Youxian, Hunan, China --> New England
Hey everyone! My name is Olivia, and I am from Hunan, China. Specifically, I was adopted from Youxian. I was born in August 2003 and adopted in September 2004. I was left at the front of a computer store at around 3-months-old before I was taken to the orphanage. We actually have a picture of the newspaper where my picture and information was listed along with other babies found around the same time as me. I was adopted with a group of six other girls and we called our group "The Youxian Sisters." Until we turned 13, we would meet up annually since being adopted. I have lived in New England, and in 2011 my parents adopted two other children from India. With three kids, two from India and one from China, we are a very diverse family. However, our town growing up was not diverse at all. We were three of the handful of people of color in our entire school district, which came with its ups and downs.
"I have gone through phases of being open about being adopted and then, all of a sudden, being very vague and ignoring that side of myself."
My experience with fully understanding and coming to terms with being adopted has been a slow process. I have gone through phases of being open about being adopted and then, all of a sudden, being very vague and ignoring that side of myself. I can say now that a huge part of my growth has been accounts, where other adoptees share their stories! I think that accounts like these and adoption stories should pop up on people's feed just as much as product ads and celebrity sponsored posts, because you never know who might benefit from hearing someone's adoption story.
Now, I am attending undergraduate university as a psychology major with an honors minor. I love being an activist in any way I can, whether that be for racial justice, women's rights, or LGBTQ+ rights. I am now very open with my adoption story, as well with as bringing my perspective to the table as a woman of color. I love music both performing and listening; I was a choir and band kid in middle and high school. I also love thrifting, coffee and binging TV shows. I hope you enjoyed getting to know me, and feel free to reach out! I can't wait to see more of your stories!
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[Description: A white background with a grid of photos of Olivia. Three of them are her as an adult, and one is her as a little kid. Large text says "Olivia Ferriter, Hunan, China." There are small dots of color at the left side of the image for decoration.]