Having parents present throughout childhood often provides something difficult to describe but deeply felt: a sense of safety. It is the quiet reassurance that someone is there to catch you when you fall, to answer questions, to guide you through the confusing process of growing up. When that presence is missing—when a child grows up knowing they were abandoned—those feelings of security can be replaced by confusion, grief, and sometimes resentment. For many, it leaves questions that never fully disappear.

For Xueli Abbing, those questions began before she was even old enough to ask them.

Xueli was born in China and abandoned shortly after birth. She was left at the door of an orphanage, wrapped against the cold, with no note and no identifying information. Nothing was known about her parents—not their names, not their circumstances, not even the reasons behind their decision. All that remained was a newborn baby and a future filled with uncertainty.

The staff at the orphanage named her Xueli. “Xue” means snow, and “Li” means beautiful. The name reflected her striking appearance: Xueli was born with albinism, a genetic condition that affects the body’s ability to produce melanin. As a result, people with albinism often have very pale skin, light hair, and light-colored eyes. The condition can also affect vision, sometimes severely.