Disgraced Chinese actress Zheng Shuang isn’t the only one who’s been in hot water over a child — or in her case, children — abandonment scandal. The 29-year-old was recently accused by her producer ex-boyfriend of leaving their two one-year-old kids, who were born via surrogacy, behind in the US.

As it turns out, 59-year-old Chinese-American actress Joan Chen was once also accused of abandoning twins, and that scandal had left a permanent stain on her reputation, at least in the eyes of some very unforgiving netizens.

After all, we know the internet never forgets.

In 1998, Joan and her second husband, cardiologist Peter Hui, decided to adopt a pair of one-year-old twin sisters in China after being told that it would be difficult for them to have their own children.

But as fate would have it, Joan got pregnant while they were in the midst of the adoption process, and she gave birth to their elder daughter Angela in October 1998, three months after adopting the other two girls.

Back then, the star declared that she would treat all three of her daughters equally, but after that, the adopted twins were never seen in public, and the actress never spoke of them again. Joan and Peter went on to welcome another daughter of their own, Audrey, in 2002.

However, her two elusive adopted kids were never forgotten. Many years later, reports emerged that Joan had actually given them up on the grounds that “they weren't fated to be mother and daughters”.

Needless to say, this incited a lot of backlash against Joan. Her manager had to come forward and clarify that Joan was forced to transfer the twins to a couple in New York as she found it hard to take care of three children at the same time.

“Joan knows the couple who adopted the children very well,” her manager had stated. “At that time, they were really hoping to adopt, and since their financial situation is very good, the two girls are enjoying a good life now.”

The manager added that Joan and the couple exchange cards every year so she can keep herself updated on how the twins are doing. However, Joan doesn't contact the girls directly as she and the couple believe that the kids don’t need to know so much about the details of their adoption.

Although it’s been a long time since her “abandonment” saga, it looks like some folks still can’t help but bring it up whenever they have the chance.

When Joan took to Weibo to proudly announce that Angela had graduated from Harvard University with honours last year, netizens left snide comments such as “So what about your adopted daughters?” and “Your daughter is excellent, then what about those children you didn’t want?”.

Photos: Joan Chen/Weibo, IMDb