What have I done? I quietly asked myself this countless times the first year with our adopted child. Bonding was a challenge.

MY PARENTS are a power couple in the Chinese Christian community in the United States and abroad. I liken them to the Clintons; they have an equal and equitable partnership and are both seen as leaders.

OUTWARDLY, MY LIFE seems very put together. I was born into an upper middle class family; my parents are married; I have a loving husband and a beautiful son; I graduated from the University of California in Los Angeles; and I work as an oncology nurse.

THERE WAS A TIME when Asians weren't considered the model minority. Rather than being maneuvered to be pitted against other minority groups, the early wave of Chinese immigrants were considered a direct threat to white populations.

“DADDY, I HAVE A VAGINA and you have a penis, because I'm a girl and you are a boy." I was resting on the sofa, just minding my own business, when my daughter comes up and says this whole bit about the vagina and penis.

I BECAME PREGNANT immediately after we began to try for a baby. I thought I was ready. What they don’t tell you about pregnancy is that in primates, the fetus has the unique ability to implant its placenta directly into the closest large blood vessel of its mother.