Kim Hoa always carries with her documents proving her origins in order to find her mother – Photo: TAM LE
With tears welling up in her eyes, Kim Hoa sobbed on her long journey to find her mother, which had lasted for many months: "One day, who knows, maybe a miracle will bring us together. I'm still waiting day and night for that miracle, Mom."
The girl with jet-black hair sat in front of me with a stack of papers proving her Vietnamese ancestry. Although she didn't speak Vietnamese fluently, Kim Hoa (commonly known as Kim) could understand what Vietnamese people were saying.
If Mom reads this, I want her to know that I've been raised as she wished. Now, my wish is to see her, and I also hope she's living happily.
KIM HOA
I went searching for my mother, hoping to see her one last time.
"I started learning Vietnamese when I realized I was Vietnamese. I learned through YouTube, so I couldn't speak it very well. Since returning to Vietnam about a year ago, my Vietnamese has improved," Kim Hoa boasted, adding that she can now drive her motorbike to the meeting place on her own.
All the information Kim Hoa had about her mother included: a handwritten note from her mother leaving her child at Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital after birth; her birth certificate; a notification from the hospital stating that the baby needed to be adopted; an adoption record with a 3x4 photo of Kim at birth, signed by three parties: the hospital director, her adoptive parents, and the Hanoi People's Committee; and a commitment letter from the Swedish couple agreeing to adopt her.
In a handwritten note sent to the hospital, Kim Hoa's mother stated that her name was Nguyen Thi Hoan, 18 years old, from Nguyen Trai commune, Thuong Tin district, former Ha Son Binh province. She gave birth to Nguyen Thi Kim Hoa on July 10, 1990, and due to lack of resources to raise her, she asked the hospital to help care for her.
The petition was written and signed on the same day Kim Hoa was born.
Kim Hoa's birth certificate, issued by the Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, has both her father's and mother's names and addresses crossed out. Two pieces of information in the hospital's notification to the Foreign Affairs Department are noteworthy: Kim's mother stated that she gave birth to the child out of wedlock at the age of 18 and lived in Pho Lu, Bao Thang District, Hoang Lien Son Province (now Lao Cai ).
In the adoption papers, the Swedish couple stated that the husband is Uef Grundel, born in 1949, an organizational and management consultant. The wife, Eva Hof, born in 1952, is an office assistant and resides in Jerfalla, Sweden.
"For over 30 years, I've been fortunate to be cared for by my adoptive parents and to receive an education. I just want to see my biological mother, and if she's living happily, I won't bother her or disrupt her life," Kim Hoa expressed.
Kim Hoa was taken to Lao Cai by her close friend Dinh Thu Thuy to find her mother.
Join a Vietnamese friend in searching for his mother amidst a sea of people.
Kim Hoa recounted that her adoptive parents had taken her back to Vietnam for many trips , and as she grew older, she felt a deeper connection to her roots, the maternal love, and began thinking about how to find her mother.
When she returned to her hometown in 2009, at the age of 20, she stayed for five months hoping to find her mother.
She volunteered at the No. 2 Labor Education Center (Ba Vi, Hanoi) – where children infected with HIV receive care and treatment. At the same time, she worked online for the non-governmental organization Save The Children, choosing to help underprivileged children as her source of happiness.
In early 2023, she asked her adoptive parents for permission to return to Vietnam permanently to find her biological mother. She rented a room in Truc Bach, Ba Dinh district (Hanoi) to study Vietnamese, learn to ride a motorbike, and look for part-time work.
Luckily, she met some dedicated Vietnamese friends who helped Kim drive around everywhere asking for information about her mother.
Her best friend, Dinh Thu Thuy, shared: "Knowing about her plan to find her mother, and knowing she doesn't speak Vietnamese well, I arranged my work schedule to go with her."
First, they both went to Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. They brought all their documents to ask the hospital to help them find Kim Hoa's records, but after a while of searching, the person in charge of document archiving gave them the sad news that Kim Hoa's records could not be found.
This person said that the hospital's adoption procedure only required the same documents that Kim Hoa already had. The hospital staff who handled the procedure at the time have since retired or transferred to other positions. This person enthusiastically promised to let her know if they found any information.
They both drove back to the Central Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital to be sure, but there was no information there either.
Upon arriving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they were told that Kim's file was no longer on file and introduced a translator from the 1990s. Initially pleased, they were immediately disappointed to find that she was over 80 years old and her memory was inconsistent.
"Kim Hoa met her, but she remembers that she only worked as an interpreter for the Foreign Affairs Department, her adoptive parents, and the hospital, and didn't meet Kim Hoa's biological mother," Thuy recounted.
With no information about their mother, they boarded a train to Pho Lu (Lao Cai). The trip in the autumn of 2023 lasted 4 days and 3 nights. The two friends rented motorbikes to visit the locations they had identified, such as the police station, the neighborhood leader's office, and the school.
At the household registration office of the Pho Lu Police Station, Kim Hoa nervously brought out all her documents to present.
Thuy asked the police to search their archives to see if there was any information about a woman named Nguyen Thi Hoan, born around 1972-1973, from Nguyen Trai commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi... The answer was still that there was no matching information.
Undeterred, they drove to the oldest school on Lu Street, where the archive staff were very helpful, but still there was no information about Kim's mother.
“There was no one named Kim Hoa’s mother on the list. They said that name only belonged to people from the lowlands, and that perhaps Kim Hoa’s mother had moved to the highlands with her grandparents to participate in the new economic development program. They took both of our phone numbers and promised to notify us immediately if they had any information,” Thuy said, and then led her friend to the neighborhood committee to meet the former police officer, but they still couldn’t get any positive results.
Upon returning to Hanoi, because Thuy was busy, Kim Hoa hired an interpreter to drive her by motorbike to Nguyen Trai commune, Thuong Tin district, to continue searching for her mother. After two trips, she recorded eight phone numbers of village heads in her notebook.
Thủy ran back to sit beside Kim Hoa and called all eight village chiefs one by one, but received the same answer: they didn't know. They said that if they had more information about relatives or family members, the search would be more effective.
These are the handwritten notes of Kim Hoa's mother.
I decided to stay in Vietnam to find my mother.
“I planned to stay in Vietnam for six months to find my mother, but I’ve been here for over a year already. I see my future in my homeland and want to live my life here,” Kim Hoa said, her eyes welling up with tears.
Her adoptive parents also agreed with their adopted daughter's decision. Although they are now elderly, besides Kim Hoa, they have also adopted a younger brother, so she feels reassured.
"Sweden offers more opportunities for life, but like other adopted children from different countries, I can confidently say that my culture, language, nature, food, music, family, and roots are far more important than Western wealth," Kim Hoa shared.
She also went to the Adoption Department of the Ministry of Justice, registered for the "Never Before We Were Separated" program (also known as "Speak Up"), and many other places, but still has no news of her mother.
"If Mom reads this, I want her to know that I've been raised as she wished. Now, my wish is to see her, and I also hope she's living happily."
"One day, who knows, maybe a miracle will bring us together. I'm still waiting day and night for that miracle," Kim Hoa confided to her mother.
Thủy suspected that Kim Hoa's mother might be hiding information and therefore giving incorrect names and hometowns.
"The paperwork was easy back then, maybe the information was incorrect. But Kim Hoa and I also asked if, in order to find her child, the Vietnamese mother could find the address of Kim Hoa's adoptive parents because their information is very clear," Thuy expressed.
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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/la-thu-viet-tay-va-tam-giay-khai-sinh-cua-co-gai-thuy-dien-di-tim-me-viet-20241206225148976.htm
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