I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY. (Korean Adoptee Family Finding)
Added 2020-10-27 07:01:10 +0000 UTCThis may be random but this story touched me a lot and I thought I should make a video about it and raise awareness about it.
Helpful links : http://www.kadoption.or.kr/en/ https://kr.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/kha/ https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-ko/brd/m_4475/view.do?seq=1345321&srchFr=&srchTo=&srchWord=&srchTp=&multi_itm_seq=0&itm_seq_1=0&itm_seq_2=0&company_cd=&company_nm=&page=9
Comments
Another Korean adoptee here! I was so excited to see you had posted this story, as it had been circulating around Facebook and was already generating attention to Korean families who are separated by international adoption. I have also explored multiple ways to search for my Korean family, including DNA registries. I actually located a first cousin who is a Korean adoptee herself, living in the US. However, she has no contact with her Korean father's side of the family, which she believes I am from. It's so heart wrenching to get so close and yet come up short. That's why it's so meaningful to hear about stories like this, where there's hope in spite of everything. I like to think that maybe one day my son and daughter could meet their halmoni and haraboji💗
MH
2020-11-06 06:04:29 +0000 UTCSarah, I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but I want you to know that your usage of the words “abandoned children” triggered so much sorrow and pain in me. I don’t want to believe that our families really “abandoned” us.
mothermade
2020-11-02 05:48:20 +0000 UTCDavid, your post warms my heart and gives me a bit of hope that someday, I will find relatives. This month (in the USA, known as National Adoption Month) is especially difficult for me as it is also the supposed month of my birth.
mothermade
2020-11-02 05:43:04 +0000 UTCWow so so beautiful I cried for them. thanks for sharing
Wa
2020-10-29 09:07:36 +0000 UTCThank you so much for sharing! It's warming to the heart 😊
Mariana Montoya Garro
2020-10-28 00:00:08 +0000 UTCThanks for sharing David, such a sweet story! Can’t wait til they get to meet in person!
Jeika
2020-10-27 21:53:35 +0000 UTCWow that was an amazing story. Thanks for sharing!
Melissa Osk
2020-10-27 17:27:38 +0000 UTCThank you for that video David! One of my classmates is a Korean adoptee and only recently have we talked about her feelings regarding her adoption. She is in her 30’s and wants to find out about her family in Korea but is also scared that it could be a story like this. 🥺
Lauren B
2020-10-27 16:04:15 +0000 UTCWow, David! As Mom to seven adoptees, I have seen in real life how reuniting is both a beautiful and loaded issue. I’m so happy for 상애 and her Korean family. What tenacity they showed to not give up, decade after decade! Even if 상애의 American family is fan-dabulous and she’s healthy and happy, she is a 3rd-culture kid here in the U.S. and her life experience is unique to transracial adoptees. (Assuming her adoptive family is Caucasian.) We have two children from China, both of whom registered on DNA data banks, hoping for a similar miracle. However – many, many governmental policy and social issues have to be address for reuniting to become reality for the tens of thousands of kids adopted from both Korea and China to the U.S. As a 50-year-old grad student, I recently went back to school at Arizona State University and received a Certificate in Korean Studies in May 2020. My final paper was entitled: “International Adoption: An Incomplete Solution for South Korea’s Abandoned Children.” David, if you are really interested in this subject, I’d love to share this paper with you as it is a concise explanation/history of the massive exodus of children to the US after the Korean War, as well as the ongoing issues of citizenship here in the U.S. I’d love to be a part of the solution in helping families reunite, which can also be complicated and dash expectations on both sides. There’s so much to say and also ask you about, but I’ll end here for now. I hope we can talk soon – please contact me. :) Thanks for sharing this story – this could be the start of something really wonderful. 걱정해 주셔서 감사합니다! 답장 기다릴게요.
Sarah Padbury
2020-10-27 14:27:37 +0000 UTCPraying that one day you get to meet some of your Korean relatives. Best of luck, don’t give up.
Pikle Cortez
2020-10-27 13:51:18 +0000 UTCProblem in that time was that a lot of “lost” children in Korea were deported rather quickly to orphanages where they gave new names and birthdates. But now Korea wants to give the “lost” children a “real” name. I was also “found” it happened in 1975 and only after 6-7 months I was already adopted to Belgium. Also a lot papers were falsified for adoption reasons. Doing DNA testing is the only way to do it, but if you want to find family you have to hope they have DNA in the system. And let’s not forget that single mother’s in that time were seen as bad, so a lot don’t dare giving their DNA, just because of the backlash. I’m still hoping, but I know there’s little chance I will ever find my real family.
Rudy van Immerzeel
2020-10-27 12:40:00 +0000 UTCThis is a beautiful but sad story, and it's great that there is this effort to reunite families, but I think you brushed over the most important part. Were babies being deliberately kidnapped to send abroad? By whom? The state? Individuals? For profit? I live in a country where Indigenous children were kidnapped by the state to be adopted by white families for decades, so I am suspicious.
Amy Brown
2020-10-27 12:02:26 +0000 UTCThat wasn't just a story about adoption, but she literally lost her child! The pain the mother and siblings endured must have been horrific and yet they lived on with hope! That really touched my heart!!
Alesia Montes
2020-10-27 11:37:22 +0000 UTCWell as a Korean adoptee myself and also searching for my Korean relatives, it's heartwarming to see this post.
Rudy van Immerzeel
2020-10-27 11:09:29 +0000 UTCmade me tear up too T . T
DKDKTV
2020-10-27 09:00:04 +0000 UTCAww, thanks for sharing David!! This is great news. Made me tear up!
Abby Pasion
2020-10-27 08:59:01 +0000 UTCThanks for sharing this story💜
BTStrash
2020-10-27 07:34:12 +0000 UTCThanks for sharing 😊
heaps
2020-10-27 07:17:27 +0000 UTCGreat story David. I'll have to make a shirt thats says "David is ma boiii". Such a heart warming story during these cold times. Thanks again, David, GOOD JOB!
Steven Pambello
2020-10-27 07:14:19 +0000 UTCThis brought tears to my eyes. I will definitely share!
Joy
2020-10-27 07:09:33 +0000 UTCSo nice you wanted to share this story. I really hope others will be able to recieve the same kind of joy in reuniting with their lost loved ones.
Ariel Roberts
2020-10-27 07:09:13 +0000 UTC
