Chinese man reunites with birth family 12 years after getting lost at railway station
After a 12-year quest, PhD graduate Gouming Martens has finally found his birth parents. When he was four years old, a Dutch couple adopted him.
After a 12-year quest, PhD graduate Gouming Martens has finally found his birth parents. When he was four years old, a Dutch couple adopted him from a Chinese orphanage. Many people on the internet have been inspired by his journey to discover his origins. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Gouming Martens became lost while traveling with his parents from their home in eastern China's Jiangsu province to his mother's hometown in southwestern Sichuan province in 1994, when he was only three years old.
Who adopted the lost Chinese man?
Jozef and Maria Martens, a Dutch couple adopted him | Image: Sydney Today
He was adopted by Jozef and Maria Martens, a Dutch couple, in 1996 after being placed in an orphanage by a few caring persons.
The orphanage gave him the name Gouming, which the Dutch couple chose to maintain. His adopted parents encouraged him to track for his biological parents, and the family returned to China in 2007 to look for clues, but the orphanage was no longer there.
However, Gouming Martens continued to look. He spent five years relearning Mandarin and working part-time to pay for three trips to China during his university years.
Gouming Martens joined the volunteer charity Baobeihuijia (Baby Come Home) in 2012, which assists people in locating lost families. With the help of volunteers, he found his biological parents.
When did the Chinese find his birth parents?
Last year, Gouming Martens received wonderful news | Image: Sydney Today
Last year, Gouming Martens received wonderful news: volunteers told him that his DNA matched that of his birth mother, Wen Xurong. According to SCMP, his birth parents never gave up on finding the boy they named Gao Yang. Nonetheless, their narrative was tragic.
According to the South China Morning Post, Gouming Martens' biological father lost sight of his wife, Wen Xurong, at a railway station. He then got into a fight with a gang of hooligans while searching for his wife and lost Gao Yang.
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Wen was tricked into going home with a vagabond who forced her to have a son. After giving birth, the tramp left her. Wen Xurong returned to her hometown, although she was experiencing mental health problems. She remarried and gave birth to a daughter.
According to the media outlet, Gao senior trekked from Sichuan to Jiangsu province, 1,700 kilometers away, begging for food and desperately looking for Gao Yang.
He died in 2009. Then, in 2017, Gao senior's brother approached Wen Xurong and asked that she register her DNA with the authorities and post her son's information on Baobeihuijia.
What did the man do after finding his birth parents?
During the Spring Festival holiday in February, Gouming Martens visited Wen Xurong and his half-siblings | Image: Sydney Today
A DNA test later confirmed this fortuitous coincidence. On the Chinese agricultural calendar, Gouming Martens' true birthday was October 12, when volunteers notified him that his 12-year hunt had been successful.
However, Gouming Martens' adoptive mother died before the good news reached them. He added that his adoptive father was ecstatic for him.
During the Spring Festival holiday in February, Gouming Martens visited Wen Xurong and his half-siblings in Sichuan, southwest China.
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