In this episode of Color Shift, we sit down with Abby, a Chinese adoptee who has recently begun the vulnerable process of “coming out of the fog.”

Abby was supposedly found as an infant at a train station in China and adopted to Alaska at about 14 months old. Growing up as an only child in a family that traveled and lived internationally, she always knew she was adopted—but for years, she distanced herself from her Asian identity and kept her story at arm’s length. It wasn’t until recently that Abby began unpacking what adoption truly means for her, and with that, all the emotions and realizations that come with it.

In our conversation, Abby reflects on her childhood, the complexities of denying and then reclaiming identity, and the tender, sometimes disorienting work of beginning to see adoption through a new lens. Her honesty reminds us that the adoptee journey is not linear—and that stepping into truth often happens in layers, at the right time.

This is a story about awakening, self-recognition, and the courage it takes to start asking deeper questions.

Find Abby on:

IG: @globalabby

Blog: https://www.justthisamateurwriter.com

Helpful Chinese adoptee based links

• Chinese Adoptee Collective Conference https://chineseadopteecollective.com/
• Nanchang project: https://www.nanchangproject.com/
• Chinese Children International: https://chinaschildreninternational.org/
• International Child Search Alliance: https://www.icsachina.org/

Book recs

• Messages From an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran
• One Child by Mei Fong
• The Primal Wound by Nancy Newton

Documenterie recs.

• Meet me at the bridge: Youtube
• Somewhere Between: Youtube
• Found: Netflix
• One Child Nation: Amazon Prime

Support the show

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

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If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com