Some victims of childhood abduction spend years looking for their biological families after growing up. Photo: IC

When Li Zhongxiang got the phone call from police saying that they may have found his son, he didn't know what to think.

He had been searching for his son for more than 14 years, ever since the boy was abducted as a 6-month-old infant from their home in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. He had quit his job as a labor contractor and sold most of his property in order to devote his time to tracking down leads about his son's whereabouts. His search had taken him all over the country, but for all his persistence, he had not been able to find any trace of his boy.

So when Li, 39, was told by police that they had found his son in Shenzhen, where Li still resided, he recoiled.

"When the police asked me whether I wanted to come with them to where he was living, I refused," said Li. "I thought that if he had a good life already, if he was happy where he was living, he may not want to be disturbed." 

A paternity test was performed to confirm that the boy was indeed Li's biological son. The police told Li that his now 15-year-old son had dropped out of school, moved out of the house of the adoptive family who had bought him as an infant, and had fallen in with a group of delinquents and gangsters. He was working as a dishwasher to support himself. 

"That night, I couldn't sleep," Li recalls. "I had to see him and bring him home, so he could have a proper upbringing and finish his education."

The next day, Li went to see his son and asked him if he wanted to come home. The boy was living in a cramped small room, barely large enough to fit a single bed and a desk.

"His [biological] mother was very emotional, and I also started crying," said Li. "People thought I was crazy. But I never thought about giving up."

Zhang Binghu from Sichuan Province embraces his daughter, who was rescued in September after being abducted six years ago. Photo: CFP

Making up for lost time

Since the Ministry of Public Security declared a nationwide crackdown on child trafficking in 2009, police have rescued more than 54,000 children, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

In recent times, China's child trafficking problem has been well-documented. Although there are no comprehensive figures at present for how many children are abducted each year, a New York Times article in 2012 estimated that the number could be as high as 70,000. The article went on to say that abduction was especially prevalent in China's isolated rural areas, with the infants and toddlers who had been taken from their families sold off to unscrupulous orphanages, or directly to buyers. The majority of children abducted are boys, who are sold to buyers desperate for a male heir.  

According to Li, the man who took his son moved into their neighborhood several months before the abduction, and gained the family's trust. One afternoon, while the boy's mother was out getting water, the man entered Li's unlocked home, took the child to a village seven kilometers away from Li's house, and fled.     

Li's son was sold to a family that at the time had no male heir. But three years later, the mother of the family managed to conceive a son of her own, and he was sent instead to live with his adoptive family's grandparents.

It was only then that Li's son found out that the only parents he had any memory of were not his own.

"The grandparent told him that he was found abandoned in a rubbish heap," said Li. "But [the grandparent] were actually the one who put up the money to buy him."

Li's son developed a close relationship with the elderly couple. But after dropping out of primary school, he decided to move out on his own. Several months later, he was found by police, and then invited to live with his biological family.

As long and arduous a journey it was for Li to recover his son, it is only the beginning of a complicated process of reconciliation. Li's son has now been living with him for around one year.    

"During the first week, he didn't talk much," said Li. "I showed him evidence to prove that we never gave up on him. I reassured him that this is his home and that I would protect him."

Li and his wife also have two daughters and one son who were all born after their eldest son was abducted.

He said his eldest son is still somewhat shy and withdrawn in his interactions with his other family members, but he was confident that their relationship was moving in the right direction. "Our relationship is improving. The barrier is receding."

Juggling two families

For Li and other families reunited with their abducted children, one of the challenges that must be negotiated is the relationship with the adoptive family.

Most families in China who have had their children abducted do not blame the families who end up buying their children. Rather, their ire is directed mostly at the child traffickers, an attitude that is reflected in China's criminal law.

While child trafficking carries a penalty up to the death sentence in China, buying children that have been illegally procured carries no criminal penalty at all, so long as the child has not suffered abuse under the family's care, and does not try to prevent the child from returning to their biological family.

Although Li said he was "furious" with the family who illegally bought his son from child traffickers, Li also acknowledged that they had raised him, and Li accepted that his son had fostered a close relationship with them.

Li did not raise any objections when his son said he wanted to visit the elderly couple who brought him up. 

"His adoptive parents wouldn't let him set foot inside the house. They  hurled insults at him," said Li, who explained that they felt his son had betrayed them in choosing to return to his biological family. "It really hurt him."

In many cases, children who are abducted and sold end up developing close relationships with the families who bought them. 

Gong Zhantao, 23, met his biological family for the first time in May last year. He remembers being abducted as a 5-year-old, outside his rural school in Yunnan Province, while waiting for his older brother to walk him home from school. He was approached by a man, who told him he was a friend of his parents, and eventually sold to family in Fujian Province, who wanted a son.

Gong maintains a good relationship with his adoptive family.

"I have a vague childhood memory of being kidnapped, but I didn't know for sure what was going on," said Gong. "When I was around 10 years old, I started to have a strong desire to find out where I actually came from. But I never brought it up with the family I was living with, because I thought it would cause trouble for them."

When he turned 17, Gong moved to Sichuan Province, where he worked odd-jobs and started to take steps to find his biological parents. Last year, he finally managed to track them down, using a website that has been set up for reuniting abducted children with their biological parents, www.baobeihuijia.com.

Gong still hasn't told his adoptive family that he has met his biological parents, and has no intentions to.

"I don't want things to get complicated," he said. "I don't want my adoptive parents to think that I'll abandon them now that I've found my biological family," he said. Gong, who now runs his own shop selling bathroom equipment in Sichuan Province, stayed with his biological parents in Yunnan for nine days.  

"They looked different from what I remember. I didn't really understand what they were saying, because they don't speak Putonghua," he said. "But I could feel their strong emotion. I was moved."

Gong's biological parents asked Gong to invite his adoptive family to visit, in order to thank them for raising their son. According to Gong, his biological parents even suggested that his adoptive family should move in with them.

Gong's biological parents now call him once every month. He said he has plans to perhaps move back to Yunnan to spend more time with them, but he also feels a sense of affection and duty towards his adoptive family.

The hard road home 

Chu Zhaohui, an educationist with the National Institute of Education Sciences, said that it was often a difficult process for children who were abducted at a very young age and then reunited with their biological families many years later to adjust.

"Children tend to develop very close relationships with the people who are with them when they are little," he said. "For children who are reunited with their biological families when they're still younger than 14, it's easier for the biological family to find common ground again, by doing things together and communicating. But for older children, the road is harder and parents shouldn't have too high expectations about how close they can become."

Chu said that for older children, parents should let the children to decide which family they wish to stay with.

Despite the challenges ahead, Li is just happy to have his son back home.

"I'm trying to give him extra attention. I try to make sure he's looked after, and to give him money if he needs to buy anything," said Li. "I talk to him all the time. I want to let him know that we love him and I have high hopes for him."