An American woman visiting the Vietnamese orphanage she was adopted from got the shock of a lifetime when a chance meeting led to her reuniting with her biological family. Melissa Brozier, from Columbus, Ohio, had only planned to visit the orphanage as part of a bigger trip to discover the culture of where she was born. Having been adopted through an agency, Melissa grew up in a predominantly white community, which, she said, provided her with a loving home and opportunities, but also led her to question her heritage. In Melissa’s teens, her aunt offered her an incentive she had also extended to other family members in the past: that if Melissa graduated high school, her aunt would take a trip to anywhere she wished. Having made it to college, Melissa decided she would simply like to take a trip to Vietnam, to learn about the culture and travel around. As that visit was due to take place over the holidays, Melissa decided she would also like to stop off at the orphanage she was adopted from, so that she could present children with Christmas gifts. Having made it to an orphanage in HoiAn that Melissa and her aunt thought she was adopted from, the pair started talking to a member of staff, expressing that they hoped they'd come to the right place. The man encouraged Melissa and her aunt to follow him to his office, offering little context before pulling out a big red book. Inside, Melissa saw her childhood photo, which she recognized as one of the few ties she had to Vietnam herself. The man then said that Melissa's biological family return to the orphanage every few months, leaving new phone numbers and addresses, in case she ever came back.
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 I really got to have Christmas dinner with my entire biological family on accident.
00:05 Melissa was adopted as a baby from Vietnam to the U.S.
00:09 There were times I would kind of hang back while my mom would walk next to my friend.
00:14 I can be like, "Wow, they look more related than I do with my actual parents."
00:20 And so that was definitely like an internal battle.
00:22 And when she graduated high school, her aunt promised her a trip anywhere in the world.
00:27 And she knew exactly where she wanted to go.
00:31 I felt that I'd really lost myself.
00:32 I was like, I kind of want to know who I am in the sense of like the culture, the food,
00:37 the clothing, all of that kind of stuff.
00:40 So I told her I wanted to go to Vietnam.
00:42 The least I could do is go back to the orphanage where I'm from and give back.
00:46 So they planned to be at the orphanage on Christmas.
00:49 We didn't know if it was the right orphanage.
00:52 There were two orphanages in town.
00:54 One had closed down a couple years ago.
00:56 So by default, we had went to this one.
00:58 But seeing the places where they sleep, where they socialize and all of that stuff just
01:04 vaguely felt like I felt a weird connection to it almost.
01:08 A lady and a man came up to my aunt and I.
01:10 She's like trying to communicate, like, "Follow him."
01:12 He remembers when she was adopted.
01:15 Then he pulls out a book and shows my picture.
01:18 It's my baby photo.
01:19 And I start bawling because I've seen this photo so many times.
01:23 Just having that confirmation that we were at the right place was such a whirlwind of
01:29 just like a sense of like feeling complete.
01:32 It was very fulfilling to be like, "Wow, like, this is where I'm from."
01:36 But the shock wouldn't end there.
01:39 And they're like, "Your family comes back every couple months since you were adopted
01:43 and drops off updated phone numbers, updated addresses, any sort of contact information
01:49 for us if you ever decided to come back."
01:51 And her family still lived in town.
01:53 Three people show up on a moped.
01:55 They take off their helmets and I just see like an elderly woman that I just knew was
02:00 my mom.
02:01 It was a crazy, crazy weird experience.
02:05 She just held me and I was just like, "This is insane."
02:08 [Crying]
02:33 And when she went back to her biological parents' house, she saw her baby photo framed.
02:39 But that wasn't all.
02:41 30 people show up and it's all of like biological, like nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, siblings.
02:48 And they all like are pulling out their wallet and they all have that photo in their wallets
02:54 in picture frames at their houses because they just hoped and prayed that I would like
02:59 find my way back to them.
03:00 They had held out for me for so long, just like hoping that I'd come back and find them.
03:11 And it's crazy that I actually did.
03:13 We FaceTimed my parents and like my biological parents met my parents.
03:17 And I just remember them being so thankful, being like, "Thank you so much for giving
03:21 her a life we could only ever imagine here in Vietnam."
03:26 And one day, she hopes to return to Vietnam with her adopted family so everyone can meet
03:32 in person too.
03:33 This is my brother, my other brother, my sister, my sister, and my other sister.
03:42 We all went out to dinner and I'm sitting around like this huge long table of everyone
03:47 who's related to me and just like looking around the table being like, "We have the
03:50 same eyes.
03:52 We have the same nose."
03:53 It's just so fulfilling.
03:54 So I really got to have like Christmas dinner with my entire biological family on accident.
04:00 That's like something I think I'll just never forget.