Born as Fangfang, she is the slightly larger firstborn of the identical twins. She is seized by local officials from her uncle's home as a toddler. Following the falsification of her identity records, she is adopted by an American family and raised in Texas. She grows up disconnected from her early childhood history but develops a strong interest in Asian culture.

The second-born identical twin who remains in China. She travels to the city of Chongqing as an infant with her birth parents while her sister is hidden elsewhere. She grows up in rural Hunan with her biological family. She works as a kindergarten teaching intern in Changsha while harboring questions about her missing sibling.

A mother from rural Hunan Province who hides her pregnancy to evade family-planning authorities. She gives birth to twin daughters in a small shed within a bamboo grove. She works as a migrant laborer and relies on her extended family to conceal the infants. The loss of her confiscated daughter leaves her with persistent, quiet grief.

A literate farmer from Gaofeng who works as a porter in Chongqing to earn money for escalating government fines. He quietly prefers daughters despite intense pressure from his father to produce a male heir. He tries to provide for his large, unregistered family under precarious legal and financial circumstances.

A foreign correspondent serving as the Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times. She receives a message from an American adoptive family looking into their daughter's origins. This sparks her investigation into China's one-child policy, exposing systemic corruption within the international adoption pipeline.

A data processor and devout Christian from Texas who turns to international adoption after hearing broadcasts about overseas orphanages. She establishes a nonprofit organization and adopts two girls from China. She fully believes the official narratives that her daughters are abandoned orphans in need of a home.

A cost analyst and Marsha's husband. He retires early to care for their adopted daughters. He has a history of health issues, including heart attacks, but maintains a close, protective bond with the children. He provides the girls with a loving home environment.

Marsha and Al's first adopted daughter, originally from Jiangxi Province. She forms a close, inseparable bond with Esther when the younger girl arrives in the United States. She grows up in a comfortable Texas home, largely uninterested in investigating her own origins.

Marsha's adult son from her first marriage. He helps his mother establish her adoption nonprofit and later initiates contact with a journalist to seek answers about his adoptive sister's origins. He acts as an intermediary for his family when they begin questioning their past decisions.

A charismatic farmer whose infant daughter is confiscated by officials. He organizes other aggrieved families in his region to form the Child Search Association. He drafts a formal petition demanding information about their missing children, facing severe retaliation for his activism.

An adoptive father residing in Utah who investigates China's adoption system. He compiles thousands of orphanage finding notices to track systemic fabrications. He builds databases to prove that government institutions routinely lie about children's origins to facilitate international adoptions.

A member of a family operating a trafficking ring in Hunan. He transports infants to supply state-run social welfare institutes that participate in the international adoption program. His operation reveals the commercial forces driving baby confiscations.

Zanhua's oldest brother, a stocky and boisterous man who runs a pigeon-coop business. He takes in his infant niece Fangfang to help his sister evade government penalties. He registers the child under his own surname to obscure her true parentage.

Guoxiong's energetic wife. She acts as Fangfang's primary caregiver during the toddler's early years. She protects the child fiercely until local authorities forcibly raid their home, an event that leaves her deeply traumatized.

The firstborn daughter of Zanhua and Youdong. She helps her family farm their terraced rice paddies in the mountains of Hunan, growing up fully integrated into village life.

The second daughter of Zanhua and Youdong, born just two years after her older sister. Her birth results in the vandalization of the family's home by officials. She attempts to intervene as a small child when her cousin is abducted.

The youngest child and only son of Zanhua and Youdong. His birth in Chongqing fulfills the family's obligation to produce a male heir but pushes his parents deeper into legal jeopardy regarding birth quotas.

A former teacher known as Old Yuan who is pushed into early retirement for his activism. He helps local farmers draft official complaints regarding their missing children and acts as a knowledgeable guide for journalists investigating the region.

An outspoken, pragmatic local midwife who delivers Zanhua's unexpected twins in a hidden bamboo shed. She keeps the secret of the birth but is later suspected of potentially informing authorities.

Yang Libing's wife, who searches for her confiscated daughter. She wonders aloud about her child's integration into an American family, reflecting the widespread grief of parents whose children were taken.

Brian Stuy's wife and research partner. She assists in launching an organization to collect and analyze records from Chinese orphanages, identifying systemic patterns of fraud.