IN MY HEART’
ber how she used to silently comfort herself by nuzzling and sucking at the top of the inside of her own arm whenever she was distressed,” said accountant Elaine.
“The children in these orphanages had no schooling, no medical care, no prospect of marriage.
“Many of them grew up so institutionalised they could not make lives and had mental health problems.”
China’s one-child policy, enforced in 1978, stated couples could only have one child as a result of the rapid growth in population.
It was illegal to kill your child directly, but not through neglect and “orphanages” were opened around the country.
Today, Amy, a happy teenager excited to be taking up a place to study photography at Bridgend College in September, said she cannot quite believe how differently her life might have turned out had Elaine not come for her.
“I feel after this I can go through anything. I rarely think about it though. I just want to get on with my life. But when I researched it I was shocked.”
Amy, who went to Cardigan High after the family moved to Wales when she was 10, has visited China and does think about her Chinese parents, but does not want to trace them.
Writing in the book she says she has sympathy for what she imagines was their plight. Records show she was born at a time of devastating floods in the region, which may also have made it harder for them to keep her.
“I always think of my Chinese mum, waiting until it was dark, and plucking up the courage to take me there (to the orphanage).
“I think of her with long black hair – a lot like mine is now – and being young, alone, and very afraid. I see her holding me close and then looking all round until the coast was clear.
“I imagine her placing me carefully at the gates and then running away fast, without looking back, and with tears streaming down her cheeks.”
Elaine said her miscarriage haunted her. She believes she and Amy saved one another from lives of unhappiness.
“I feel fate brought us together. After we collected Amy we flew back to Beijing.
“We went to Tiannamen Square and an old lady came up to us and told me: ‘ You were meant to be together.’ I think she was right.”
Two Voices, One Story by Elaine Rizzo and Amy Masters is published by Clink Street Publishing on Tuesday