Growing up with parents present often provides a strong sense of security during childhood. When that presence is absent—or when a child grows up knowing they were abandoned—feelings of loss or resentment can sometimes develop toward their parents.
Xueli Abbing is a 16-year-old who was born in China and abandoned by her parents at birth. She was left at the entrance of an orphanage, and no information about her biological parents was ever known. The staff at the orphanage gave her the name Xueli: “Xue” means snow and “Li” means beautiful, a name inspired by her albinism.
Albinism is a genetic condition that affects melanin production, resulting in very light skin, hair, and eye pigmentation. Xueli was later adopted by a family in the Netherlands, where she grew up in a caring and supportive home. At the age of 11, she was approached by a designer in Hong Kong who invited her to model in a photoshoot intended to showcase different forms of beauty.
“She called the campaign ‘Perfect Imperfections’ and asked if I wanted to join her fashion show in Hong Kong,” Abbing told the BBC. “That was an amazing experience,” she added.
In many parts of the world, people with albinism face discrimination. In extreme cases, they are even targeted due to false beliefs that their bones possess medicinal properties. “I’m lucky I was only abandoned,” Abbing has said.
She has also spoken about how models with albinism are sometimes portrayed as angels or ghosts, a practice she finds upsetting. “It makes me sad,” she said.
However, Abbing later worked with a photographer from London who treated her with the same respect as any other model. The collaboration resulted in a striking photoshoot, and one of the images was sold to Vogue Italia for its June 2019 issue.
“At the time, I didn’t know what an important magazine it was, and it took me a while to realize why people were so excited about it,” she recalled.
Modeling has not been without challenges for Abbing. She has only 8 to 10 percent vision, and camera flashes can be painful for her to look at directly. Despite this, she remains determined to represent people who do not fit traditional beauty standards, which continues to motivate her.
“There are still models who are like eight foot two and skinny, but now people with disabilities or differences are featured more in the media, and that’s great—but it should be normal,” she said.
“Maybe because I cannot see everything properly, I focus more on people’s voices and what they have to say,” she explained. “Their inner beauty is more important to me.”
Abbing hopes to make a meaningful difference by educating others about albinism. “I want to use modeling to talk about albinism and say it’s a genetic disorder, it’s not a curse,” she said. “The right way to talk about it is to say ‘a person with albinism,’ because being called ‘an albino’ makes it sound like that’s all you are.”
“I’m not going to accept that children are being murdered because of their albinism. I want to change the world,” she added.
We wish Xueli Abbing every success on her journey and believe she will continue to inspire and educate people around the world. Sharing her story can help spread awareness and encourage understanding among others.
