Man presumed dead for 30 years reunites with family
A man in China reunited with his birth parents who believed that he was already dead for more than three decades.
Zhang Huaiyuan, 33, was taken during his birth from his biological parents by the doctor who helped deliver him.
The doctor told his parents that Zhang did not survive the birth through cesarean section given that he was born prematurely and that his birth mother faced complications with her incision from a previous pregnancy.
He was instead given to a relative of the director of the hospital who was not able to conceive a child.
Zhang was then raised in a rural village in Anhui province in Eastern China, which was 400 kilometers away from Zhejiang province where his birth family resides.
Zhang's adoptive parents, already in their 50s when they adopted him, faced financial hardship due to his adoptive father's disability. This led to a heart-wrenching decision for Zhang to drop out of school at 17 and find work to support the family.
Despite growing up in poverty, Zhang displayed a remarkable aptitude for business, seemingly mirroring his biological parents' talent, who were wealthy merchants in their province. This skill eventually led him to own a small factory.
In 2023, with the passing of his adoptive father, Zhang's adoptive mother revealed a life-altering truth: he was adopted. DNA tests confirmed what she confessed – Zhang was actually the son of the wealthy Li family.
Li Shijie, his birth father, recalled the day of Zhang’s birth.
“We didn't even see the child. My wife was under general anesthesia at the time and didn't know anything,” he said in a report by The Sun.
Last May, Zhang met his biological parents for the first time with the help of the police. He was the family’s second child.
In a video shared by The Sun, his birth family welcomed him with open arms as they shared tears.
Overwhelmed, Zhang's birth father, Li Shijie, gave him a bank card containing 1.2 million Yuan (P9.7 million).
“My poor child lived for over 30 years not knowing his birthday. This year, our family will finally celebrate it together,” he said, as reported by South China Morning Post.
The Li’s have recently visited Tianjin in Eastern China where Zhang resides and met Zhang’s wife and son.