In spring 2010, when Youxue (her Chinese name) was a high school sophomore in Dallas, Texas, she decided to start searching for her birth parents. Given the international nature of her adoption and the under-the-table circumstances in which most Chinese children were relinquished, there was a strong likelihood she would never find them. There, the searcher was able to access records and find a short note that Youxue had apparently been left with. She started taking Mandarin lessons and texting with her birth parents. Because child abandonment is illegal in China, very little documentation connects Chinese adoptees with their birth families.