Member-only story
My mother was a surgeon in China before she transplanted herself to the U.S. to start a new life as a nanny-maid-cook to an American family. This is her story, and my blessing.
The Sacrifice
In 1987, my mother came to the U.S. to reunite with my father, who had been studying for his PhD in economics. I was two years old and left in the care of my grandparents in Beijing. My grandmother would later tell me that my mom had balled her eyes out at the departure gate. It was her first time on a plane or traveling outside of China. But I’m sure that wasn’t the only thing she was crying about. She was 35 and already had more than a decade of medical experience under her belt as a professionally trained physician.
Like my father, who also had an established career before rebooting life in the U.S., my mother landed in Washington Dulles International (IAD) with two pieces of check-in luggage and a tote bag made of vanilla-colored canvas (on which the big red characters “People’s Republic of China” were stamped… how ironic). That was the totality of her possessions.
At the time, the U.S. did not recognize medical degrees from China. This may still be true, and likely not without good reason, but the point is… that means that even if you had already completed medical school, residency, and even racked up a decade’s worth of…
