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Book Review: Voices from Another Place

When we think of adoption, and thus of adoptees, we often think of children. Will the children stay in their birth family? In their birth country? How do adopted children do with separation? Do they have trouble in school? Susan Soon-Keum Cox, herself an adult Korean adoptee and the editor of Voices from Another Place, points out, “That we mature, grow up and come into our own wisdom is often not acknowledged. We can and wish to speak for ourselves.” This book gives some of those adoptees a chance to speak to a wider audience. Voices from Another Place: a … Continue reading →

Book Review: Cultures of Transnational Adoption

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Cultures of Transnational Adoption, edited by Toby Alice Volkman, illuminates unique and infrequently heard dimensions of adoption. These nine essays include an account by a translator for a group of adoptees making a return visit to Chile from their adopted home country of Sweden (I knew there were Korean-Swedish adoptees, but never knew that Chile was a main sending country to Sweden from 1974-1991). There is a substantive and fascinating essay on young adult Korean adoptees returning to Korea for “cultural learning tours” often sponsored by the Korean government. The author shares the adoptees’ diverse opinions on whether they felt … Continue reading →

Sending Countries Reach Out to International Adoptees

Lately I’ve been thinking some thoughts which would be considered quite un-politically correct in the adoption world. They refer to efforts by sending countries to reach out to international adoptees. In the past, adoption has sometimes been a shameful thing. Unwed mothers are discriminated against in employment and socially; children are teased and discriminated against educationally. Yet women who relinquish children for adoption are condemned for “turning against their own flesh and blood”. I have met both immigrants and visitors who are surprised—shocked in fact–to learn that their home countries have fairly large and long-standing adoption programs sending children to … Continue reading →