When asked about her decision, Gao reflects, ‘I’ve made peace with my past and need to know where my roots are’
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenZoey ZhangPublished: 6:10pm, 4 Aug 2026Updated: 6:14pm, 4 Aug 2026A woman from eastern China, abandoned at birth, has returned with her Swedish adoptive parents to reunite with her birth family after 23 years.
Known as Lisa in media reports, she was born in Huaiyuan county, Anhui province. Mainland media reported that a midwife took her away shortly after her birth in 2003, with her impoverished parents’ consent, after assuring them they could not afford to raise her.
However, four days later, the midwife abandoned the baby outside a stadium in another city. The girl was discovered suffering from an inguinal hernia.
Local police placed her in a children’s welfare home, where she was given the name Gao Jianquan, a homophone of a phrase meaning “in good health.”
It remains unclear whether the midwife was ever held accountable for her actions.
