Hi! My name is Heather Nguyen and I was born sometime in the summer of 1974 at the tail end of the Viet Nam war. I don’t know where I was born or how I came to be found, but I was. I spent the first 9 months of my life in Vietnamese orhpanages before being evacuated with hundreds of other children out of the country during Operation Babylift. I was adopted into a Caucasian family in rural Canada where I was one of only a few non-whites in a 60+ mile radius. Actually, to be truthful – it was more like a few hundred miles.
I’m now living in the large multicultural city of Montreal, Quebec and working as an ESL teacher and editor. I’m a big reader and am a passionate advocate of an ethical diet and proper nutrition as a means of healing indivduals, communities and the planet.
Over the last number of years I have spent a lot of time talking with parents about my experiences growing up transracially adopted and how that has affected me as a child and now as an adult. I am excited to do the same here with Juli and JoLynn and you because it is truly one of the most satisfying things I have ever done.
1 Comment
November 24, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Hi Heather,
My name is Marc Griebel, and I am currently researching a documentary for Picture This Productions, an award-winning, Montreal based production company. We are presently in the beginning stages of a documentary which would hope to follow a few Chinese adoptee women (15-17) on their first trip back to China since being adopted. We are in the process of seeking out such participants, as well as looking to gain any further information on the issue.
As someone who is an active voice in the transracial adoption community I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to how to get in contact with such women, or if you knew of any resources/people that I may speak to.
I can be reached at marc@picturethis.ca, or called at 514.484.1145.
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you,
Marc Griebel
Researcher