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A Former Millionaire Is Now Broke After Adopting 75 Orphans Over The Course Of 20 Years

June 18, 2015

Li Lijuan, a native of northern China's Hebei Province, made a fortune in the 1980s out of coal mining investments.

Now, she's 2.5 million yuan ($400,000 US) in debt.

Lijuan has spent the past 20 years using the money she made from her investments to house abandoned children.

She adopted her first orphan in 1994 and went on to adopt 74 more who either lost their parents or were abandoned because of illness or disabilities, Yahoo News reports.

But when the coal mine she invested in shut down, the 46 year-old could no longer meet the costs of her large family.

Volunteers have tried to give some of Lijuan's foster children new homes, but due to strict Chinese adoption laws, she was forced to refuse their offers.

Lijuan is currently receiving donations from charities, but it's not enough.

We have reached out to multiple Chinese news outlets covering the story in hopes of getting in contact with Lijuan to set up a GoFundMe page. If you have any helpful information, please contact us.