Love on the Spectrum star reveals she was heartbreakingly given up as a baby
She also endured racism as a child
Love on the Spectrum introduced us to Pari and Tina in season three. The show is famed for telling the cast’s authentic and heartfelt stories, and Tina and Pari’s were no exception.
But, behind Tina’s warm personality and confidence on screen is a personal backstory that’s both emotional and deeply powerful.
Tina has shared that she was adopted as a baby, and that growing up, she faced racism that left lasting scars before she learned to take pride in her identity.
Tina was adopted as a baby
@blindsided_in_boston As I come out of the fog of adoption, I will never forget who I was before. A lost transracial adoptee trying to fit in. And knowing she wanted so badly to live as a Chinese American not just an American girl who’s a Chinese adoptee raised by white parents . But now I have embraced who I want to be. I wanted my culture, celebrate the traditions and most of all live as a Chinese American. #transracialadoptee #chineseadoptee #internationaladoptee #chineseamerican #chineseamericanadoptee
In a moving Instagram post, Tina revealed that her adoptive parents were honest about her story from the very beginning. They talked openly about her birth parents and the reality of adoption loss, reading her books about children who were grieving or learning to cope with that sense of absence.
She explained that her parents didn’t try to “sugar-coat” things. They helped her understand that while adoption can bring love and belonging, it also involves loss of culture, heritage, and sometimes identity.
Tina has spoken about how she stopped searching for her birth parents in 2020, making peace with not knowing them. She also shared that she lost her adoptive father when she was just 14.
She said that her “…adoptive mom read me books with characters who were adopted, grieving their loss of their birth parents to books about how to cope.”
Despite the challenges, Tina’s relationship with her adoptive family seemingly helped shape her strength and emotional intelligence, traits that people quickly noticed during her appearance on Love on the Spectrum.
She endured racism as a child
@blindsided_in_boston At school a very wh*te special education a little Chinese girl was taught to be ashamed for the race she was. She was taught to pretend r*c*sm didn’t hurt. She used to spoke up r*c*st incidents that happened to her. Till wh*t* teachers told her r*c*sm wasn’t a problem and the Wh*t* kid who said it didn’t mean it. The wh*t* teachers expected her to apologize to the wh*t* kid that hurt her. She lost trust in the wh*te teacher she trusted. She stopped reporting incidents of r*c*sm. She became silent. But at home she could explore her identity. Her adoptive family celebrated the Chinese culture via Chinese New Years. She wanted to choose her culture or the Chinese culture. But she didn’t want to get racially bullied at school. She chose the way the school taught her about her race. She decided she an wh*t* american girl not an Asian American girl or more specific Chinese American girl. So she tried to become more wh*t* and assimilate deeper into into wh*t* America. It made her have racial dysphoria She tried hard not to listening to the urge to want to be Chinese American. But it was hard to be the person you weren’t meant to be. But she’s no longer the little girl who was taught to hate her race she was. A little girl who let racist walk all over her. She’s now a grown woman who’s starting to take back the identity she’s supposed to be. She’s proud to be Chinese American. She’s proud to be part of the larger group of Asian American. She now speaks up about racism and will never be silenced again. #transracialadoptee #adopteeawarenessmonth #transracialadopteevoices #internationaltransracialadoptee #adopteeawarenessmonth2025
In another emotional post, Tina opened up about the painful racism she faced growing up in America as a Chinese adoptee.
As a child, she said she tried to assimilate after being taught by her school and society that her race somehow made her different.
She shared that she once rejected her own heritage, feeling “racial dysphoria” and struggling to embrace being Chinese American. Over time, she began to reclaim her identity, speaking openly about the racism and alienation she experienced and how she’s now proud to be Chinese American and part of the larger Asian American community.
Now an advocate for adoptee awareness and anti-racism, Tina uses her platform to speak up for others who’ve experienced similar struggles. “She’s no longer the little girl who was taught to hate her race,” one caption reads. “She now speaks up about racism and will never be silenced again.”
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