{"id":114852,"date":"2022-11-21T21:24:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T02:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=114852"},"modified":"2022-11-21T21:24:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T02:24:13","slug":"lehigh-valley-20-year-old-expands-influence-as-adoption-advocate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=114852","title":{"rendered":"Lehigh Valley 20-Year-Old Expands Influence as Adoption Advocate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong><em>Featured Image: Ayden Lincoln of Easton was Found in a Shoebox in China Twenty Years Ago<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Chinese American Adoptee and Influencer Expands Mission to Inspire Others to Consider Adoption\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Lehigh Valley 20-Year-Old is an Adoption Advocate with Expanding Influence\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA (NOVEMBER 21, 2022) &#8211; November is National Adoption Month and Ayden Lincoln is continuing her mission to help others find love and belonging through adoption.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;Chinese adoption, and adoption in general, is a topic not often discussed,&#8221; says Ayden, a 20-year-old college sophomore at Northampton Community College.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In late November, Ayden was featured on Adoption Now (<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/adoption-now\/id1114308971?i=1000586594247\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/adoption-now\/id1114308971?i%3D1000586594247&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1669154908838000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0q7yv4OKKB_vbGEcdAkZmD\">AydenLincolnonAdoptionNowPodc<wbr \/>ast<\/a>) a Podcast with April Fallon. The program covers all aspects of adoption and has thousands of weekly followers.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Ayden was also featured on WFMZ Channel 69 News at Sunrise \u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfmz.com\/news\/area\/lehighvalley\/the-real-struggles-of-being-an-adopted-child\/article_b2eae38e-628f-11ed-8228-133d8799d9d7.html?fbclid=IwAR1qct0d5ckxI-eg_fSgkdtF-oNCkwW_wUOW8xL1sUsKNK38N5v2yY8YIbg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.wfmz.com\/news\/area\/lehighvalley\/the-real-struggles-of-being-an-adopted-child\/article_b2eae38e-628f-11ed-8228-133d8799d9d7.html?fbclid%3DIwAR1qct0d5ckxI-eg_fSgkdtF-oNCkwW_wUOW8xL1sUsKNK38N5v2yY8YIbg&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1669154908838000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0IX5CPp5udUfHOZ_9xwSZi\">AydenLincolnWFMZChannel69<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Additionally, the Easton resident will be a guest speaker on the equally popular Real World Parenting with Dr. Laura Anderson, with a debut date of late November.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;Despite my struggles after being adopted from a Chinese orphanage, I wouldn&#8217;t change a thing,&#8221; says Ayden, who was found in a shoebox in a train station in China with her umbilical cord still intact.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Police brought the fragile 3.3-pound infant to an orphanage, where she spent nearly the entire first year of her life in a crib. The experience impacted her brain development and resulted in a flat skull.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Fortunately, Ayden was adopted by her adoptive parents from Easton, Pennsylvania, before her first birthday.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;My adoptive parents are wonderful, beautiful people who began the long, arduous adoption process in 2001, a year before I was born,&#8221; adds the student majoring in business.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Today, Ayden and her parents want to encourage those considering adoption to take steps to do so.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In her endeavors, Ayden has also penned several guest columns for national websites, including <a href=\"https:\/\/humandefense.com\/aydens-story-abandonment-adoption-and-perserverance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/humandefense.com\/aydens-story-abandonment-adoption-and-perserverance\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1669154908838000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3EZQwb517vsknRXE-TKfhq\">Ayden&#8217;s Story: Abandonment, Adoption, and Perseverance | Human Defense<\/a>, written for the Human Defense Initiative.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The business\/communications major has also penned articles for LiveAction and paired up with Miss Pennsylvania in 2021 for a live-streaming event regarding the positives of adoption.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Her aspirations of a career in communications and becoming a journalist is just one way the former National Honor Society student wishes to bring her talents and insight to others.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">As a social media influencer, Ayden, who has 12,000 followers on Twitter, says, &#8220;I hope my story can teach someone like me that they aren&#8217;t alone. Everyone has their unique struggles \u2014 some worse than others,&#8221; observes the student.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;Reaching out to someone, even if it&#8217;s a crisis hotline, really does make a difference. But, of course, there will always be people who tell you, &#8220;just get over it&#8221; and &#8220;it&#8217;s all in your head. But you have to find your techniques to cope and find your support system,&#8221; implores the dual major student.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve gotten so many messages from people saying thank you as they share their stories, which makes me happy. Hopefully, I will continue to inspire others to adopt and not give up, no matter how hard it is. &#8212; it&#8217;s worth it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Follow Ayden, on Twitter @AydenLincoln, on Instagram @AydenLincoln, or visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aydenlincoln.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.aydenlincoln.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1669154908838000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0BRoldUjyH_CYiHeHBBvE7\">www.aydenlincoln.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Information and image provided by:<br \/>\nTina Bradford<br \/>\nWriter\/Public Relations\/Social Media<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/TinaBradfordPR\">http:\/\/twitter.com\/TinaBradfordPR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Featured Image: Ayden Lincoln of Easton was Found in a Shoebox in China Twenty Years Ago Chinese American Adoptee and Influencer Expands Mission to Inspire Others to Consider Adoption\u00a0 Lehigh &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=114852\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Lehigh Valley 20-Year-Old Expands Influence as Adoption Advocate<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Ayden-Lincoln-of-Easton.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114852"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/114853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}