First Steps

I was adopted into a loving family at the age of 18 months. At the time, my parents already had my brothers, Jonathan and Hans. They were about to take in their third child, both under the age of 30! Jonathan was 2 1/2 yrs. and Hans was about to be 7yrs. I have no memories of the first years with my new family, but I'm told that I was loving around my mother - and ornery towards my brothers! We grew up with lots of love and adventures. My parents instilled the importance of family and hard work into us, and we always have had their support. Later on, like many other families, my parents split up. My mom remarried and had my younger brother Anthony. Being a mixed family, we did pretty well - and I am happy to say that we all share a strong connection with one another.

Growing up, I definitely was not interested in my heritage. I'm sure like most children, I just wanted to blend in with everyone else. My family and community was predominately "white". I had no interest in my background, because my family didn't share my heritage. I can look back now and realize that I was dealing with many issues of being multicultural. Looking Asian, but having no experiences of that heritage was hard to deal with. It wasn't until much later on in life that I got to truly relate to others who shared my same experiences.

One of those friends who was also adopted from Korea decided to go back to S. Korea and teach english to children in Busan. She loosely invited me to come visit, and it just felt like the right time. With the support from my family, my plans all seemed to come together with ease. I am now set to go back in about a month, and I cannot express how excited I am.

I will travel alone to Seoul and spend some time there exploring and touring the orphanage where I was placed. I have also began searching for my birth mother, but have no real expectations. Many times when mothers place their children into adoption, they refuse contact afterward. In Korean culture, if you have a child out of wedlock - you are basically shunned, never to marry. Even if you find someone to marry you, the husband will treat the child like crap their whole life.

I don't know a lot about my birth mother, but what I do know is that I was with her for the first year of my life. After that she placed me into adoption, and then took me back with her. She finally did take me back to be placed once again. I will always have a special place for her in my heart knowing that she was able to give me a life that I would never have had. She also had to give up her child to do so, which I cannot begin to understand what that would be like.

So, here I go... back to the Motherland! Check back for updates!