Kimchi and Grilled Cheese

“While food brings Korean culture closer to me, I feel part of and separate from it as an adoptee, a tension that’s evident in many small ways. For instance, I remember one of the first times I found myself in a small Korean restaurant filled with only Koreans. It was a new and strange experience to be part of the majority, to blend into a room where I looked like everyone else, where everyone was going about the normal activity of eating dinner.”

My Adoption Journey: From reunions, to struggles, to gaining a new best friend

“The day I met my birthmother in person was completely surreal. We already established a connection from many emails we exchanged before picking a date and location to meet. I was so nervous I thought I would throw-up, which was completely out of character. I think my nerves kept me from bawling when we first saw each-other and hugged.”

A White Adoptee’s Search for Her Birth Culture

“So where do you go to explore your birth family’s culture when you’re white and have a closed adoption? Honestly, I don’t know. I assume that learning about your birth family’s culture is easier if you have an open adoption (at least for getting information—I know it’s certainly not always easier emotionally).”