A JOURNEY BACK HOME
In search of his roots and biological family, a US-based adoptee discovers his identity in Cebu
COURAGE is having the strength and determination to face a difficult situation or one’s fears. For James Beni Wilson, courage was all that he needed to overcome his deep-rooted fear of knowing his past.
“As I grew up in a foreign country, I started to see the difference between myself and the community. I felt that I don’t belong,” said Beni, an adopted child raised in the US who recently made the journey to trace his roots and his biological family in the Philippines.
Kids in their neighborhood would make fun of his physical appearance, particularly his skin color.
In spite of the discrimination, Beni still strived to live a normal life.
Deep inside his heart, though, he knew that a part of his identity is still missing and needs to be discovered.
As his curiosity grew, he began to start looking for answers to questions about his roots and identity, which prompted him to start a video documentary entitled “Binitay: A Journey of an Adoptee.”
When he was 18 years old, he reached out to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas through the Adoption Resource and Referral Section (ARRS) to help him locate and meet his biological parents and relatives.
After hearing from DSWD, James flew to Cebu and started gathering information about his family.
The name “Beni” is from the Visayan word “Binitay,” which means hanged in English.
Beni was still a baby when he was found hanging from a tree by a woman named Elizabeth Ochia, who brought him to the local social welfare and development office in Tabogon, northwest of Cebu.
But during his first visit in his hometown, a twist in his life’s story was revealed.
He found out that his biological family gave him a name when he was born, Isagani Gulina Ochia, and the woman who claimed to have found him hanging on a tree was actually his biological mother.
“By reading my case study papers from the DSWD, I was upset at first. How could a mother abandon her child?” Beni said.
He said that it took him a month to process his emotions.
“With the help of the Filipino community in Michigan and as I interacted with them, I slowly started to understand that it’s uncommon for a Filipino mother to abandon her children, so I eventually forgave her,” he said.
Elizabeth Ochia died of liver cirrhosis four months before Beni arrived in the Philippines.
He never had a chance to talk to her but his relatives told him about their family’s situation back then and how hard it had been to give him away.
In fact, his biological family tried to look for him and take him back, but it was already too late. By then, an American couple from Michigan had already adopted Beni.
James Beni Wilson’s case is an InterCountry Adoption.
Inter-country adoption is the process where a Filipino child is legally adopted by a foreigner or a Filipino citizen permanently residing abroad where the petition for adoption is filed.
On April 29, 2015, Beni came back to Cebu. Unlike his first visit, Beni had more time to bond with his biological family. By constantly communicating with his immediate family and relatives, he learned more things about himself. Gradually, all his questions about his true identity are being answered.
Beni is now back in the US, carrying with him his goal to help fellow Filipino adoptees. He was recently accepted to be a camp counselor for the Filipino Heritage Camp for Filipino adoptees in Colorado.
“I hope that I am able to connect with other Filipino adoptees because I want to see if they had similar feelings and experiences that I had while growing up as a Filipino adoptee, specifically Filipinos who were adopted by a family of a different race,” he disclosed.
He is a self-supporting third year college student taking up Bachelor of Science in Social Work and has a full-time job at Starbucks.
“My advice to my fellow adoptees is that do not generalize answers to everyone’s questions because every adoptee has their own unique story,” Beni said.
Indeed, his journey back home has helped him find himself and made his life complete.
Today, Beni has accepted his past and has moved on. With that, he can now focus on a better future with his loving parents, his newfound relatives and his vocation of helping fellow adoptees.