Author: mike m

Korean statistics estimate over 14,000 adoptees in US without citizenship

October 15, 2017
by mike m
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As reported in Korea Times: Of 111,148 ethnic Koreans legally adopted into American families, 14,189, or 12.8 percent, have failed to obtain American citizenship and are left vulnerable to deportation, said Rep. Shim Jae-kwon of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). As someone else recently said, adoption without citizenship is human trafficking.  Leaving adoptees hanging in the wind due to the failures of those who adopted, oversaw, and administered it is a crime against humanity. […]

Single mothers accounted for up to 90% of Korean adoptions

September 11, 2017
by mike m
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It is well-known that lack of support for single mothers was a major source of why many children in Korea were given up for adoption, but to this extent?  From Hosu Kim’s Birth Mothers and Transnational Adoption Practice in South Korea: Single mothers constitute the great majority of all birth mothers involved in transnational adoption from South Korea. More than 120,000 children, or two out of three adoptees, were, or are, children of single mothers. […]

“Your birth record is none of your damn business”

July 24, 2017
by mike m
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commentary / stories

A case study in adoptees not knowing their own birth date – one of the many common knowledge details typically denied adoptees. One attempt at contacting the adoption agency for confirmation of existing information and filling in of blank spots went along the lines of “We’re sorry, but we cannot disclose this information about you without written consent from your biological father.” But he is dead! “We know.” How the hell am I going to get written consent from […]

RIP, Phillip Clay

June 1, 2017
by mike m
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commentary / news

It is always shocking when a KAD commits suicide, and we feel the loss keenly.  When that person had been deported because of shameful policies that continue to exist in the US – as befell Phillip – it feels like a knife in our back.  All that might be beautiful about adoption is rendered ugly in that light, and the words family, country, and belonging reduced to empty marketing slogans. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/05/119_229975.html Even in death, our identity is […]

Some KAD reunion films to keep on the radar

April 30, 2017
by mike m
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history / stories

Just some historical KAD films to keep on the radar, with some relevant links for each. Toby Dawson – Lost and Found (2011).  Documents Toby’s reunion with birth father, facilitated by his olympic medal media exposure. http://jalbertfilm.com/index.php/video/toby-dawson-lost-found/ http://jalbertfilm.com/index.php/video/segment-from-toby-dawson-lost-and-found-mother/ http://jalbertfilm.com/index.php/video/segment-from-toby-dawson-lost-found/ Nathan Adolfson – Passing Through (1998).  Must be one of the first professional films about reunion, Nathan eventually found his 3 siblings.  There is an interesting ending to the story that i am wondering how and […]

Is Marissa Brandt the first adoptee to compete representing Korea?

April 29, 2017
by mike m
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A couple other adoptees are hoping to represent Korea in the 2020 summer Olympics, but are there any before Marissa Brandt?  She is already competing on the national team and is expected to be in the Olympics. Brandt, 24, was adopted by a family in Minnesota when she was four months old… and now finds herself playing for South Korea less than one year from the PyeongChang Winter Olympics here. She hopes to find her birth […]

Being the Korean side of the family

April 26, 2017
by mike m
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stories

Posted with permission of the author, this was a profound expression of the complexities of race as a KAD parent.  It can be difficult to feel like an “authentic” korean, and then it becomes even more challenging because parents often want to pass on their heritage to their kids.  (The heritage of one’s adoptive parents can feel even more foreign.)  It is left up to the KAD to bear that burden which they may be […]

Coming out racially

April 2, 2017
by mike m
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commentary

There are even adoptive families that don’t survive the adoptee coming out racially, so it is sad but not surprising that couples and other relationships also experience tremendous pressure.  One story: When I met my girlfriend, who is also white, we were both coming out and helped one another accept and understand our sexuality, which really brought us together. Now I’m coming out racially—as a woman of color. … I don’t mean to blame my […]