One of the highlights in travelling to the Netherlands last month was to finally meet in person Hilbrand Westra, a fellow intercountry adoptee born in South Korea and adopted to the Netherlands, whom I have liaised and worked with since the beginning of ICAV. Not only did I get to meet him in person, share …
Tag: intercountry adoptees
A Filipino Adoptee’s Plea to Not Be Erased
Dear Intercountry Adoption Board (ICAB) of the Philippines, I'm a 33-year-old Filipino American adoptee and I refuse to be erased. I refuse to be ignored. I was born in the Philippines and it was not my choice to leave. But it is my choice to return as an adult and to regain my citizenship. Because, …
The Importance of Racial Mirrors
The importance of Racial Mirrors in intercountry adoption.
Trauma Triggers
Why do some adoptees need to be on the defensive, overly criticizing, put each other down, and posture themselves as aggressors? I understand and respect that we all have varied opinions, thoughts, and information on a very complex subject. We all have unique stories and ideas to share. I think people do this because their …
New Connections
At this current moment I'm flying thousands of kilometres through the air to reach my destination - The Hague, Netherlands. It's going to take me 24 hours and you all know what that's like - cramped in a stuffy space with people coughing, kids crying, airplane food, almost-can't-turn-around-in spaces they call "toilets" and trying to …
Excerpt: First Letter to my Iranian Father
Iranian adoptee shares her thoughts (excerpt) to her new found Iranian father.
The Lived Experience of Illicit Intercountry Adoption
A critical view of intercountry adoption must consider those who have experienced illicit intercountry adoptions.
Crane Mimicry
Can a famous example of conservation teach us anything about adoption? Most people can’t see a correlation but I do! Less than a hundred years ago, there were just 16 whooping cranes left in North America. These beautiful majestic birds were near the brink of extinction. Men who over hunted and destroyed the bird’s habitat …
Stranger Than Fiction
In third grade, I was in Mrs. Peterson’s class and given the assignment to do a family history project. I asked my adoptive parents about the project and they stated my Aunt Eirene had worked on the family tree and traced back across several hundred years. My family automatically skipped the fact that my own …
Turning Negativity into Positivity with Buddhism
Desiree shares her experience of trying Vipassana meditation at a Buddhist retreat, a way to expel her negative energies and a way to deal with adoptee anger.
The Crying Girl
How the Korean Government Fails I was stationed in Korea for eight years and have made more than a dozen trips to Korea since I left in 2007. During my last visit to Itaewon, I came across a small bronze statue of a girl sitting on a chair, next to an empty chair, located at …
Four Murdered Chinese Adoptees
Joey shares after the death of 4 chinese adoptees.
Being Alone
I get up in the morning and I try. That's basically what it's like every morning as an adult adoptee. Whenever I look back in my mind, my past stretches past a million acres of difficult terrain that's emotionally challenging and left psychological imprints on me. An adoptive family I never got that close with. …
Lost Siblings
Remembering My Youth As a child, I remember playing near the burn pits that laid by the small village of unpainted traditional Korean style homes (Hanoks). They nestled below a small outcrop of mountains, located in central Korea. My brother grabbed my hand to take me to see the prize he had found lying in …
Not Existing
Lynelle shares how difficult it can be not knowing who we are or having any documentation.
An Adoptee’s Take on “Crazy Rich Asians”
There are a lot of opinions and pieces surrounding Crazy Rich Asians right now. I am simply adding to the chorus, but from a slightly different perspective as a Chinese American intercountry adopted person. As an adoptee who watched Crazy Rich Asians, it is hard to describe all of the feelings I felt while sitting …
The Rights of the Child
UK transracial adoptee shares her thoughts on being adopted.
Where is the Outrage?
Lynelle writes critically about intercountry adoption numbers plummeting around the world.
What If
Joey shares on the What If's of being adopted.
Adoptee desire to know the Truth
Indian adoptee from Belgium shares her story of adoption.
Self Care and Healing
Last week, I was fortunate and privileged enough to attend a 3-day Adoptee Self Care Retreat funded by the Australian Government for adoptees from the Forced Adoption era and for people who have been in State care. I want to share my thoughts of what I gained from attending as I found it to be such …
Intercountry Adoptee LGBQT+ Journey’s
Collation of LGBQT+ intercountry adoptee journey's.
A journey through space, a journey divided
By Sunny Reed, Korean intercountry adoptee. Intercountry adoptees speak often about the return to their birth country, a time defined by searching and finding. Lynelle’s recent post made me consider my relationship with Korea, the land that, over three decades ago, released me to a country made of dreams. We speak of “the return” as …
Return to Birthland
Vietnamese adoptee Lynelle shares about her second return journey to homeland, a decade later and how things have changed.