after the "father" died from health complications last year, the "mother" finally admitted the truth.
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A year later, with a DNA test as confirmation, Zhang reunited with his biological parents with numerous embraces, a sash, two bouquets of flowers, and reportedly a bank card with 1.2 million yuan (P9.67 million) on it.
The biological father explained to local media that the first child was born via cesarean section, but the incision had not fully healed when the second child came along, reopening during the sixth month of pregnancy, hence the premature birth.
"At that time, I felt like the sky was falling and I couldn't even stand steadily. We didn't even see the child," said the father, as picked up by the United Kingdom's The Sun. "I don't know how the child has been through all these years, whether he has eaten well, whether he has been bullied, how hard it must be for a child without parents."
After the reunion, the Li couple went to Zhang's home to meet his wife and nine-year-old son, their grandson.