Two Chinese orphans find each other in the United States

Two girls share their heritage, a disease and friendship

Mai, left, and Mae, BFFs from China reunite in America.

Photo by Contra Costa Times

AN AMAZING STORY of two best friends at a Chinese orphanage was reported in the Contra Costa Times recently. They thought they'd never see each other again after they were adopted by their respective American parents three years ago.

The two, Mae and Mai, bonded and became BFFs during frequent blood transfusions at the orphanage in Guangxi Province. They both have beta thalassemia major, a form of leukemia.

Since 2013, Mae's adoptive parents realized that her treatments were not working so they began the long search for a bone marrow donor. That's when they discovered the small number of Asian donors. Of the 769,000 potential donors in the U.S. only 7 percent are Asian.

The two girls found each other on the Internet and reunited at Children's Hospital in Oakland, California. It didn't take long to get over the (has-it-been-too-long-since-we-were-together?) jitters. Soon the 11-year-olds were inseparable again.

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