Maria

Maria and her husband have two grown sons. Their daughter, Li-Hua, 13, traveled to China a year go with her brother, Paul, who is fluent in Mandarin. While there, the two kids made an impromptu decision to search for Li-Hua's birth parents.

What started then continues today. Two searches have been unsuccessful. Maria is determined to keep trying though, Li-Hua, at this stage in her life, is not particularly concerned about finding her biological family.

`It's been like that from Day One,` Maria says. `She is a little bit along for the ride, whatever will be, will be. I remember going up to tell her that this couple we thought would be the birth parents were not...Her reaction was 'I really don't care...I'll care about the people when I know they're my parents.'`

So, why search?

`By and large I think that if there's a really good emotional support system there, with the adoptive family, where the child feels really safe and loved, then I feel it would answer a question and it's up to my daughter if she wants to pursue those people or not. Maybe, if there's a sibling in the family, maybe a sibling will be eager to establish a relationship with her and then she'll know that there's a biological sibling and that she can have a connection,` Maria says.

The first part of Maria's interview was conducted at her home in Connecticut. The interview continued by phone.