Episódio 25: Families and Adoption (Famílias e adoção)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Sonja Gunderson sempre teve curiosidade de visitar o orfanato, ou orphanage, onde passou seu primeiro ano e meio de vida, na China.

Mas quando finalmente chegou a hora, ela ficou nervosa.

The drive to the orphanage took over an hour.

That part of China looked so different from the big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

We drove past fields and farms.

I remember looking out the window and trying not to cry.

The whole situation started to feel very real.

Sonja foi adotada por uma família dos Estados Unidos e cresceu sem saber nada sobre seus pais biológicos.

Mas ela passou muito tempo imaginando quem seriam eles… e se eles se pareciam com ela de alguma forma.

I was always curious about my parents.

I imagined my mom all the time.

I thought she might be a musician.

I imagined her wearing long, beautiful dresses and playing the violin — which is the instrument I wanted to play as a kid.

I was in a singing group at my elementary school and middle school, and my teacher told me that I had a good voice.

So, I imagined that my mom was probably a singer too.

When I went to the orphanage, I hoped everything I imagined was true.

Olá! Welcome to “Histórias em Inglês com Duolingo”.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Nesse podcast, você vai poder praticar inglês no seu ritmo, ouvindo histórias reais e emocionantes.

Os protagonistas falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

Hoje temos duas histórias sobre como encontrar (ou formar) uma família por meio da adoção.

Depois de ser adotada, Sonja cresceu numa cidade nos arredores de Seattle, no estado de Washington.

I always knew that I was adopted.

It was pretty obvious to me because I had a different skin color than my white parents.

When I was four years old, my mom and dad told me that I was from China.

Of course, at that time, I didn’t really know what it meant to be adopted.

Sonja sempre soube que era adotada, mas a identidade de seus pais biológicos era um mistério.

O orfanato não tinha passado nenhuma informação sobre eles pra sua família adotiva.

I knew almost nothing about my biological parents.

I only knew which part of China they were probably from.

So, I could imagine whatever I wanted about them.

Since I loved to sing and dance, I imagined that they might be performers.

Desde criança, Sonja adorava fazer performances.

Ela fazia shows pra desconhecidos na fila do supermercado e em vez de caminhar, dava cambalhotas pra todo lado.

When I was little, I loved singing, and I thought that I was pretty good at it.

I performed in every talent show at school as a kid.

And in high school, I wrote rap songs and made music videos with my friends.

Em 2019, quando Sonja tinha 17 anos, sua família decidiu ir pra China de férias.

Era a primeira vez que Sonja visitava o país e no roteiro, eles incluíram uma visita ao povoado onde ela nasceu.

Seria a primeira oportunidade que ela teria de saber mais sobre sua família biológica.

My parents were very nervous before the trip.

I think they hoped to learn more about my biological parents — or maybe even meet them, even though that’s pretty unusual.

For me, it was just hard to believe that I was really going back to visit.

When our plane landed, I thought to myself, “Oh wow, we’re actually in China now.”

A família de Sonja passou três semanas viajando pelo país onde ela nasceu.

Nas primeiras duas semanas, eles fizeram uma programação típica de férias.

Visitaram cidades grandes e pontos turísticos famosos.

Aí, num dos últimos dias da viagem, eles foram pra sua cidade natal, ou hometown.

My whole family was excited and nervous to visit my hometown and see the orphanage where I lived as a baby.

But we didn’t know what was going to happen that day.

We knew that the orphanage might have a different owner now, and the staff might not remember me or have any information about my biological parents.

A família toda acordou cedo e foi de carro do hotel, na cidade de Wuhan, até um pequeno povoado rural.

Era lá que ficava o orfanato onde Sonja foi adotada.

While we were driving, there was a lot of nervous energy in the car.

I looked out the window, and I tried not to think too much about what might happen.

I felt so anxious and excited.

Then, suddenly, our interpreter told us that we were at the orphanage.

Na China, muitos orfanatos também funcionam como casas de repouso para idosos, ou senior centers.

As crianças órfãs moram nas mesmas instalações dos idosos.

Quando chegaram, Sonja e a família foram recebidos pelos funcionários e por alguns idosos que moravam lá.

I don’t remember much from my first moments at the orphanage.

I remember that the residents of the senior center made a sign for me.

And my mom wanted to take a picture of me in front of it, even though my eyes were very red from crying.

I was very emotional.

The orphanage director greeted our family and she called me by my Chinese name.

She told me that she remembered me.

I couldn’t believe it! When we went inside, our interpreter introduced me to one of the old women who lived there.

The interpreter told me that the woman took care of me at the orphanage when I was a baby.

Sonja descobriu que além de morarem juntos, era comum que os idosos cuidassem das crianças do orfanato.

E aquela era a mulher que tinha cuidado dela antes dela ser adotada… Ela se chamava Mrs.

Liu.

I remember that I was much taller than Mrs.

Liu, and she had these big glasses.

The interpreter told me that she was 86 years old.

She held my hand very tightly, and she seemed excited to meet me.

I think it’s pretty rare for kids to come back and visit.

Com a ajuda de um intérprete, Sonja conversou com a senhora Liu.

Ela contou histórias de como Sonja era atrevida desde pequena e como tinha um sorriso lindo.

Mas a senhora Liu não sabia nada sobre os pais biológicos de Sonja.

She didn’t have more information about my biological parents, which was a little sad.

I hoped that she might have a way to contact my family, or that she might know something more about them.

Sonja mostrou fotos para a senhora Liu e contou pra ela como era sua vida nos Estados Unidos.

I took out my phone and started showing her pictures, and then I played her a video of me singing at a recital.

She got so excited, and she started cheering.

Then she told me that she used to play Chinese opera music when I was a baby, and that we used to sing songs together.

Then, she started singing an opera song.

Sonja descobriu que a mulher que tinha cuidado dela quando bebê também amava fazer performances.

E aí Sonja teve uma ideia…

I told her that I wanted to show her a new dance I learned.

The orphanage director loved my idea, and she asked me to perform a dance for all of the kids.

So, she took us all to a different room, and Mrs.

Liu and I performed a little song and dance for all of the staff and kids there.

Sonja tava nervosa antes de ir pro orfanato, mas agora ela tava dançando e compartilhando um momento especial com aquela mulher que tinha conhecido quando era bebê.

Isso deixou ela aliviada.

At the time, it was hard to process everything that was happening.

But later that night in the hotel, I was writing in my diary, and I started to think about the day.

I realized that maybe I like to sing now because Mrs.

Liu and I used to sing together.

That felt special.

I didn’t get to meet my biological parents, but I met people who I now consider to be my family.

Like Mrs.

Liu, who took care of me and loved me when I was a baby, and the orphanage director and the staff, who were so excited to see me again.

Sonja ficou surpresa ao saber que seu amor pela música na verdade vinha daquele tempo no orfanato.

Na China, ela descobriu uma relação que nunca tinha imaginado.

I’m so glad that I got to meet Mrs.

Liu.

That trip happened a few years ago, but I still think about her all the time, especially when I’m singing or playing the piano.

When I hear opera music, I think about how we listened to it together when I was a baby, and that makes me feel close to her.

Now I feel like I am more connected to her and to China.

Assim como Sonja, Nathan Heffel também foi adotado.

Por isso, quando ele pensou em ter filhos com o namorado, Will, a adoção pareceu a opção mais natural.

As a young man, I wasn’t sure about becoming a parent.

I like kids a lot, but it wasn’t a priority for me.

Then, about ten years ago, Will, who is now my husband, started talking about having kids.

After that, I began to imagine us as a family: me, Will, and a child.

And I loved that idea! Of course, there are many ways gay couples can have children, but I wanted to adopt a child, because I was adopted too.

I wanted to give a home to a kid who really needed one, just like my family did for me.

Naquele momento, ter filhos era só uma ideia, algo que Nathan e Will pensavam em fazer no futuro.

Eles tinham dúvidas, como acontece com qualquer casal que pensa em ter filhos.

Eles se perguntavam, por exemplo, se conseguiriam conciliar uma criança com suas carreiras ou se teriam recursos suficientes para mantê-la.

E o fato de serem gays deixava tudo um pouco mais complicado.

Especially back in 2010, it was difficult for a gay couple to adopt a child.

At that time, gay marriage was only legal in a few states in the U.S.

It was not legal in the state of Colorado, where we lived.

So, we weren’t sure if both of us could legally be the child’s parents.

Eles começaram a pesquisar e o que descobriram não foi muito animador.

O mais provável seria que só um deles poderia adotar oficialmente a criança, o que deixaria o outro pai sem direitos legais.

Por isso, eles decidiram esperar.

We got married in 2014 in the state of Minnesota because we weren’t allowed to get married in Colorado.

Then, in 2015, the U.S.

Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in every state.

After that, we had many of the same rights as straight couples.

Com a legalização do casamento entre pessoas do mesmo sexo nos Estados Unidos, casais gays receberam os mesmos direitos de casais heterossexuais, ou straight couples.

Aí, Nathan e Will sentiram que finalmente tinha chegado a hora de colocar em prática a ideia de adotar uma criança.

We started talking again about becoming parents.

And in the summer of 2016, we began the adoption process.

We knew that our family and friends were going to be happy for us, but we worried about the public perception of gay dads.

If we experienced discrimination, then it could hurt our child.

But in the end, we decided that we were going to be really good parents, and that was the most important thing.

A adoção nos Estados Unidos não é um processo fácil.

Por isso, no começo Nathan e Will se inscreveram pra ser foster parents.

Nos Estados Unidos, foster parents são pessoas ou famílias que cuidam de crianças que precisam de um lar temporário, até que seus pais biológicos sejam capazes de cuidar delas novamente.

A ideia é sempre que as crianças voltem a morar com suas famílias biológicas.

Mas em alguns casos, quando isso não é possível, os foster parents podem virar pais adotivos permanentes se quiserem.

At the beginning, we agreed to take care of a child temporarily, as foster parents.

Para se tornar um foster parent, é preciso passar por um processo seletivo: ir a uma agência para ser avaliado, ou vetted.

A agência entrevistou Nathan e Will várias vezes e fez perguntas bem pessoais.

Before a child came to our home, we had to be vetted.

This was to make sure that our house was a safe place for a kid.

That process also made us think very hard about being parents.

We wondered: How would we respond to small things, like a child coloring on our walls? Or what if the child had a difficult life before coming to our home? We weren’t experts in taking care of children.

So we considered how we could respond to those situations and make sure the child felt safe.

Cerca de um ano depois de terem começado o processo, Nathan recebeu uma ligação no trabalho.

Era a agência! Ele sabia que podiam ligar a qualquer momento, mas a pergunta que eles fizeram pegou ele de surpresa.

They said, “A baby girl was just born at a hospital downtown.

She needs a home.

You have 20 minutes to make a decision.

What do you want to do?” I remember asking if we could meet her first, but they said “no.” So my husband and I talked about it.

And we just had a feeling that we needed to go to the hospital immediately.

A única informação que a agência deu foi de que a bebê era prematura e tava razoavelmente saudável.

Ela precisava de um lar até se recuperar.

Era tudo o que Nathan sabia.

Ele tava muito nervoso enquanto dirigia pro hospital.

I had a million thoughts in my head as I drove to the hospital.

I was thinking about practical things, like where do I park, who do I need to talk to when I arrive, where do I need to go? But I also realized that my life was suddenly going to change dramatically.

We didn’t have time to get ready for our baby.

We were just suddenly going to be dads.

Then, we met the baby.

Her name was Maya.

It was surreal.

She was so tiny.

And suddenly I felt excited, happy, and afraid at the same time.

We weren’t prepared for a baby at all.

Nathan e Will esperavam adotar uma criança mais velha, de dois ou três anos, que era o mais comum.

Eles não tinham nada em casa pra receber um bebê recém-nascido.

We were so excited, but we were also in shock.

We couldn’t believe that we were suddenly responsible for a tiny human.

We needed to buy so many things for the baby immediately.

We didn’t even have any baby clothes!

No hospital, Nathan e Will fizeram um curso intensivo de como cuidar de um recém-nascido.

As enfermeiras mostraram como preparar uma mamadeira e como trocar uma fralda! Maya ficou no hospital por cerca de uma semana.

E depois Nathan e Will levaram ela pra casa.

Maya was born with several health issues.

She had to use an oxygen machine to help her breathe and she needed to take several different medications.

I needed to learn how to take care of her quickly.

The first night we brought her home, I went to look at her so many times to make sure that she was still breathing.

I didn’t sleep at all.

Mesmo sem ter planejado nada, Nathan conseguiu três meses de folga do trabalho pra ficar em casa e focar na saúde de Maya.

Ele era jornalista, e deixar de escrever notícias pra passar o dia todo fazendo mamadeiras e trocando fraldas era algo completamente novo pra ele!

Maya needed to use the oxygen machine for the first six weeks of her life.

We also had to take her to the hospital a few times for blood transfusions.

This was because her mother had problems with drugs.

Maya was born with methamphetamine, a kind of drug, in her body.

So, we needed to watch her all the time and take her to the hospital if she had any problems.

It was very scary, but Maya was strong.

And slowly, she got healthier and healthier.

Nathan e Will sabiam que existia a possibilidade de Maya voltar pra mãe biológica.

A agência tinha deixado a bebê com eles temporariamente.

Mas era muito difícil não se apegar.

Os dois viviam com medo de perder Maya.

More than a year passed, and then we got a call from the agency.

They decided that Maya couldn’t go back to her biological mother.

That meant that we could adopt her! We had to go to court to finalize the adoption.

It was such an emotional experience.

When I had to speak in court, I started crying.

I was so happy! From the first moment that I met her, I felt like she was part of my family.

But now, it was real.

Legally, she was our daughter.

Nathan acredita que como ele viveu a experiência da adoção, ele pode ajudar Maya a processar tudo isso enquanto ela for crescendo.

Being adopted is amazing and special and I want Maya to know that.

If she ever has questions about her biological parents, I will give her as much information as she wants.

I want to help her understand who she is.

Hoje Maya tem quatro anos.

She’s a healthy, curious, and wonderful kid.

As a family, we love to go hiking and spend a lot of time together outdoors and in nature.

She has a huge imagination, and I love being a part of both her imaginary world and her real world.

Hi, my name is Maya and I love my dads.

Nathan Heffel mora no Colorado.

A história dele foi produzida por Stephanie Wolf, repórter de rádio de Louisville, no Kentucky.

Nossa primeira narradora, Sonja Gunderson, espera voltar pra China mais vezes.

A história dela foi produzida por Madeline Gunderson, estudante de cinema em Nova York e irmã de Sonja.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!